Stowing oars and spars

Comments (3)

1. Good ideas!

   Stowing oars in holders above the gunwale is also common in the traditional “lauds” of the Balearics and eastern coast of Spain.

   Here is an example: http://www.pulsame.com/banco/details.php?image_id=120

2. I have continued skepticism of stowing methods that need oars to rest in brackets or locks. These look sketchy under sail. And I have a life long paranoia about leaving any lock like devices sticking up when not in use. Said paranoia created by having to take a kid to the hospital after he fell onto a set of horns when tripping on a dock. An imprinted bad sight. I used a chockless solution on my Harrier. A webbing loop with a Fastex buckle on the fore deck. The oars go on either side of the stem and mast and are locked in.

   1. I quite agree, Ben, that things sticking up from the gunwale can be dangerous. The thole pins in two of my early boats were straight-sided dowels set in straight-sided holes. They’d either rattle around when the wood was dry or seize in place when the wood swelled up. When they were stuck they were as menacing as the horns of a Pamplona bull and a nuisance under sail and at the dock. I went to tapered tholes (see my article “Tholepins” in WoodenBoat issue 185) and remove them when they’re not in use. As I mentioned in this Small Boats Monthly piece, the crooks aren’t appropriate for sailing and they get removed and stowed along with the tholepins. When I’m coming into a dock, the crooks and whatever is in them make a veritable fence, so they have to come down if they’re on the dock side and long before it’s time to set fenders and handle painters. If they’re on the opposite side, they’re not in the way and at a safe remove from people on the dock.
      I like your idea of using webbing and a buckle for securing oars on the foredeck. That’s sure to be a lot quicker to use than my system; I’ll make the switch.
      Christopher Cunningham, Editor

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