Two-piece oar storage on the Spindrift Nesting Dinghy.

A clever 2 piece oar storage solution for the Spindrift Nesting Dinghy.

We are regularly asked where these 2 piece oars can be purchased and if our spindrift plans show details for this setup. Unfortunately we suspect these oars were home build as was the clever setup for storing them which includes a pad lockable hasp and staple! The clever builder who came up with this modification, if you’re out there and reading this, feel free to let us know how it worked! We suspect the oars are a bit short to row well but their simple storage probably makes up for it. Recently another builder did a similar add on to his Spindrift using some commercially available oars so we thought we’d share his pictures.

Thanks to James for this explanation on how he built his stowable take-a-part oars on his Spindrift 11 Nesting seen below.

“Here is the website where I purchased the oars. I bought the split oars with stops. I purchased the split with oar locks and the locks are fixed and cannot be easily adjusted, they would not ride well, and are a potential hazard to a person when stored in the boat. 

Attached are pics of how I stored the ends of the oars by the bulkhead. I would do it differently now in that it would be one piece instead of two. However, I do like the attachment method with the shock cord as it's easily replaceable and holds the oars very well. They will not bounce around and can be used as a handhold/rail. I did place a 90 durometer rubber on the holders to aid in gripping the oar. It works really well. They are very easily removed and put back in place and will never leave the boat, which I like very much. In regards to the bench seat, I had to modify it so the oars can be installed or removed while the seat is in place. I added an elbow bench support that you can see in the pictures. This works very well.

The correct length of the oar for this boat (Spindrift 11) is 8'-6". There was a balance of oar length and how much space the oar takes up in the bow section. I am using an 8' oar. The front end is captured in a PVC tube that has one end capped with fiberglass and resin and the other end in a piece of 3/4"' plywood. The ply was encapsulated with epoxy and has 3 t-nuts on the bow side and attached to the boat with three 1/4-20 machine screws. I placed a piece of 3/16" rubber in between the plywood and the bulkhead to make the bulkhead watertight. The hole for the oar in the gasket is small that the diameter of the oar and has slits radiating from the center out to the end of the bulkhead oar so that the rubber holds the oar in place. The metal oar does not touch the wood and is held very securely in place by the gasket. One important thing for me was to have this whole assembly removable for repair. That is the reason I used the t-nuts and machine screw. “ -James

View of forward bulkhead with PVC pipe sockets.