A long sweep

Dylan,

Here is guidance from an article by Larry Pardey, who regularly skulled Seraffyn: If you can find a lifeboat oar they work well but if not you can make one. You should make a 14' sweep on which the blade area is 4' long, 5.5" wide. Shaft diameter should be 2", tapering over the last 6' to end in a 0.5" thickness of blade. Some sag over the length of the oar when the blade is horizontal is ok, but no more than two or three inches. It should have no sag when the blade is vertical.

Proportions above are for a 14' oar, but length will be determined to a large extent by freeboard - more freeboard, longer oar to get the angle of dangle right. His boat was 3.3' from LWL to oarlock and he used a 13'9" oar. His later boat is 4' from LWL to oarlaock and he uses a 15'9" oar.

The inboard end of the oar should be chest height whilst standing to one side of it, and you'll need two feet of athwartship movement space.

Larry claims a child can skull a 30' boat with the right technique.

Hope this helps!
 
Rudder design

Dylan
I have used both a pivoting and a vertically lifting rudder on one boat (at different times). I found the vertical lifting rudder much easier to use when fully lowered or partly lifted. In fact I only needed half of it lowered in most conditions. The full area was needed when it was very windy or there was very little wind. The design angled the vertical blade slightly forwards of vertical to give a little balance to the rudder. The vertical blade had a selection of holes through it and a pin to fix the depth of blade used.
A friend changed his rudder to the same system- partly because he had to reverse his boat in shallow water to its berth and a pivoting blade was almost impossible to use when partly raised.

G


Timpenny 22 main cabin hatch mould available- free to a good home
 
Have you tried drudging?

dylanwinter said:
One of the things I love doing is bumping up a channel with the incoming tide

drift and bump.... drift and bump

I do not intend to make progress through the water - well not that much - just use the oar to position myself in the right part of the stream

I did have a go at steering the boat with the rudder up and it did not feel good

the rudder on the boat does look a bit vulnerable to me

the rudder on the slug was the same depth as the long keel and had a stub keel either side of it

the Minstrel rudder looks much more vulnerable - so a back up steering system would be most re-assuring

as for sea keeping....

I am hoping that the life-boat shape is one that offers plenty of bouyancy for a following sea - and it those that are the really frightening ones

So, how long are yacht sweeps

at one time they must have been pretty common


Dylan
Click to expand...

Dylan,
Try dragging a lump of ballast on a length of rope from the stern. It will keep you headed in the right direction and you can choose how deep your patch of water is by adjusting the length of the rope!
Nigel
 
If you're going to be hitting the bottom with any regularity, a daggerboard rudder is a bad idea.

Anyway.
Collars and Suttons make wooden blades. Not cheap when new.

http://www.suttonblades.co.uk
http://www.collars.co.uk

XOD class rules require one 8' sweep onboard when racing. Might be worth asking the class association if they know of any second hand blades going knocking. Is 8' long enough?

Or are these long enough?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/lahna-res...oods_Canoeing_Kayaking_ET&hash=item27c80d1e31
 
the barges

Swinranger said:
Dylan,
Try dragging a lump of ballast on a length of rope from the stern. It will keep you headed in the right direction and you can choose how deep your patch of water is by adjusting the length of the rope!
Nigel
Click to expand...

the barges used to do that

with a weight from a bridle so that they could steer

I have to say .... there might be better steering devices available

as for a lifting rudder without the option of a kick-up

I think I stand a chance of tearing the back out of the boat

I am going to try a steering oar - if I can find one

what about a rowing club - do they have old long oars

needless to say I shall make a film about it

Dylan
 
12 foot

Keen_Ed said:
If you're going to be hitting the bottom with any regularity, a daggerboard rudder is a bad idea.

Anyway.
Collars and Suttons make wooden blades. Not cheap when new.

http://www.suttonblades.co.uk
http://www.collars.co.uk

XOD class rules require one 8' sweep onboard when racing. Might be worth asking the class association if they know of any second hand blades going knocking. Is 8' long enough?

Or are these long enough?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/lahna-res...oods_Canoeing_Kayaking_ET&hash=item27c80d1e31
Click to expand...



