sculling?

[jbarros]

hello all.

I have a little (19'') sloop, and am considering getting a sculling oar, possibly in the future as a means of replacing my iron main, but for now simply to try, and to have to use as an emergency rudder if anything should go wrong with mine. Is this practical? I''m not sure it would be sufficient for stearage, and I''m also not sure I could manover into my slip with a sculling oar. Any thoughts?

Thanks.

-- James

[Jeff_H]

I made a long sweep that I used to row my 25 foot folkboat. I had a loop of line that would drop over the winch with the oar astern of the winch. I would row standing up and facing forward. I only used a single sweep out to one side of the boat and so would set the rudder to counter act the turning force of the sweep. If I wanted to change direction I would row faster or slower.

Jeff

[paulk]

IMHO that the Pardeys used a yuloh or sculling oar off the transom on their various trips when they wanted to maneuver without sails. Don''t think their 30'' boat had (has?) an engine either. Privateers as much as 80'' on deck used to rig oars, but they had more crew than you''re likely to...

[pirateofcapeann]

I taught myself how to scull as a kid, while on a cruise to Canada on the schooner Truant. I became intrigued watching the fishermen propel themselves around with one oar just as fast as I could row with two! On a stopover in Head Harbor NB I took the 12-foot dory to a quiet spot in the cove and started to figure out the back and forth, figure 8 motion. After a while I had myself going from point A to point B at a reasonable pace. Quite proud of my achievement, I decided to show off my new skill by making a pass in review, under Truant’s stern. As the crew gathered to watch me go by, I tried to put on a good burst of speed. I guess on one stroke, I feathered the oar too much as I gave a mighty pull…

Talk about bursting your bubble!

There are two styles of sculling that I’ve seen. One way is to feather the oar and tip it up then de-feather and pull forward, more or less wedging the boat forward. This is the style that I’ve seen used by most fishermen working their skiffs out to their boats. The other, as mentioned above is an athwartship figure 8 motion where the blade is angled to propel on both strokes. This seems to be the most efficient and easiest style to learn. It’s best done with a long sweep, standing up.

Although I consider myself to be an excellent oarsman, I’d still prefer two oars instead of one. As for using a sculling oar as an emergency tiller, yes, I think it would work great. I’d be willing to bet that with practice, you could skull a 19-footer into a slip. I doubt though that you would be happy trying to scull yourself any distance. For that you may need two oars and some sort of oarlock system that may attach to your winches. I would recommend finding a pair of 9 foot ash dory oars for your purpose. I keep a pair of 9 ½ footers aboard my Jesse Boyce for just that purpose, although trying to pull against her 8 tons is no easy task!

Good luck

[flicker]

I believe Don Street recommends sculling as a technique for getting into and out of slips. He says it''s no problem for him to scull at 1 knot. Also, his boat has no engine.

Chas