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  • in reply to: Fitting rowlocks/ oar length #24359
    Simon Heath
    Participant

    I’ve just got back from a holiday in Wareham, Poole harbour and have some very imporatant advice! Don’t buy the shiny chromed brass rowlocks as they have a fatal flaw. They break! Buy the galvanized ones. I have a pair of Lahna Seagrade 2.7m oars which seem about perfect length, just fitting in my old (I believe) series 1 with wooden benches and full length buoyancy tanks I store them on the floor as they take too much of the seat. They can be left in the row locks on the deck just in board of the rear horse.

    The oars  didn’t sit quite comfortably in the row locks as the internal diameter was a bit low. I tried them out at my sailing club before venturing out to sea and they needed a bit of a push and twist due to the rubber collars to get them so they didn’t get in each others way.

    I sailed down the first part of the Wareham channel from our slip at Redcliffe campsite, about the first 1km, as we turned up wind, just after Ridge Wharf yacht centre. I decided to drop the sail and row as it was too narrow to tack. Pushed one of the oars in place then the other and it went ping and jumped out the row lock base. Thought that’s odd – I’ve got cotter pins to keep the row lock in place. Then realised with a heart sinking feeling… it was the rowlock had snapped at it’s narrowst point. Thankfully I’d read a lot of the advice on here, so had an anchor with 2m of chain and 30ft of rope, which was dropped after I managed some SUP Style rowing to the bank standing up with 1 oar, Then we wedged the boat in place at the rear by using the oar. But I’d now lost my means of propulsion. Thankfully after a 30 minute wait we managed to flag a passing tourist trip boat for a tow back up stream. Had no one come, I’d got a phone and floating handheld VHF to call the marina.

    Having just done my Powerboar 2 last year meant I knew how to hitch on a tow unlike the boat owner who wanted to tie us on. It’s much safer to have a loose wrap around a cleat and hand hold it so when the tow slows, you can pull in the slack and not risk getting the prop wrapped. Same at the end of boat being towed. Either one can let go if something goes wrong.  Also keep the tiller on, but raised so it’s just in the water so you can help navigate tighter turns, and as we did…. get a slingshot back onto the slipway where I was able to land us perfectly.

    The new 10mm galvanised locks I bought from a chandlers in Poole didn’t quite fit, thankfully my parents have retired down there so dad came out with an 11mm metal drill to widen the base plate and now they fit perfect.

    One thing you may want to practice with daughters is rowing with the tiller in place. My 8 year old was zig zagging us all over the place on the first trip even though she can sail an oppy. However on 2nd trip my mum came along So with the new rowlocks we managed to get out the River Frome, had a beat up wind in the main channel back and forth. I didn’t realise outside the channel it was only about 2ft deep at hight tide, not enough for a centreboard!,  so would have rowed a bit further had I known, despite having just bought the Poole Harbour map. I had done some training with Rockley last year based up the top end of the harbour, and despite it drying at low tide, at high tide a dinghy can clear the shallow water.  We even managed to beat an Elan 22i into the moorings near Hamworthy, despite me having to have a tack as I was running out of sea on a close haul.

    We sailed all the way across Poole Harbour including the main ship channel and had to avoid larger traffic (which was my main mission… to practice my COLREGS), over to Baiter Park, dropped mum and daughter then back, a bit faster this time with the boat heeled, to a secret slip so we didn’t have to pay £14 at Baiter Park.

    Am currently looking at electric outboards with hydro-generation, as I’d prefer to be getting down the river much quicker. According to Google maps it’s 3km. And we’re likely to camp there again.  Plus having 2x 2.7m oars  means you are quite wide and have to keep out of everyone’s way, Long term plans are for a 32+ foot yacht with tender, so its helping spread the cost of the upgrade 😉 The electric outboards allow you to store the battery inboard to help boat balance and most important don’t make a racket or stink when running.

    in reply to: Man Overboard! #22247
    Simon Heath
    Participant

    Hi first post from me as new member. Just done my L2 so can confirm MOB is definte part of it, practising downwind and return leg, filling and spilling.

    However, its been correctly pointed out retrieving a bouy with a 5kg weight isnt the same as picking up someone who is twice your weight and unconscious.

    I’d like to suggest something else for consideration… a routine for what happens if the competent sailor falls overboard when the passengers are non sailors. Part of your shore based safety briefing before taking anyone out.

    As well as to keep pointing at me I’ve taught my 7 yr old daughter to release all the sheets and keep her head down as the boom might flap around a bit, but the boat should come to a stop quite quickly and I’ll swim to her if conscious. If I’m not conscious I think its going to be a bad day. So next lesson is thinking about how to make a distress wave (slow arms to upright) without getting hit by the boom.

    Although im inland, based in Tamworth, plan is to get out on Poole harbour as soon as I’ve done my VHF and navigation courses as my parents live down there and know where the public slips are. So safety is always on my mind. Hence why her and wife are now enrolled on courses 😉

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