Scott Leslie’s Ostkust—Oar Power

Spring 2004, the engine went on strike, and I decided to try converting to muscle power.

I went to Clavey River Equipment in Petaluma, California, and bought a pair of 10' oars, made in New Zealand from "New Zealand ash" (read: eucalyptus?) and a pair of cool horns made from bronze boat screws. I drew up some plans (below left) and built locks from mahogany (Honduran) and bolted them to the cockpit coaming.

The new sweeps work great. Twelve-footers would have worked even better, but been much harder to stow, more awkward in tight quarters, and a lot more expensive.

The engine, as of August 2007, is back in the boat, and the sweeps are now a backup system.