Aluminum row boat for kids

[V ger]

At the age of 9 I found my uncles heavy 14 foot wooden rowboat very instructive. While going for a row with my 14 year old brother an a friend of his I quietly slipped the anchor overboard. Covering the anchor rode with a hand on the gunnel I quietly watched my brother and his friend take turns rowing to exhaustion trying to make headway against a perceived extra strong ebb tide. Failing to make headway as single rowers they then put all their strength into rowing the boat with each pulling on a single oar. Once they got their timing right I could no longer keep the rode from slipping aft and exposing my trickery. Thankfully my brother thought that throwing me overboard might generate parental disapproval. As I recall some time after reaching shore my brother taught me that there are limits to tricks you should play on your older brother.

The point is that a rowboat is a great boat for kids to learn with. A row boat is roomy enough to accommodate a few friends, stable enough to allow trading places and makes a great fishing platform. Swimming from a rowboat is much more doable as re-boarding is much simpler. What better reason to go for a row than find a favorite fishing spot or swimming locale. A few sandwiches something to drink and the kids can enjoy the freedom of a mini adventure without being able to go so far as to panic their parents.

One note regarding canoes is that the beam to length ratio means that no section of the hull has enough buoyancy to support the hull on a steep wake and prevent swamping.

[fatlazyless]

Hey aps ....my little Walker Bay 7' rowboat came with the mast-sail-centerboard, rudder and extra flotation doo-dah ....just bought this boat about a month ago used, and am waiting for the water to warm up before going sailing.....to be safe.

If you have a mooring at your cottage that's good for a sailboat, the Unique Boat Restoration on Rt 25 in Moultonborough recently got a 2010 Precision 165 day sailor in like new condition with a 3.3hp-Mercury and a good trailer for $5750. It is like an $18,000 boat when new, and this one looks like new. It has a permanent weighted keel that extends down maybe three feet.....and could be fitted with oarlocks and some 8' oars .....row row row......until the breeze picks up.....seems like a new boat.

[V ger]

The attached illustrations demonstrate the relative merits of unpinned ring oarlocks versus pinned oarlocks when docking at a typical dingy dock. Coming along side another boat or piling will give similar results. Leaving a dingy dock against an adverse wind and/or current with unpinned ring oar locks will allow the rower to begin rowing as soon as the oarlock sockets are clear of the adjacent boats. With pinned oars shipped blades forward rowing may not commence until the forward stowed oar blades are clear of the adjacent boats.
Ab adverse wind and/or current may prevent reaching that point.

[jmarshall753]

I have an aluminum row boat in my yard. Laconia, near weirs. Reasonably priced. Email if interested to take a look. Jayymarr@yahoo.com

[TheProfessor]

I just sold my used 12' aluminum row boat v hull - with oars for $450.00.
Craigslist.
First person to come bought it.

[nhcatrider]

Make sure when you are rowing you are keeping a proper lookout. My 8 year old daughter almost got run over by 2 in a row boat, she was on a 6 foot kayak with me about 6 feet away. Kids in the boat had no idea she was there, or the large rock right in front of her that they did hit.

[fatlazyless]

Rowing usually means you pull on the oars with your back to the bow, and you are looking to the stern of the boat, or looking backwards from where you are rowing?

Maybe rowboats could be federally required to have rear view mirrors or a back-up cam to see where you are rowing?

[ApS]

Interesting point from The Hull Truth website:

the real problem here is that aluminum "rowboats" have a wide square transom for the motor!

the wide square transom kills all the speed due to hydrodynamic inefficiency.

If you need to be convinced, go hop in your local aluminum row boat (with no outboard) with a medium sized kid as passenger. have the kid sit in the back while you row a ways. now have the kid move way up front (ideally so that the bottom of the transom is out of the water) and row some more. you will be quite surprised at the difference.

if the bottom of the transom is out of the water then the water can flow out from under the boat much more easily and the boat will row much better...aluminum "rowboats" are designed for outboard motors.

(But I was really Googling for this photo—not the included message).



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[noreast]

Looks like a walmart add for a boat. You know that cigarette ended up in the water.