Oars

[LennieG]

I thought it may be useful to start a thread the on subject of oars. I am at the stage of providing for oar storage on my CS 17, but don't want to get bogged down with building oars.or researching the purchase of oars yet in any big way. It sounds like it may be a fun project after launch to build a set of oars. A few questions:

- for a CS 17, any thoughts on length of oars? I am 6'3 and 225 lbs

- any thoughts/advice on type, style?

- can anyone provide a PVC pipe diameter for oar storage for a typical CS17 set of oars? ( I know it is like asking how much is a red house?) I just need to lock in a PVC pipe that will work for the likely future oar selection.

- I like what Dale did with Lively (below) or What PAR did with one PVC pipe for two oars.

Thanks

[Howard]

Lennie:

 

Chesapeake Light Craft sells an instruction book on building oars that includes full plans, etc. for oars from 6.0' up to 9' 6".  The largest diameter of the 9' 6" oars is 1 13/16', so if the inside diameter of your pvc pipe is 2 inches, that should work for you.

 

http://www.clcboats.com/shop/boats/boat-gear/oars/wooden-oars-plans-patterns.html

 

If you don't want to do the lofting, they will also sell you a CNC cut plywood pattern you can use to trace the outline of the same oars on a blank.

 

The length of the oars are more or less determined by the beam of the boat and should be pretty much known for the CS17. Surprised someone in the know has not responded. Your rowing position needs to be determined to install the oarlocks in the right place. About 9 to 12 inches aft of the seat edge. They also need to be the right height for you if you are the rower. If memory serves, when the oars are held level, the grip end should be just about level with your belly button. That puts them at just about the right height to take a stroke, yet easily clear the water on the backstroke. Bottom line is this is not as easy as you might think and will require some thought and planning to get right.

 

This should be entertaining:

 

http://www.boatbuilding-links.de/Jim-Michalak/oar-building-and-rowing.htm

 

Note the similarity of Jim's oars and those of CLC. Do note, however, that Jim's 7' oars are 2" square near the grips. You could chamfer those a bit if they won't fit inside your 2" pvc.

[LennieG]

Thanks. This is great.