Installing Oar Locks

I put this post of the fishing forum and did not receive any input.



I was hoping someone here could help me out.



I am very interested in the Wenonah Kingfisher. However, for my applications, I wanted to install oar locks for rowing.



Can it be done on this canoe ? Any particular hardware recommendations ?



Unfortunately, the people at Wenonah were no help at all in this matter.

Oarlocks
I’d love to have a pair of the (very pricy!) outrigger oarlocks shown here.

http://www.shawandtenney.com/marine-hardware.htm



I might try to make something like them with some stainless piano hinge.



Oldtown sells a reasonably priced bolt on shown at the bottom of this page.

https://crab.secure-host.com/extrasport/oldtowncanoe/catalog.php?fr_sw=0&section_id=2

Don’t like the Shaw and Teney ones
If you want the oarlocks spread out wider look on the duckworks website for how a fella made his out riggers from strap hinges. On my roughstuffrowing yahoo group I have pics of some outriggers I made for a converted sea kayak.



My understanding is that the S&T bronze ones are only good for mild flat water rowing. Other wise they will bend. I like most every think else Shaw and Teney makes, but not these folding outriggers.



If the boat is 36 inches wide or more I’d just mount regular oarlocks and sockets and start having fun. You can always make your own outriggers later. For boat set up check Roughstuffrowing at yahoo or the Jim Michalek website linked through duckworks.

I have a Wenonah Saranac


I just installed Old Town Canoe Oar Locks onto it. They fit perfectly. Old Town told me that if they did not fit they would have taken a return with a full refund.



So now I can row!

Oarlocks
Thanks for the advice. The canoe I am looking at is 40" wide. I am not looking for outriggers, rather to simpley install a base and lock.

oarlocks.
Sounds great. Did you drill them into the gunnel ? Is the gunnel sturdy enough to “pull” on the oars ? What type of base did you use ? Are the oarlocks flush with the gunnel or offset to either side ? Any advice for mounting is greatly appreciated. Thank you for the help in advance!!!

Bolt onto gunnel
The easiest way to install them that is stong is to bolt them onto the outside of the gunwale.

Gunwales are strong enough
My rowboats lack thwarts, and therefore have a good bit of “unecessary” flexibility in the gunwales. These boats are a composite version of traditional wooden boats which have no need for thwarts because the hull is extremely stiff to begin with.



Anyway, in spite of all that flexibility, there is almost no flex or distortion during “power rowing” because the stress is in-line with the gunwales, not crosswise to them. So yes, any decent canoe should have rails that are plenty strong enough to withstand the stress of rowing.