What is the longest 'lenght in water' sailboat that you recommend for fitting of oarlocks for rowing? Yes, rowing a sailboat is an admission of failure of seamanship; one should breeze into port only under sail and without benefit of prop or blade. I realize, in weakness, that, perhaps, in some instances, I may wish to row her, to bring her ever so lovingly, alongside the dock. So, given a 6'5", 250#, man who has pushed many a pool table up a flight of stairs, what is the largest sailboat that one would fit with oarlocks for rowing into that "Bay of Paradise of Ever So Slight Winds"?
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Back in the scouts
we did two-week cruises down the Potomac and occasionally used sweeps and the tiller to get thru a calm spot; that was in a Rhodes 19 keelboat. Being alone in a larger boat might make sculling (a la Venezia) with a large sweep more practical.
we did two-week cruises down the Potomac and occasionally used sweeps and the tiller to get thru a calm spot; that was in a Rhodes 19 keelboat. Being alone in a larger boat might make sculling (a la Venezia) with a large sweep more practical.
rowing sailboats....
Lin & larry Pardey, the well known cruising couple have no motor on their boat. They use a pair of long oars to manuever when the wind quits. I thing they have a wooden sloop, maybe 30 ft. They have been cruising over 30 years, with many circumnavigations. You would find their series of articles in "Cruising World" interesting. Also, this past year I have noticed an older sailor rowing his 28-30 foot sloop in and out of my marina. He stands facing forward in the cockpit when rows with a set of long oars (sweeps?}. Totally under control, very effective. I think it's pretty cool. One less thing to break down.
Lin & larry Pardey, the well known cruising couple have no motor on their boat. They use a pair of long oars to manuever when the wind quits. I thing they have a wooden sloop, maybe 30 ft. They have been cruising over 30 years, with many circumnavigations. You would find their series of articles in "Cruising World" interesting. Also, this past year I have noticed an older sailor rowing his 28-30 foot sloop in and out of my marina. He stands facing forward in the cockpit when rows with a set of long oars (sweeps?}. Totally under control, very effective. I think it's pretty cool. One less thing to break down.
towed in
Hate to disillusion you but many times those motorless sailboats are towed into anchorages by other cruisers.
Hate to disillusion you but many times those motorless sailboats are towed into anchorages by other cruisers.
Freedom 40 sweeps
According to the recent "Good Old Boat" article on Gary Hoyt, his first Freedom 40 was also frre from the weight and cares of auxilliary power. It had two 16 foot sweeps to maneuver in port without sails. I wonder how sweeps would control the boat in a heavy side wind, but have heard of no problems from those actually using them. David Lady Lillie
According to the recent "Good Old Boat" article on Gary Hoyt, his first Freedom 40 was also frre from the weight and cares of auxilliary power. It had two 16 foot sweeps to maneuver in port without sails. I wonder how sweeps would control the boat in a heavy side wind, but have heard of no problems from those actually using them. David Lady Lillie
Wow and I thought that docking with a diesel
was challenging. At my present dock I don't think that 16' oars would have enough clearance from the other boats. The other problem might be other boats wanting you to get out of their way so that they can go sailing. It's a great romantic idea but if your boat is more than a daysailor rowing seems very impractical except in ideal flat calm conditions when no one else wants to enter or leave the marina.
was challenging. At my present dock I don't think that 16' oars would have enough clearance from the other boats. The other problem might be other boats wanting you to get out of their way so that they can go sailing. It's a great romantic idea but if your boat is more than a daysailor rowing seems very impractical except in ideal flat calm conditions when no one else wants to enter or leave the marina.
carrying oars is a seamanlike practice
In the literature of sailing the highest compliment to any practice or procedure is when it's called "seamanlike", and of course the worst practices are "unseamanlike". Carrying oars on board a boat small enough to maneuver with them is a seamanlike practice because it gives you multiple new ways of staving off various disasters, such as lost rudders or engine breakdown. I have a copy of a 1906 book on Sailing that assumes heavy wooden sloops in the 16-30 foot range would be equipped with oars as a standard practice. When you live in an era without engines you do what it takes to be under control! My catalina 25 at 4500 lbs was very easy to move around by hand at the dock and I have no doubt it would have been possible to maneuver it with 8-foot oars. I'm thinking about the issue of oar length so I can carry a pair on my Cal 28, which is 7500 lbs. The cal would not exactly be a scull, but it would get way on in calm waters. There's also an ingenious invention out now that allows a rower to face forward as they row. Check out the link below.
In the literature of sailing the highest compliment to any practice or procedure is when it's called "seamanlike", and of course the worst practices are "unseamanlike". Carrying oars on board a boat small enough to maneuver with them is a seamanlike practice because it gives you multiple new ways of staving off various disasters, such as lost rudders or engine breakdown. I have a copy of a 1906 book on Sailing that assumes heavy wooden sloops in the 16-30 foot range would be equipped with oars as a standard practice. When you live in an era without engines you do what it takes to be under control! My catalina 25 at 4500 lbs was very easy to move around by hand at the dock and I have no doubt it would have been possible to maneuver it with 8-foot oars. I'm thinking about the issue of oar length so I can carry a pair on my Cal 28, which is 7500 lbs. The cal would not exactly be a scull, but it would get way on in calm waters. There's also an ingenious invention out now that allows a rower to face forward as they row. Check out the link below.
IMHO towing with the dinghy makes more sense
You can propel the dinghy with a small motor or oars. Work it like a tug to push the bow around etc. I just can't imagine controlling my Pearson 323 with oars!!! Too much freeboard and beam. Sitting on the traveler and trying to dodge life line stanchions. But if I was considering going engineless a good dinghy with a 10 hp outboard would be a good backup. The outboard could have it's own bracket to use without the dinghy. I tried to row a 18' daysailor and it wasn't designed for rowing. I then used a 1.2 hp outboard. 1.2 hp doesn't sound like much but we must remeber that a trained athelete can only generate a fraction of a HP using his legs and for most people the legs are the strongest muscles.
You can propel the dinghy with a small motor or oars. Work it like a tug to push the bow around etc. I just can't imagine controlling my Pearson 323 with oars!!! Too much freeboard and beam. Sitting on the traveler and trying to dodge life line stanchions. But if I was considering going engineless a good dinghy with a 10 hp outboard would be a good backup. The outboard could have it's own bracket to use without the dinghy. I tried to row a 18' daysailor and it wasn't designed for rowing. I then used a 1.2 hp outboard. 1.2 hp doesn't sound like much but we must remeber that a trained athelete can only generate a fraction of a HP using his legs and for most people the legs are the strongest muscles.
sweeps ?
David: You’ve actually heard from those actually using sweeps on 40 Ft sailboats? ”... I wonder how sweeps would control the boat in a heavy side wind, but have heard of no problems from those actually using the ...”
David: You’ve actually heard from those actually using sweeps on 40 Ft sailboats? ”... I wonder how sweeps would control the boat in a heavy side wind, but have heard of no problems from those actually using the ...”
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