I would have paid to not have to row in that wind. It was unexpected, and it scared me as much as anything I have faced in my 61 years.
You saying that you would pay to see it tells me you would also have paid to see Christians thrown to the lions in the Roman coliseum.
What does that say about you?
My good friend Bill and I picked up the canoe forms for a strip build chestnut prospector 16. Bill is currently building the canoe the guy we got the forms from designed a rowing seat attachment for the canoe. Which will also be made. Here are some photos. He also built portage pads which you can see in the photos.
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Note he used side mount oarlocks on the sides of the canoe and recessed oarlocks on the extended arms of the rowing seat.
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Do you mean two landmarks, one behind the other? This would be taking a transit (AKA taking a range). With just one landmark, a current or breeze (from the side) would result in a curved path.
I row a drift boat on rivers, facing downstream. I use a motor for lakes, but I am old and no longer paddle canoes.
The question was about one personās difficulty going in a straight line when he is not constantly looking in the same direction that his boat is traveling. Since he said that he has no such difficulties when facing the direction of travel, itās clear that this is about boat control and maintaining situational awareness, and thatās what my answer addressed.
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Rowing? Paddling? Too much work for me these days. Embrace those high winds!
5 mph I do ghostingā¦And I know a few canoe sailors who actually prefer Grummans for wind exclusively.
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A better photo of the rowing station that castaway posted and one in use. The bars put the spread at 42 inches, enough for 7 foot oars. The seat for solo is hung from the rig. You can also sit in the bow seat facing the stern with a passenger in the stern seat. With the stern rider steering it is a pleasant ride with easy conversation as you are facing each other.
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That sailing rig is really cool and inspirational.
But I doubt you use it in 40+ mile per hour winds.
Thatās a great set up you have. Itās making me think.
My oar locks are 40 inches apart, so not quite as wide as yours.
Iām using 5 foot oars, and have a 3 inch gap between them when they are in line.
One thing Iām thinking is that longer oars would stop me from rowing in narrow channels.
I have a pair of 6 foot oars I can try. Next spring Iāll take the 6 footers along and swap back and forth between them and the 5 footers to see what happens.
Thank you for showing me what you have. May God bless you and your beautiful canoe.
Youāre correct. 40 mph is way off the Beaufort scale for my little rig, as wind at that speed is considered a GALE. (Though Iāve been caught out in rainy gusts at half that, unexpectedly.) And itās a foolās game in any 15ā/16ā canoe, even a decked one with oars for that matter.
ā¦You might consider rowing a dory instead.
(Also, I would double down on ppineās wager above, to see you actually out in a Grumman during it.
)
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It says that I call people on their bullshit.
When the wind is blowing that hard , go ashore.
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Rowing is and has been a well established and extremely efficient way to move boats, canoe are just another boat rowing is well adapted to. There are commercial rigs of all sorts available to just ādrop inā, if not up to doing the mods yourself
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I used to, but now I have boats actually built for rowing. The difficulty that I always faced with rigging a canoe for rowing was getting enough space (height) between oarlocks and seat. Iām a relatively large man and without enough space recovery can be awkward.
I couldnāt go ashore. The banks in that part of the river are too steep.
I did not intend to get caught in that wind, The weather forecast got it wrong by about 6 hours.
I had no choice but to row upstream against the wind.
Iām not bullshitting at all about this. It was something I did not want to have to do, and I hope to not have to repeat.
Thatās why I designed and installed an elevated oar lock set up. I made it just tall enough so the oars clear my knees. Iāve been doing carpentry for a living since 1993, and I put those skills to work on this thing. The vertical side boards are inside the hull with notches in them so the gunwales engage in the notches. On the outside of each side thereās a 15 inch long, 1 inch thick by 2 11/16 tall board with 4 bolts in it. The middle 2 bolts go through the hull and the vertical board, and the outer 2 bolts go through the hull and the 1 inch thick board. The purpose of the 1 inch thick board is to distribute the force of the oar strokes over a larger area so the hull doesnāt flex with each stroke.
Iām 5ā 11" and weigh 215 pounds.
I didnāt even know about the rigs for sale when I designed mine. I just thought that rowing with 2 oars would be a lot more efficient than paddling with 1 paddle.
Iām finding my design to be very efficient for speed and maneuverability.
Itās 15 feet long, and I can make it spin easily inside a 20 foot circle, maybe even inside a 16 foot circle.
My next project will be designing and installing an oar lock set up for a 13 1/2 foot Pelican tandem kayak I found in a tree. The design is in my head nowā¦
So you say Iām bullshitting.
Would you like to hear about the 13 1/2 foot kayak I found about 15 feet up in a tree?
I beached my Grumman, climbed up into that tree, and lowered the kayak to the water. Then I tied it to the stern of my canoe and towed it half a mile back to my truck.
God watched it happenā¦
Thatās the advantage of an aluminum canoe, I wouldnāt want to do that with the hull materials of my canoes.
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In 64 years of paddling on overnight trips I have never seen anyone propelling a canoe with oars.