I have been playing with long sticks in the garden while the boat is still marooned in Bucks

..... I think it needs to be at least 10 foot long - probably 12

Dylan
 
Steering with a drudge weight

IIRC from reading about windjammers they used an anchor deliberately tied foul. Thus they were held by the bow & speed was controlled by increasing & reducing scope to control the speed of drag as the depth varied.

Hence they travelled upstream backwards & the rudder could be used to veer the ship in the current & therefore steer. This was the key benefit of drudging over drifting, if you are drifting, the rudder is ineffective as there is no water flow across it.

Dylan's issue is with maintaing control while sailing in water too shallow for his rudder. In addition, a sweep will allow some steerage while drifting with the current & even some propulsion.
 
you understand

Searush said:
IIRC from reading about windjammers they used an anchor deliberately tied foul. Thus they were held by the bow & speed was controlled by increasing & reducing scope to control the speed of drag as the depth varied.

Hence they travelled upstream backwards & the rudder could be used to veer the ship in the current & therefore steer. This was the key benefit of drudging over drifting, if you are drifting, the rudder is ineffective as there is no water flow across it.

Dylan's issue is with maintaing control while sailing in water too shallow for his rudder. In addition, a sweep will allow some steerage while drifting with the current & even some propulsion.
Click to expand...

I am concerned that Searush appears to completely understand what I am attempting to achieve

I now find that I have started to grow large quantities of snowy white hair, around my face and from every conceivable orifice

Dylan
 
dylanwinter said:
what about a rowing club - do they have old long oars
Click to expand...

Rowing blades are assymetrical - with old wooden blades (never oars, btw), the loom is flat on one side. With modern carbon blades, the loom is round but the spoon is a curved hatchet shape.

Might be worth asking a club to see if someone will sell you an old carbon sweep blade, you could chop off the spoon and use the loom.

Club finder: http://www.britishrowing.org/clubs
 
How about these for serious sweeps...

IMG_1704close.jpg


The annual Thames Barge Driving Race.
http://www.greenlandpassage.co.uk/bargerace.html
http://www.pla.co.uk/display_fixedpage.cfm/id/308
 
You don't want a cast off from river racing. A spoon or hatchet blade is not good because for steering you will want something symetrical. Also a spoon/ hatchet is a bit more delicate at the business end, and you will almost inevitably end up punting with it too. So trawl e bay for second hand life boat oars (which tend to be a bit bendy, but for steering/ punting that is not going to matter) or old admiralty oars. They are out there, we have bought about 10 in the past 2 years. Lifeboat oars were £10 a pop, although the bloke who got them in the first place did buy in big bulk.

I guess 12' might be about right for your purpose. Our admiralty oars were 14 foot, but we cut them down. Of course storing the oar when not in use might be what limits your choice a bit.
 
Surf life boats

Keen_Ed said:
How about an Aussie surf boat sweep oar?
sweepoar2.jpg


index.php


I think I saw some surf boats in the Jubilee pageant. Wonder where they're from?

Perhaps these guys can help. http://www.uksrl.co.uk/
Click to expand...

That is a nice picture . The boats are really nothing special being very light weight and open with as you can see very long oars. It is the handling of them that is remarkable. Fortunately all good swimmers in relatively warm water means no one minds being tipped out. (note LJs never worn)
Last year there was some spectacular footage on oz tele of 2 of these boats in a competition. (race) The front boat seemed to broach sideways in the surf and following boat went over the top of it about midships and at rightangles. Miraculaously the rower(s) in the middle of the front boat ducked blow the gunwhale to have the other hull pass over them. I was amazed but it seems that this is not uncommon mishap. Note the way they let the oars go when things get hairy. These boats are mostly used for competition now being replaced by RIB with o/b engine for actual rescues. Yes a sweep oar would be ideal for a try. olewill
 
I had a sweep for many years until someone borrowed it. It was a great adjunct to the unreliable outboard and was frequently used to get my quarter tonner in and out of Shoreham locks. Conveniently it was bent, which meant it fitted along the guard wires and had a degree of self stability when sculling. I've no idea whether that was by design, but I suspect not.

It was more reliable than any motor and provided good lateral control but I could only manage a couple of knots, if that.

Don't fall in!

I used it lashed to the pushpit, no fancy fittings needed.
 
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