Can you scull a peapod ?

[PeterSibley]

I was looking at Doug Hylan's Beach Pea :) ,a lovely little boat and wondered if a man could stand far enough aft to scull her ....what does the panel think ?

[boylesboats]

probably, if ya balance the load fore and aft...

BTW, which end is fore and aft? Most of Peapod ends are identical

[Yeadon]

When the wind blows hard enough, they'll go sideways, too.

I've thought about putting an oarlock on the back of my peapod. It could double as a sculling station, and a back-up rudder. I bet it could be done, though finding the right balance would be key.

[PeterSibley]

probably, if ya balance the load fore and aft...

BTW, which end is fore and aft? Most of Peapod ends are identical

Fore is where you're going , aft is where you've been :) .

[PeterSibley]

probably, if ya balance the load fore and aft...

BTW, which end is fore and aft? Most of Peapod ends are identical

Fore is where you're going , aft is where you've been :) .

So you reckon it would work ? That makes the design much more likely to be built around here :D.

[rbgarr]

For sculling expertise, Ben (B. A. G.?) Fuller is The Man here on the WBF.

[boylesboats]

Fore is where you're going , aft is where you've been :) .

So you reckon it would work ? That makes the design much more likely to be built around here :D.

You may find a way to mount a special setup across rails for scull locks, perferred a clamped in place kinds..

As much I enjoys reading John Gardner books... I like Matinicus Peapod designs...

[Larks]

and I thought you were talking about some kind of cocktail...:p:D

[PeterSibley]

A green one :D ,moving onto a schooner :D

[Thorne]

I suspect you can scull one, but the yuloh / sculling-thingie might need to be nearly as long as the boat. Probably not very effective with a standard length oar for that size boat, but let's see what the experts say...

http://www.amateurboatbuilding.com/articles/howto/sculling_oar/
http://www.simplicityboats.com/yulohpage.html

[Falcon500]

I made a sculling oar (8') for my duck boat, and tried it on eight foot nutshell pram, it has some tracking problems, i found that with the centerboard halfway down i could go out in light winds. Its not the fastest way to get around but it can be a delight. i use the "falling leaf" scull so i only need a shallow notch in the transom (not applicable in your case)

In your case i would use a single oarlock mounted about perpendicular to that hole in the thwart. problem is though, is that it is convenient (in my opinion) to sit side saddle like using an outboard motor. Though there seems to be a rowing thwart and then a convenient spot for the oar lock would be right near the forward edge of the "aft" thwart

[rbgarr]

A yuloh can be built so that it has a sweeping curve and will store along one side of the hull atop the thwarts quite handily.

[James McMullen]

Sure you can! Just mount an extra oarlock on the port quarter like a whaleboat. I did that on Dragonfly for in case I ever broke an oar or an oarlock or my rudder.

The real trick is learning how to scull well in the first place.

[rbgarr]

Like Jim says, and it can be used for steering also. Pete Culler's 16' Race Point Surf Boat:

http://i40.tinypic.com/b5pjpk.jpg

[ShagRock]

A sculling oar (western design, not Chinese) is a standard piece of equipment on small fishing boats in the Northeast Atlantic. Best shaped from a single stick like spruce. I used them often, but mostly in skiffs with hull shape similar to Whitehall. A longer one, i.e. 12' is much more effective than a short one. Great propulsion on flat water or in light winds, but oars are obviously better in heavy waves. I wonder how this compares with it's effectiveness in a double end design? I notice the one in the picture above does not appear to have a wooden pin (dowel) set in the handle which gives a big boost for the sculling power.

[rbgarr]

I notice the one in the picture above does not appear to have a wooden pin (dowel) set in the handle which gives a big boost for the sculling power.

It was a steering oar only.

[ShagRock]

I see now! She's steering! By the way, a regular oar makes a terrible sculling oar.

[Yeadon]

Can someone show me a photo of a proper sculling oar? This is probably going to happen this summer on Big Food. I just decided.

[boylesboats]

Yeadon,
sculling oars aren't like rowing oars..

http://home.hiwaay.net/~parsons/Oars2.html

Here is a link shows how sculling is done http://councill.home.mindspring.com/sbjournal/sculling/scull1.html

[Ian McColgin]

With Leeward, a double ended gunning dory, I put a sculling lock on the starboard side about a foot and a half ahead of the very stern, cocked out a very little and back a little more. Being right handed, this let me stand centered ahead of the stern sheets and with an 8' oar scull nicely, the blade right in the middle of the wake.

For a practical pod that's rowed and sculled, use an oar, not yuloh. I've not even heard of much less used a "sculling oar" but I can tell you that so long as your regular oars are symetrical, like working oars and not like the cupped fussey things you might see about, they will work finastkind for sculling if they are long enough.

G'luck

[PeterSibley]

Thank you gentlemen ! Good advice as usual .:)

[boatbear]

I made a 9' sculling oar for Sweet Fanny (18' Sea Chanty dory). When used in the central transom notch the boat feels slightly unbalanced and I have to shift some ballast. I like Ian's approach, with an off centre oarlock. That's been put on the list, for when that is the next thing to do, one day, in the fullness of time, etc

Sculling is a lovely way to get around on flat water once you get the hang of it.

[ShagRock]

not like the cupped fussey things you might see aboutIan, I agree in that most of the working fishing boats in my neck of the woods had 'straight' sculling oars, but were honed done such that the water end had a good deal more flex (to fish tail) compared to a regular oar. The hole in the transom was usually heart-shaped so the flat end could be pulled aboard. The thole pin in the handle (about 6" from the end) served a couple of purposes: 1) it stopped the oar from slipping out the hole, so you could release it and tend to other matters; 2) it aided one to use the scull with one hand to keep the boat headed up to windward while hand lining for fish with the other, i.e. a way of checking out the fishing ground before dropping anchor. Btw, just my opinion, but choice of location, port or starboard, could be based on one being left or right handed. Mostly on the port, but photos at the Mystic Seaport Museum show Ben Fuller with his oarlock on the starboard side standing in a small double ender.

And Charlie's got a good point that one can garner a good speed once you get the technique down - of course one needs to be standing for this and a 9-10' one gives you more power than a shorter one.

[Ben Fuller]

I am glad that our old sculling article is floating around in net space. Sam did a followup in WoodenBoat with more pics. As you can see from that article I have an outrigger that I can mount on the ducker for sculling and you can see the one that is on the Culler boat. On my Harrier I have a outrigger that supports the mizzen boomkin and also serves for a sculling oar lock.

A regular oar works fine but a dedicated sculling oar is better. My old maple cut down lifeboat oar has a 4 foot blade and I think at least a 6 foot shaft. Its usually the only thing I take with me sailing my good little skiff; serves as the rudder as well.

The long shaft lets you get into the middle of the boat and gets the blade buried. The larger blade area allows a nice low rpm stroke.

Offset oar locks or notches work well. On the right where I have it on the ducker it lets me scull right handed facing forward. But for real power you need to get two hands on the oar and most Bahamanian boats as well as gunning boats rigged for right handers have the notch on the left.

A spoon oar actually is not bad with the cup down. It's how to bring a shell sideways into the dock. Wade Smith was using his 9'6" concept 2 oar as a sculling oar on his Bahama dinghy at the small reach regatta.

[nedL]

While growing up I had a 16' banks dory (not much bigger than a peapod) and it was real easy to scull. Almost as fast as rowing & with just one of her regular oars. Should be easy to do.