Who Rows?

[BadFish]

I been looking at rowing for some time now, really wanna give it a shot this spring. Only problem is, I DON'T KNOW JACK.

Where can I get a rowing boat, preferably 14' or smaller, so I can store it on my deck or at least on top of my truck so I don't have to buy a slip for it?

How should I go about starting, as I know nothing about it?

Curious, ya know?

Cheers

Bill

[Ziggy]

Try this: ALDEN
Good luck!

[James S]

Rowing is an absolute blast, and you can go like hell.
These look like fun, Virus boats

[waverider]

Badfish

What type of rowing do you want to do? There is Canoe, Kayak, Dory, skiff, etc.
The Dory Shop. Traditional Lunenburg wooden dories, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

I learned to row in a dory, its alot harder then a canoe or kayak but it is very rewarding and good for upper body building. Of course a small boat like a walkerbay is nice just for rowing around the marina and a kayak is nice for rivers and shallow area's.

Good luck, I still row my Zodiac most of the time.

Cheers

Todd

[s/v Beth]

Badfish- you can pick up a rowboat pretty cheap if your willing to look at an old one. You probably want to rent one your first time. Lots of water recreational sites rent them for people. Make sure your want to row. Once you do )
I built my own using epoxy and marine plywood. It is a little tippy but a blast to go to some deserted island on after anchoring my "yacht" (a Compac 23)

There are some days you just have to play Christopher Columbus...

[BadFish]

Guys, the more I looked into it, the more I want a canoe with a rowing rig in it. I found a pretty sweet rowing rig: -=[ Piantedosi Oars - Rowingrigs.com ]=- and been looking at a few canoes on craigslist lately. Really like to get a sweet wood canoe, but fiberglass will do too. Just waitin for April...

Cheers

Bill

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by BadFish

I found a pretty sweet rowing rig: -=[ Piantedosi Oars - Rowingrigs.com ]=-

Where do you put the Mercury?

[James S]

If you’re willing to paddle instead of row, these are cool.

[anotherT34C]

I bought a cheap (2-person) inflatable kayak. Takes 2 min to inflate. Deflated, it takes up as much space as two fenders. Cost ~$100.

[nautical62]

I'd like to row more myself, instead of always relying on an outboard, but I keep coming up with the following problems:

Most inflatables row like barges and come with really crappy oar locks. I'd risk being taken out to sea by the winds and tides frequent in the Bahamas.

Aside from storage issues, the main problem I have in considering a rigid dink is getting back into the thing from the water without flipping it over. I've thought about lashing fenders the side both for protection and flotation. Any thoughts appreciated.

[Pblais]

Kayaks are a bit more sea worthy and tolerant of currents and waves. They are easy to flop on and off the car top too. Rowing shells are the fastest but don't handle waves well at all and they tend to be longer. A single person canoe is also good option. They are shorter than a normal two person canoe and not that hard to learn to paddle. Even a basic alumnimun canoe isn't hard to deal with. At least with those options you look in the direction you go. It's the part of rowing that is tough to get used to.

If you are a mile out and it's getting dark with a bit of weather the outboard is really what you soon grow to love best. For a combo row boat / dinghy I would go for a Trinka. I saw one at the boat show and they really are very well made and better for rowing than about anything I've seen that can pass for a dinghy.

Welcome to Trinka!