[ampersat]

more questions as i continue on my journey of restoring the ugly eastsider.

so, now i've got the oarlock blocks cut and sanded and i'm ready to have holes drilled in them for the uhmw sockets that i'm going to get from greg tatman. i have enough room on the block to drill two oarlock sockets, possibly even three. my question is what spacing between each socket is enough to make it worthwhile to do so?

i'd originally planned on spacing three at 1 1/2 inch intervals but thought that wouldn't be enough distance between them to make it worth doing. would you really notice if your oarlock is positioned 1 1/2 inches toward either end of the boat?

 

[Grantspastor]

I'd say yes

 

[NEUTRON]

ugly boats catch way more fish. Like the Nike slogan, Just row it.

 

[Silver Hilton]

Depending on your seat style, it may not make much difference. If there is enough room on the seat to slide your butt back and forth a bit, 1 1/2 inches won't matter.

I'd do two. One that is perfect for you, and one that is a little closer to the oarsman's seat, so that if you ever have women or children that are trying to row, they won't have to reach as far.

On my boats, we've always had just one set of holes, and have never missed having two.

 

[Flatfish]

If you have the room, 2" on center is a nice round number. 1 1/2" is fine too.

Unless the oarsman seat is adjustable,you will find the most comfortable position for them, and then leave them there til you are an old man.

Mark and the dog.

 

[scooby]

I have 3 position oar locks on my db and started with them in the one closest to the rower'seat. I moved to the middle position after a couple of months to see what difference this would make and it was a huge difference for me. Way better position which made it easier/more comfortable to row. I have not measured the spacing but I would guess 1.5 to 2 inches between the positions.

I think having the three positions is good as you really won't know where you want them until you have tried all the positions. Without the option of trying different positions you really won't know if another position is better fo you.

This would be even more important if you have a rowers seat that you can move front to back as when you adjust the rower seat you will want to adjust the oar lock position as well.

[ 08-06-2003, 10:47 AM: Message edited by: scooby ]

 

[ampersat]

the reason that i even started thinking about this has to do with the rower's seat and the foot braces, neither of which are adjustable in my boat. i was floating with billy from ifish and he suggested that i move forward on the seat so that my feet actually hit the foot braces. this gave me a lot more power and control in my rowing but put the oars too close to my chest to make it comfortable for me to row.

i'd be interested in seeing some options as far as adjustable foot braces go and what other folks have in their boats. i'll probably still go with adjustable oar locks but having a better setup for the foot braces will also help.

 

[Artwo]

My Fishrite DB has three holes for adusting the foot rest, eight holes for adjusting the rowers seat and three holes for the oar locks. After I bought my boat I sat in it in the driveway and got everything adjusted to me.

JK