Rowing hardware for a canoe?

[Howie]

I have a fella who is wondering if I could add rowing hardware to one of his canoes.

I at first balked at the idea thinking that the inner rails wouldn't be able to handle the stress. But I was just reading the recent thread titled 'Grit in Paint' by GreenThumbed. In it Andre Cloutier included a pic of a canoe with what appears to be capable of being rowed. That is, there is a block of wood attached to the underside of each inner rail and what appears to be a hole in the block that goes up through the rail. See pic below:

So I'm thinking that it is possible to equip a canoe for rowing. Anybody ever done it?, or owns such a canoe? I'm finishing up restoring a 17ft Thompson Hiawatha for him. It seems to me to be a good candidate for such a mod. Where might suitable rowing hardware be obtained?

O... and I did a Google and saw this rig for sale for $85 at https://clcboats.com/shop/products/boat-gear/rowing-gear-accessories/canoe-rowing-rig.html

 

[MGC]

My recollection is that you restored a canoe with a rowing apparatus, and then sold it back (?) to the original owner? I don't remember how I ended up in that deal, but I do remember looking the canoe over at the owners house....maybe I tipped you off on it?
Whatever the case, most of the canoes I have seen that are set up to row, are sponson canoes.
If you look at the Morris Kip recently sold, that was also set up for rowing.

 

[Andre Cloutier]

Anybody ever done it?, or owns such a canoe?
Nope, never seen one before.

 

[Howie]

Mike: Nope. Never worked on with row.... Hell, as I was typing i suddenly remember the canoe you were thinking of. It was the canoe in Brighton you clued me in on, located between Clover Rd & Wegmans, south of East Ave. I don't remember the canoe having holes for oar locks but it did come with an Old Town rowing seat.

 

[Dave Osborn]

This is from a BN Morris canoe that I restored and is now on display at the Wisconsin Canoe Heritage Museum. In addition to some kind of wood on top of the gunwales, I like to add small wooden spacers between the ribs to strengthen the area as well as add a place where screws can hold better.
(Sorry, no matter what I try it’s upside down)

 

[Michael Grace]

Howie - there are numerous ways of setting up a canoe for rowing. Among these are
- Top/side-mounted oarlock sockets as Dave shows above
- Simple top-mount oarlock sockets, which are often used by drilling a hole between inhale and outwale:

- Patent swivel oarlocks as often seen on Old Town and other sponson canoes - mounted to sponson tops

- Bolt-on wooden oarlock sockets as done by the Willits Brothers (uses top/side-mount bases):

- Folding oarlocks as seen in the Morris that just sold through Blanchards

- Drop-in rowing rigs like this Old Town setup:

 

[John Sand]

I had a Canadian 14'(?) square stern set up for rowing, used it as a tender for a couple of seasons. I gave it up because it was too awkward ashore. It rowed well enough.

 

[floydvoid]

Now if you want to really row a canoe like a rowing shell, set up one of these:

Drop-in Rowing Unit: The Best Sliding Seat Unit in the Sport - Exceptionally Smooth

Arguably the best sliding seat unit in the sport, this Drop-in monorail design is simple, elegant, and stiff, with an exceptionally smooth feel. Supplied with Concept 2 oarlocks.

clcboats.com

If you rig up some supports on the floor or gunwales or both, you take the rowing unit out when you move the bot around. A lot of Alden rowing shells are like this.

Also Alex Comb had a rowing canoe setup at the assembly a few years ago and with worked fine. No sliding seat but it wash comfortable and worked. ( I row sweep and sculling boats often fyi)

 

[Howie]

Thanke for the info everybody

 

[Worth Gretter]

I have rowed lots of dinghies and a guideboat but never a canoe. I would think, since a canoe is narrow, you would want the pivot point to be farther out if possible. So the oarlocks mounted on the outside of the gunwale or the folding type make a lot of sense. Even with them, the rower needs to learn to cross the inner ends of the oars in front of their body, and most people bang their fingers a few times before they get the hang of it! Another issue, perhaps more important, is leverage - it's less fun to row when you are pulling a very short section of oar between the lock and your hand.

 

[floydvoid]

Alex’s setup had two wood “riggers” that brought the oar lock out past the gunwale. If he sees this I hope he has a picture. My pictures didn’t show the setup very well.

In a rowing shell the oar handles overlap quite a bit, you get more leverage and stability with this setup. Left in front of right is the more refined way to think of it. The distance between oar lock and handle end is called inboard. Adjusting inboard, outboard, oar length and distance between oar locks (span) changes the gearing of the setup, much like changing gears on a bike.
Thank you for coming to my rowing Ted talk!

 

[Michael Grace]

The Old Town rowing rig above is like this. It drops into the canoe bottom, has a sliding seat, and the oarlocks are positioned outboard of the gunwales. The span isn't great, but it's a bit better than gunwale-mounted oarlocks.

These Old Town rigs were listed in catalogs only from 1966 through 1974 (still there in 1975, but that year it was no longer wooden). Photo from the 1966 catalog:

Unfortunately the "arms" of the rowing rig, which rise from the bottom to the oarlocks, were made of laminated wood and over time the glue can fail especially under use because of the force applied. Sometimes when these are found they may be delaminating.

 

[MGC]

I'm not generally enamored with Morris canoes or with rowing, but the rowing rig that was included with the recently auctioned canoe and the rowing kit shown in Michaels attached image is absolutely elegant. Whoever cast and shaped those had a golden touch. As a designer, seeing a piece of work that succeeds in form, fit and function and also does it elegantly, wow. Hand that person a cigar, a fine Pinot, a Duvel or a Moxie. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

 

[lowangle al]

Howie, you can check with Jerry at Island Falls Canoe. I know he has installed them for people.

 

[David Satter]