I love my sculling oar

[seandepagnier]

My sculling oar is more reliable than any motor. I can do 1.5 knots sitting down with the same effort as walking now that I finally painted my bottom. Before it was hard to go 1 knot!

I have sculled 2-3 miles in windless areas with no problem, I just take a break every 20-30 minutes. I have also sculled in areas with 4-5 knot currents when the wind was equal to the current (useless to sail) to maneuver and make my way.

I can turn the boat in place ( just like an outboard that can swivel 90 degrees) Only thing is I can't go backwards (yet) but I think it's possible with a little modification.

It works better than you would expect in swell because it's possible to time the stroke to the swell in such a way that you can actually deriving propulsive energy from the waves.

I get great exercise as the oar works almost all my muscles at once.

It's a 7 ft x 8 inch plywood bolted to a hardwood 1.5 x 2.5 inch shaft 7ft long, then a 2ft long 1 inch stainless pipe is attached at a 15 degree angle to this with u bolts. The oar sits on a trailer hitch which is thru bolted to the back of the boat. A rope attaches from the stainless handle to the deck.

[Ukeluthier]

I've been seriously considering making up one for my 19' traditional catboat as an emergency backup for my little 1-lung Diesel. The engine has been dead reliable so far -- and the boat IS a sailboat, after all -- but my home slip on the Chesapeake Bay is on a tidal creek with a very narrow, Z-shaped entrance channel that can be impossible to negotiate under sail when the wind is from certain points. And the Bay can be totally windless at times in the summer, and the current foul.

I'd likely have to come up with a collapsible 2-piece design, though, as my cockpit lockers are only 6' long.

[thomm225]

Yep, that sculling oar may be great someplaces but on the lower Chesapeake Bay, sometimes the tides are ripping. You could get pulled out to sea, into the bridge, or worse yet, into one of the tunnel islands if the wind is light.

I guess it all depends on where you are sailing.

Even in Pensacola, FL where they have two relatively easy tides a day, I've sailed by monohulls trying to motorsail out the pass, and they were stationary.

Btw, so as not to confuse, I sailed by them on a Nacra 6.0 or Nacra F-17 Beach Catamaran. They are not only faster sailing but you can aways pull the boards up and sail the shallows where the tide in minimal.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by boat_alexandra

My sculling oar is more reliable than any motor. I can do 1.5 knots sitting down with the same effort as walking now that I finally painted my bottom. Before it was hard to go 1 knot!

...

It's a 7 ft x 8 inch plywood bolted to a hardwood 1.5 x 2.5 inch shaft 7ft long, then a 2ft long 1 inch stainless pipe is attached at a 15 degree angle to this with u bolts. The oar sits on a trailer hitch which is thru bolted to the back of the boat. A rope attaches from the stainless handle to the deck.

Is this what they call a yuloh?

I love the idea of some sort of sculling oar, and we even use our barn door rudder (with tiller) to maneuver around in zero wind. Do you think it would be viable for me to rig a sculling oar for our 30,000# full keel?

[Sun and Moon]

Can you post some pictures?

[SkiprJohn]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Is this what they call a yuloh?

I love the idea of some sort of sculling oar, and we even use our barn door rudder (with tiller) to maneuver around in zero wind. Do you think it would be viable for me to rig a sculling oar for our 30,000# full keel?

By description that is indeed a yuloh. I've seen them in use on youtube videos and it seems like a wonderful means of propulsion in a light current or windless area.

[SkiprJohn]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Is this what they call a yuloh?

I love the idea of some sort of sculling oar, and we even use our barn door rudder (with tiller) to maneuver around in zero wind. Do you think it would be viable for me to rig a sculling oar for our 30,000# full keel?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTSg9iIqkl4

might weigh about 30,000.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by SkiprJohn

might weigh about 30,000.

Cool . I'm gonna sit down and have a good 'tink about this. Maybe I can toss the Perkins .

[SkiprJohn]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Cool . I'm gonna sit down and have a good 'tink about this. Maybe I can toss the Perkins .

Can you toss it to Hawaii?

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by SkiprJohn

Can you toss it to Hawaii?

[seandepagnier]

qwerty

[StuM]

Huh ?

[philaw]

I realise this is an old thread, but the idea of these things intrigues me. Apart from being a backup to the motor, would they work as a jury rudder under sail if the need was there?