I built a wooden boat which standard oars do not work well. In the movie US Marshalls with Tommy Lee Jones and Wesley Snipes; Snipes escapes through the bayou in a bow that has a device that rows forwards. Looking for the plans for this device?
gig harbor boatworks
These guys have engineered some nice hardware that apparently withstands the pressures involved with rowing even their heavy boats (16’ wooden dory). If it weren’t so pricey, I’d buy a set up for my own curiosity and pleasure … because I believe them when they say they’ve done the metallurgical r&d (sintered bronze!) necessary to fully realize the promise of their earlier prototypes. I’m not fully impressed with their oar selection though. Anyway … check them out as a starter. Shawn
http://www.forwardfacingrowingsystem.com/
Two corrections to the above
The sintered bronze I mentioned came from some other memory unconnected to this unit. This hardware is actually stainless steel. And … the oars they offer (fairly light spruce spoon blades) actually look pretty decent … my mistake when I implied otherwise. If money were no object, bolting their hardware and oars (a $700 investment) onto a 17-18 foot seaworthy canoe (i.e. Wenonah Cascade/Champlain or OT XL Tripper/18’6’Penobscot) in Royalex for the vinyl gunwale mounting) would make a hellaciously efficient big lake/ocean tripper!
Clever…forward facing is nice…
but don’t race anyone with a Voartex. He will be in a good position to see you falling behind as he faces backward in his sliding seat.
Sliding seats put you
in a different class around here. Then you get to race the alden ocean shell guys. Yow!
Seriously no doubt rearward facing slidig seat is the way if you do not need to see wher you are going.