Rowing and Oar Locks

Has anyone ever made a mod to accommodate oar locks for rowing? Pictures and advice, please!

With the width of a catamaran, you'll need long oars - like the Olympic competition kind. Here is a photo album on a modification I made to my wave - i had to re-activate my old Picasa account - hopefully you can access:

https://goo.gl/photos/csfoZg8ZsAyYExVy5

Previous thread with dead photo link:

http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9842

Interesting. I guess if it could hold up to holding oars in place then a clam cleat for beach wheels should be doable. On the inside of the hulls are fasteners to hold the tramp track in place. Nice job on the oar locks btw. The spacing on the inserts is 1.5", so a clam cleat should bolt right up.

Hi! Brand new member to the forum here!
I live and sail in Port Orford, Oregon. I sail on the ocean here. In the summer the wind is offshore and it's pretty flat. The water is cold, about 46-50F in summer, warmer in winter. We wear 6mm wetsuits and want drysuits!
For safety, I've made several modifications to our H16, one of which is a rowing system. It's not perfect, but it worked out pretty good on a trip to the San Juans last summer, and here too, if the ocean is relatively flat, not choppy. I used old fiberglass windsurfing masts, 1/4" plywood and fir on the ends for the paddle portion. I fashioned the fir (probably just a fir 2x4) at the junction between the paddle and the mast. This sandwiched the plywood and fitted into the larger end of each mast. Then I fiberglassed the whole thing (especially the masts as they were quite old and with fibers breaking down). On the side of the tramp bar, I used HDPE plastic (which is awful to work with but really tough) and cut this to a shape that would accomodate an oar lock but also permit comfortable hiking out (foot placement). So it's essentially a rounded-off protuberation from the tramp bar on each side. (Photos). Ok yes there are issues: 1) the oar locks pop out real easy, especially if it's rough. I don't pin them in though, because there are times when I really need to stow the oars quickly. 2) My knuckles will make contact with the tramp surface on the backstroke. Ouch! If I adjust the location of the oar lock just right, I don't hit the tramp. Other than this, they've been great. Super useful. I find I can't row against a headwind greater than about 7 knots. If wind is 0 or trailing, it does well. I beat the current sometimes in the San Juans, once alongside Patos, I was just done when I made the harbor! Also, I use one of those foldable sport seat cushions to give myself lumbar support. This works as a rail cushion when not in use. I row with the main down and bungee to one of the sidestays. Oar stowage is against the tramp pylons and I use the inexpensive bungee ties/bungee balls, which are tied with a short segment of line to each pylon so they are always there. Questions...fire away.

Wow, I’ve been pondering this for years! This is great. Thank you guys. I even have an old windsurf mast. Can you describe or show photos of exactly how you fitted the wood to the mast? What a great idea.

Thank you for the photos! Where did you get these oar mounts (or how did you assemble them), and how did you attach them to the hulls, please? I'm trying to install oar mounts on my Hobie cat 14.

Thank you!

The oarlocks and pins are standard for the competition sculling oars:

https://shop.concept2.com/oarlocks/437-scull-oarlock-kit-for-12-inch-pin.html

https://shop.concept2.com/scull-parts/564-13-mm-scull-rigger-pin-with-hardware-kit.html

You can see on the photos that I have a stainless steel bracket that holds the pin upright (found through trial and error at a marine hardware store) and then a piece of aluminum plate to mount the bracket to the side of the Wave.

As a result of the Wave using the same mold for both port and starboard hulls, the wave has a redundant set of screw inserts outboard and across from the set used to hold the jib cleat. So I was able to just repurpose the inserts and mount my adapter with two machine screws by removing plastic tabs and repurposing the redundant inserts.

I'm not too familiar with the H14, but you will have to come up with your own adapter since you won't have the benefit of the aforementioned mounting inserts - perhaps something that can clamp onto the rail similar to the white HDPE plastic version in the H16 modification shown in the other photos in this thread.

But I bet an H14 would be an excellent candidate - even faster than the Wave!

Thank you SO MUCH! I will get right on the project!