Blair. Thanks for the links. Can't tell you how many times I'd read the info contained therein, before proceeding with the setup I have now. I believe I'd scoured the internet for months, looking for, and reading about, how and where to put oarlock sockets onto fibreglass boats, from 14' to 22'. Often I'd scrapped the whole oar idea and was going to resort to sculling as a better alternativel Which it might very well be, except there's the issue of where to put the scull. What was particularly motivating were the many passages in Michael Mann's book, A Little Breeze to the West, where he is caught in the middle of the Pacific, on his way to Hawaii, driftless, windless, and motionless, wishing, praying, and hoping, he had a pair of working oars with satisfactory oar sockets to put them in, so as to be able to make some/any progress, when in dead calm flat seas. I thought, for months and months, on how exactly to get this done, before drilling and cutting into the pristine fibreglass. Finally I decided to do what seemed to me the easiest way to get it done, with what I had on hand. I cut out two 3/8" x 3" x 2" plywood plates, then sanded them, epoxied them, and varnished them. On the outside of each plate would be attached thereto a bronze oar sidesocket . Holes were then drilled through the four holes of the sidesocket, through the wooden plate, into the exterior gunwale/coaming of the M15, from the outside of the gunwale/coaming, to where the extra long drill bit drilled through the corresponding side, into the cockpit. Yes, this was indeed the point of no return. In total, 4 holes were drilled into the interior/cockpit plywood plate, so as to receive the end of four 5" stainless steel screws, where a tightening bolt would be screwed on. The bolts were cut, so that as little as possible protrudes into the cockpit. Tape was then placed over the protruding ends, as an end bolt stuck into one's arm or side while sailing could really ruin one's day. This was done on each side - so what you get is a pair of oar sidesockets, placed on the outside of the M15 coaming, fastened plush thereto, anchored by a receiving plate and 4 bolts, on the interior side of the gunwale. As to the oars themselves, I bit the bullet and bought a pair of 10' composite oars from NRS. Each oar breaks down quickly into 2 pieces. To store the oars, I put each pair of each oar, into the area that's underneath the cockpit seats, the opening of which is accessible from within the cabin, facing the stern, one opening on each side of the inside face of the companionway. The end of each piece, which protrudes a few inches into the cabin, rests on some padding, so as not to chew up the interior finish, and to keep them from making noise. The oars are lightweight and snap together in less than a minute, tho they ain't cheap! My original set of bronze circular oarlocks, I found to my chagrin, are not going to cut it. Because of the angle of the exterior vertical plane of the M15 coaming, the paddle part of the oar cannot be lowered low enough, to make sufficient contact with the water. The top shank of the oar simply runs into unmoving bronze oarlock. One way to fix that is to obviously put some kind of cantilevered backing plate between the coaming and the exterior backing plate, but really, that would be a lot of work. I'd have to cut all new, longer bolts, in addition to other fun stuff. So, as an easier alternative, am going to try using Sea Dog's Heavy Duty Clamp-On Oarlocks. They rotate at an angle opposite the plane of the coaming. So who knows, it might work. I should know sometime this spring. Again, even if this rotatable oarlock allows for the oar paddle to be lowered far enough into the water, the angle might be so severe, that rowing might only be feasible while standing up. That's okay, I suppose. One of John Harris/CLC's latest designs has a rowing feature where the rower clearly can only row while standing. Another issue is the leverage - as in, too much oar from the coaming to the water, and not enough oar between the coaming and my hands. Will let you know how it works out. Cheers On Fri, Mar 10, 2017 at 2:00 PM, < montgomery_boats-request@mailman.xmission.com> wrote:
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Today's Topics:
1. Oars for M15 (Blair Ashworth)
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Message: 1 Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2017 13:57:32 -0800 From: Blair Ashworth <blairashworth@gmail.com> To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Subject: M_Boats: Oars for M15 Message-ID: <CAO418sPDPoMuAtbXNH3y-V-ZV8agceXnyd9YBRc=D4MBK-N0pA@ mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Brad, Here is some great info on Oars for an M15. Not sure if David Amundson is on this mail list, but his website has some great info.
http://leaguecity.dyndns.org:1953/trekka/Decksweepers.htm
http://www.compassionfitness.com/trekka - Then click on his upgrades link.
He has technical link as well to figure out the proper length. He built his 10 feet long. Don't know how you'd store those on an M15, but perhaps you could find some 2-piece oars like they use at Gig Harbor SCAMP.
They use these: *Oars, 9?4? 2-piece fiberglass shaft with bronze oarlocks ??. $ 329 pr.* *Website is: http://www.ghboats.com/boats/boats-12-to-8-ft/12-scamp/ <http://www.ghboats.com/boats/boats-12-to-8-ft/12-scamp/>*
*Anyway, if you find any good alternatives, pass them along. I would be interested in installing oar locks and oars on my M15 as well.* *Blair* *M15 #126*
Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2017 15:14:07 -0500 From: brad kurlancheek <bkurlancheek@gmail.com> To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Subject: M_Boats: Trolling motor for auxiliary propulsion Message-ID: <CALpQOtDEYA+Mv=P8M6Eov+xr9LwPHNM9iPp_4T1Q4YC9R6dO6g@ mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
I can surely see the need for power to out maneuver bad currents/bad winds/bad seas. A minnkota 30 probably won't measure up in such situation. For calm waters, though, it'll get the job done. But after a few hours, the battery's going to run out. That said, last year I'd installed a pair of oarlocks on the coamings, and made a portable wooden bench, to fit across the seats, snug up close to the companionway. This is on an M15. I also took along a pair of 10' composite 2 part oars, which i'd stored in the no man's land underneath the cockpit area. Hauled the boat down to Raystown Lake, PA, in early October for a 5-day cruise. On day 2, got the oars in place, for a test run, and found that I couldn't angle the oars down into the water far enough. So much for that idea. When I got back I ordered a pair of rotatable oar locks. Hoping that solves the problem. The only remaining question is whether there'll be sufficient leverage to be able to apply to the oars, if the beam to oar length ratio is too low. If I can get 2 knots in calm waters, that's plenty, and won't have to panic when the minnkota battery runs out of juice.
As to all the creature comforts issue while on a cruise, well, sure, there's benefits, obviously, to having them. Personally tho, I can use to suffer some for a few days; it's all part of getting out there, for me. And less weight. The lighter the boat, the more likely it's going to sail in light winds, and the less I'm going to need to rely on oars or minnkota. I took out the cushions that go in the cabin. It allows for more headroom, and yep, less weight. The boat came with a propane powered Lehr. Haven't used it yet. It must be 50 lbs. For me, if the thing hanging off the transom, is to heavy that it requires me to sit farther up toward the companionway just to keep the boat balanced, then the thing hanging off the transom needs to go. But this is for an M15. It may not be an issue on an M17. Cheers
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End of montgomery_boats Digest, Vol 169, Issue 7 ************************************************