Rowlocks and sockets, in chrome...tasteless bling, or just fabulous?

Greenheart

Greenheart

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I finally got my rowlocks and matching sockets, courtesy of Norfolk Marine. I'm really pleased with them, but it just occurred to me, they may be too fantastic...

...they're as shiny as the grille of an old Rolls Royce.

View attachment 32870

No. No, I'm ecstatically happy with 'em. Any day now, I'll spend several exhausting hours hand-drilling through the inch-thick sidedecks to house the sockets.

Is there a sure-formula for the best spot to place them, relative to the rowing seat? I heard 12" behind the seat is ideal, but I'm not sure.

Having emptied my tube of single-use Sikaflex, I'm thinking I could use ordinary mastic to seal the socket-hole. Any good reason not to?
 
Those are very smart. Yes, 12" or 13" behind the aft edge of the thwart is about right. Make sure you've got room underneath the sockets for those long shafts. I've had chrome rowlocks on my dinghy, which is used extensively, for several years now and they still look pretty good.
You should be fine with normal mastic for mounting purposes but you won't be able to "seal the socket-hole" otherwise you won't get the rowlocks in;) Make sure you can drain any compartment you drill into.
 
dancrane said:
I finally got my rowlocks and matching sockets, courtesy of Norfolk Marine. I'm really pleased with them, but it just occurred to me, they may be too fantastic...

...they're as shiny as the grille of an old Rolls Royce.

View attachment 32870

No. No, I'm ecstatically happy with 'em. Any day now, I'll spend several exhausting hours hand-drilling through the inch-thick sidedecks to house the sockets.

Is there a sure-formula for the best spot to place them, relative to the rowing seat? I heard 12" behind the seat is ideal, but I'm not sure.

Having emptied my tube of single-use Sikaflex, I'm thinking I could use ordinary mastic to seal the socket-hole. Any good reason not to?
Click to expand...

Far better than the plastic type, that start to bend when you put any force on the oars :)
 
Thanks for that, Alahol, Knuterikt. I'll photo them in situ. My sidedecks are almost exactly as thick as the sockets are deep, so it should be a neat job.

Solid GRP sidedecks, though...and a sixty or seventy year-old hand-drill, to bore 17mm holes...it'll be at least a long hour's work, I expect!
 
Dan,

I have a chrome rowlock socket in the transom coaming of my A22, for Plan D propulsion; a standard rubber bung from a chandlery fits neatly, though if it was for relatively more frequent use like yours may be I'd drill through the bungs and fit lanyards to keep them handy.
 
Cheers Andy, good plan. I'm even starting to appreciate that wacky green colour on the Osprey...how the chrome will look, I can't be sure, but I love how the rowlocks look and feel. Very solid. They weren't all that easy to find, I haven't seen chrome ones for sale anywhere else.
 
Don't forget a bit of string through the hole at the bottom of the shaft and tied onto something under the deck. You wouldn't want to loose shiny kit like that now would you?
 
dancrane said:
My sidedecks are almost exactly as thick as the sockets are deep [...] Solid GRP sidedecks, though
Click to expand...

That doesn't sound plausible to me. GRP that thick as a deck would be massively oversized even on a fairly large yacht. Either you've measured wrong, or it's not GRP all the way through.

Pete
 
Ahem.
I have a pair of those in a drawer in the shed.
Reason: I could not find any collared oars that would fit in their small openings that gave me the right length of oar.
If you need longish oars, check the diameter, including the collar.

I went back to big galvanised ones, but guess what? They have a different diameter shank and won't fit in the hole of the shiny deck fittings.....
 
Nothing wrong with a bit of bling if the dinghy is worth it. I have similar but they are polished stainless steel in a varnished wooden sailing/rowing dinghy.

The scruffy knockabout GRP tenter has slightly rusty galvanised rowlocks.
 
I took great care to measure the oar-collar diameter...the tops of the rowlocks are only just wide enough to let the slenderest part of the oar enter...but in use, there should be minimal play. I hope it works because I gave it plenty of thought. I've known oars pop out of rowlocks at infuriating moments and the ones I've chosen hopefully will not.

I'll wire the rowlocks to the boat...though with them being so tight round the oars, they'd have to slide the whole way down to the blade before falling off...

...on reflection, I may have overlooked the awkwardness of starting off each time, which will need the oars sliding most of their length through the rowlock...

...p'raps I could leave the rowlocks permanently rubber-banded round the oars? Safe, but not slick. :rolleyes:

As to my sidedecks...they're certainly solid something in the 3" wide overhang section...unlike the seat part which is worryingly thin. Whatever it is, instinct says it's going to resist drilling!

I'll need eight screws to fasten the sockets...can I find matching chrome-headed ones, I wonder?
 
Ruffles said:
The ferry at Weymouth has bronze rowlocks.
Click to expand...

That is surprising. Doesn't it have an engine?

I've seen gunmetal rowlocks, as I may have mentioned above. What's the reason for their extraordinary cost?

Are they made from molten metal of guns of the Mary Rose?
 
dancrane said:
That is surprising. Doesn't it have an engine?
Click to expand...

I've only been there a couple of times, and that briefly, but I think the Weymouth ferry is an open rowing boat.

EDIT: Yep, here's a picture of it:

weymouth-harbour-ferry_pics12-1299.jpg


Pete
 
prv said:
...the Weymouth ferry...
weymouth-harbour-ferry_pics12-1299.jpg
Click to expand...

Nice. Do the multiple fenders anticipate collision, or flooding, or both? Do passengers sign an insurance-claim waiver before travelling across the Condor's path?

I couldn't see from Googlemaps, where the rowed ferry crosses. And aren't the big scary Condor cats still sailing from Poole, after the Weymouth dock disintegrated?

I'm wondering whether to attach the rowlock sockets to the deck using screws, or bolts with nuts. The countersunk holes in the sockets suggest screws, but there's only about an inch of depth in the solid sidedeck, and I can imagine them working loose.

There is already an untidy array of bolt-ends and nuts protruding rustily under the sidedeck-overhang, so additional ones won't matter...but bolt-heads will look odd sitting in the countersunk holes intented for screws...

...so is it possible to find BOLTS which fit into countersunk holes? Or, tapered-head screws which a nut can be attached to?
 
This could be what I want, but various rather important factors don't seem to me to have been addressed...the Ebay page doesn't clearly specify the bolt's dimensions, or how many come in a pack. Is anybody bored enough to have a look for me?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M4-A4-Sta...A%2BFICS%2BUFI&otn=21&pmod=370598432883&ps=54

What I want will be 4mm dia bolts with countersunk heads, ideally "marine grade", if that's not just a way of selling junk to salty naive types.
 
As your boat won't be in the water on a permanent basis just get some cheap stainless or chromey-look ones and replace them, should they tarnish.
 
dancrane said:
the Ebay page doesn't clearly specify the bolt's dimensions, or how many come in a pack.
Click to expand...

Eh? Seems pretty clear to me. It's M4, countersunk, with a choice of 25 or 35mm length, and many pack sizes from singles, twos and threes to 20, 30, and 50.

Material is A4 stainless, which is 316 or something like it, and more than adequate for mounting a pair of dinghy rowlocks.

Pete
 
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