fettle Loki.
Would any of you be free to tackle this starting weekend 10th 11th March?
I think for this year we should refettle the existing oars - and then
consider building some something similar to the merrywherry oars. There are
a pair at Leckmelm and they are simply amazing. We could build them using
strips of the douglas fir. Strathkanaird Chris is thinking of buying a set
of plans I am sure we could halve the costs (about £20 each).
Sandy and I measured our existing oars and took various measurements. One
of our problems is that the oars slip outwards increasing our gear ratio, at
times we were some 10 % over geared! Our feeling is that the middle 2
should stay the same length, the stroke reduced (perhaps abit more) and the
bow a little. I think the inboard outboard ratio should be 1 to 2.8.
We would like to replace the rope with a Kabe and pin arrangement which has
been seen to work well on other boats. This would allow us to put in
'collars' at set gearing and round the shaft at the pivot point so we could
feather oars.
Footboards need to be extended so that we can rest both feet on them when
sitting offset (more important for seats 2 and 3).
Reposition Loki's head, see pictures and let me know what you
think!
We don't think that we need to repaint the whole boat, just touch up a few
spots.
Paul