Captive rowlocks

[Kelpie]

Per my other thread, my dinghy is out of action just now. Good time to tackle a few other jobs.

I row a lot- in a year of living aboard we've used ten litres of petrol. So no crappy plastic or brass rowlocks, thank you.

I'm currently using a pair of galvanised captive rowlocks from Toplicht, they were about €30/pair. Looked the part but they aren't the best quality- lots of play, and one of them is no longer even captive, but can come out of you hold it at a certain angle.

Can anybody suggest better quality ones? I'm thinking of the galvanised Davey version of what I already have, but at €51 per rowlock they'd better be worth it

 

[srm]

A block of wood scarfed into the side of the oar with a hole in it that drops over a single thole pin secured in the gunwhale, both positioned so the blade is vertical, was used on working boats. You can let the oars go without loosing them. Oars were usually a square section over the gunwhale which had a wood block to take the wear. I looked for a pic online but everything I found was more complicated.

 

[LittleSister]

I suspect I'm missing something here, but what's the problem with normal rowlocks?

Bit of cord tied through the hole in the bottom of the rowlock shaft, then through the centre of a piece of wooden or plastic dowel, or whatever, only just thin enough to go through the receiving hole, and grooved or pared down on one side from one end to the hole in the middle to allow both the rowlock and cord to pass through the rowlock if you want to remove the rowlock. It will remain attached to the boat , whether in position or not, unless you deliberately negotiate the dowel through the receiving 'gudgeon' hole.

If you want to stop them clattering about when they're not in the upright position just use a suitable sized plastic clip for the shaft, or a bit of bungy cord secured to the inside of the gunwhale.

Worried about them being stolen? Take them with you when you leave the boat, and/or have a couple of spares clipped, out of sight, under the thwart.

 

[srm]

Even simpler than @LittleSister I have a loop of cord attached to the bottom of the (plastic) rowlock. Length so that I can thread the loop through the rowlock mount tube and just loop the end back over the rowlock when its in position. Have used it for a few years while living aboard. Also, have a pair of stops around the loom of the (over length) oars so that they remain in the correct position and do not slide through the rowlocks.

 

[Kelpie]

I've used oars with bits of string, bungee, etc on them before, and whilst it can work ok I don't mind paying a bit more for something better.
The boat is 11ft and often heavily loaded, I wouldn't be confident with plastic rowlocks (don't they squeak a lot too?)

The captive designs tick all the boxes- I don't want to carry rowlocks around with me, I don't want them to get stolen or lost if I capsize (the tender also has a sailing rig).

Just wondering if the Davey ones are actually any better than the ones I've already got.

 

[Plum]

Per my other thread, my dinghy is out of action just now. Good time to tackle a few other jobs.

I row a lot- in a year of living aboard we've used ten litres of petrol. So no crappy plastic or brass rowlocks, thank you.

I'm currently using a pair of galvanised captive rowlocks from Toplicht, they were about €30/pair. Looked the part but they aren't the best quality- lots of play, and one of them is no longer even captive, but can come out of you hold it at a certain angle.

Can anybody suggest better quality ones? I'm thinking of the galvanised Davey version of what I already have, but at €51 per rowlock they'd better be worth it

Hi. I have these excellent quality ones, albeit at a high price:- Bronze Rowlock - Captive (single) although this is not the supplier I used, mine came from Dave & Co. (part number 1050GM) many years ago. You rotate them 180 degrees to drop them down.

www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

 

[Kelpie]

Hi. I have these excellent quality ones, albeit at a high price:- Bronze Rowlock - Captive (single) although this is not the supplier I used, mine came from Dave & Co. (part number 1050GM) many years ago. You rotate them 180 degrees to drop them down.

www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

Those do look like the 'money no object' option!
In the end I decided to buy the galvanised Davey ones. I'm sure they'll be fine. I'm £60 worse off now.

When removing the existing Toplicht rowlocks as part of the repair/refurb, I managed to shear off three of the screws. Not good. On the plus side, I found that the very loose socket, from which the be rowlock could easily be removed, was actually very easy to tighten up- by bashing it with a hammer a few times. So I didn't really need to replace them in the end. Anyway the new Davey ones will presumably have different hole spacings so will solve the problem of the sheared screws. An expensive way of fixing the problem!!