Rowing Conversion?

CParker

Rookie
Does anyone have experience or advice (or even just opinions) on converting a wood/canvas canoe to allow the use of oars?

I am considering modifying my 1940 16 foot Old Town Yankee so that I can row it whenever the urge strikes, without having to make any major changes to the boat. I'm not interested in any of the aluminum or plastic-based kits I've seen advertised; if I do it at all I'd want to be able to use wooden oars, maybe bronze fittings etc. that would better match the age and appearance of the boat.

Once I complete rebuilding the canoe, it will be used mainly for solo fishing forays on local lakes. A few of the lakes are large enough that a set of oars would be a great advantage for just getting from one end to the other in any kind of wind.
 
Old Town Rowing rig

Hello,

It seems as though you aren't adverse to the idea of building your own rig. I have a 1950's vintage Old Town drop in rowing rig that I'd be happy to photograph for you, as well as provide dimensions. It is pretty cool!

Mark
 
The 1956 Red Cross "Canoeing" book has plans for a drop-in rowing rig. It, like the beautiful Old Town that Mark has, is a sliding seat rig. I'm not sure that is what you had in mind. The Old Town drop in, with attached bent-wood arms, looks like a much better arrangement to me than the one shown in the Red Cross book where the bent rod arms drop over the gunwales and brace on the outside of the canoe. This latter arrangement would be more compact for transporting however.
 
Thanks so much for the responses. Since I'll be fly fishing, I was thinking that a fixed seat system would better suit my needs, with fewer things to tangle the line around than with a sliding system, but I can be swayed.

Pictures of any/all sliding or fixed seat set-ups would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks again!
 
Rowing seat

Attached is a picture of a drop in rowing seat that came with a 18' HW sponson canoe I have. The canoe has oarlocks mounted on the sponsons.
The seat can be moved on the rails to accomodate people with different leg lengths. It does not roll. Shaw & Tenny sell nearly the exact same thing.

Jim C.
 

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Our 18 foot Rushton Indian Girl has two sets of oar locks original to the canoe that are attached to the outer gunnels and stationary seats, one being an extra seat about in the center. If you want I'll try to get photos for you. Our 12 foot Morris also was made to row. It had a raised attachment to the gunnels. We have an old photo of the owners wife rowing it. I'll see if Kathy can scan that photo and post it. I can also take a photo of the attachment if you wish.
Denis
 
Pictures

The first picture was probably taken in the 1920s, and shows our 12 foot Morris being rowed with a home-made contraption.

The next two pictures show the original oar locks on an 18 foot Rushton Indian Girl.

The last three pics are of an original from-the-factory Morris object, designed to hold oarlocks. I'll post a picture of this as it appears in Morris catalogs. This came with a circa 1915 Morris ("circa" meaning "around the time of"). Like most things-Morris that are made of wood, it's made of mahogany. It's 27 1/4 inches long. The center part is 2 inches wide, and the ends are 1 1/8 inches... nice champhored edges. If anyone needs a tracing, that's our pleasure.
 

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Here's a page from the 1917 B.N. Morris catalog (courtesy "The Historic Wood Canoe and Boat Catalog Collection, Version 2" Edited by Dan Miller and Benson Gray), showing at #30 "rowlocks with blocks and screws" and the object pictured above. The rowing stool is #29.
 

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One of the issues with rowing a canoe is beam. You gain a little with a sponson canoe, but many canoes set up for rowing use outrigger oarlocks, like the ones shown below...
 

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Dan,

These are really interesting. Do you have any information about the source, who made them, when, etc.? Also, can you give basic dimensions such as the distance from the outside of the gunwale to the center of the oarlock? I'm a bit curious about the second one (the "Y" shape). Am I correct in thinking that the clamps are vertical and the "Y" frame rests on the top of the gunwale?

Max
 
The one on the left I've only seen in the RacineWis catalog. I've got a couple pairs - one bronze the other pot metal. I've also seen this style mounted on a Morris.

The clamp-on style is from E.M. White.You are correct about the way they clamp onto the inwale.

The oarlocks are out at the other place, so I can't measure them right now, but 7-8 inches is my guess.

A third style was used by Rushton and many of the skiff builders along the St. Lawrence. Reproductions are available from Shaw and Tenney.

Dan
 
Dan,
When I enlarge the photo of our 12 footer it gets fuzzy. Could those on the left of your post be whats on it? Interested in what you think.
Thanks, Denis
 
Dan or anyone else,
We are looking for photos or the real thing of Rushton oar locks and those for Morris. If you have photos of the fitting that goes on the Mahogany attachment that Kathy photographed that would be great too. :)
Denis
 
Catalog pages attached show Rushton oarlocks - the first two images from the 1901 catalog, the last from the circa 1915 catalog. Earlier catalogs don't show the same variety of oarlocks, and these cover the Indian Girl era. In any case, Rushton hardware was mostly made by Baisdell in Utica, NY, so the styles will be found elsewhere as well (the outrigger Rushton shows is common on the skiffs made on the St. Lawrence).

Your Morris photo may have the "Racine-style" oarlocks, hard to say from the photo... There should be photos of a Morris with these oarlocks and pads like yours posted to these forums somewhere... (found it - here: http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?t=1355)

Dan

PS We should be running another bronze casting class this summer, if you want to try your hand at making a pair...
 

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Saw these posts and need help if possible. I sent Mark a pm. i just picked up an OT Camper in royalex and it came with a drop in white large looking fiberglass insert with oar locks. Is this an OT product from the 1950's? Any pics somewhere? I contacted OT earlier. Thanks David
 
i just picked up an OT Camper in royalex and it came with a drop in white large looking fiberglass insert with oar locks. Is this an OT product from the 1950's? Any pics somewhere?

It is an Old Town product that was first listed for $95 on page 22 in the 1974 catalog with a picture on page 31. The 1975 catalog had a better picture as shown below. It continued to be shown and listed occasionally in the catalogs up through the 1990s. More information like this is available from http://store.wcha.org/The-Complete-Old-Town-Canoe-Company-Catalog-Collection-CD-ROM.html in the catalog collection. Please reply here if this doesn't answer your question. Thanks,

Benson
 

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That's it! Awesome! So is it cool that I got one? I'm thinking yes. Thank you so much Benson. So where do I go to show it off? Time to plan a trip!
 
That's it! Awesome! So is it cool that I got one? I'm thinking yes. Thank you so much Benson. So where do I go to show it off? Time to plan a trip!

I think that it is cool, but I like most of Old Town's products. You could drop it into a nice wooden canoe and show it off at nearly any wooden boat show but you might be upstaged if anyone else shows up with an older wooden version. Things like this fall in a bit of an awkward stage. Most people who like old canoes focus on the wooden ones and most people who like plastics get excited about the newer canoes. The FiberGlassics group at http://www.fiberglassics.com/glassic-forums/ might have some interest but they are usually focused on motor boats. People who like rowing in canoes are a very small subset of those who like to row or anyone who likes to canoe. Have fun,

Benson
 
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