I have recently bought a mark III. It has no rowlocks. I was thinking about fitting some through the edge of the gunnel and bolting into a piece of hardwood to run forward to join in with the shrouds U bolt. Any advice on fore and aft measurements for where rowlock should sit reference centre thwart? thanks, James
I cant get to my boat today but try this maybe. Working on the basis that most owners will want rowlocks its likely that the proper wood pad for them has been moulded in. We have talked before on the forum about how you search for these blocks! Myself id probably just search with a needle-fine drill and then fill with resin from a syringe. Personally I would not put rowlocks where you are thinking as that curved edge is a very useful asset of this particular boat which I wouldnt weaken myself. On basic principles the edges of structures tend to be the most stressed and a hole there would be likely to be the focus of a major break given a side blow. PS theres maybe some chance you can find the pad without any damage by searching with a tape mesaure etc through inspection hatches
thanks mark. what about piercing "air tanks"? if boat capsizes (on purpose for drill clearly!) will rowlocks not allow water in? do you mean fit new inspection hatches - I only have 2 at bow. think I would prefer bolts to screws...thanks for advice
Hi James, well i wouldnt term the space between outer and inner skins as air tanks unless youve actually been into them installed bulkheads and made them airtight. If youve a basic Mk3 (long bow compartment) Id say its well worth doing that and that the easiest way to do it is make 'a whizz-wheel' by gaffa-taping an industrial hoover to a thin wheel angle grinder and slitting out a temporary large hatch in the bulkhead...full width between the seats from two inches down to just above the mast step....allowing a two inch flange all round. This allows easy access to reach in and seperate the bow compartment from the sides with roughly triangular marine ply and fibreglass infills...and then tape the bulkead back on. I put the bulkhead back by self tapping a plywood flange inside, bedded in polyester filler, and then bedding the cut out panel to this and finally finishing with grp tape and a colour matched polyester flowcoat. Theres a couple of things you can do while youre in there...strengthen the mast step support which is typically a bit flimsy.... and while the cut out is on a bench its very easy to change the hatches to eight inch RWO cam locks. The cams have sharp edges that need a good sand but otherwise they are very good system for one handed access whilst sailing. I also remove and reseal the bow metalwork and install a low down u-bolt type of rope eye in the bow through a piece of shaped oak bedded in filler. This will take the boat being towed at speed and is generally really useful. And I also add another grp layer underwater and freshen everything up with a fresh coat of polyester flow coat...with a little bit of ply floor glassed in in case of any dribbles finding their way in...in all making a large and extremely handy dry storage space.
And of course while thats going on you can explore for rowlock blocks!
The system I use now is welding a sealed tube under conventional rowlock mounts. There is a standard heavy wall ms pipe that does this nicely...its steel gas pipe maybe. It would be nice to re-galvanize but acvtually i just smother with epoxy! These heavy duty rowlocks are no nuisance providing the entire mount is let in flush with the surface and deburred periodically after lots of rowing so it doesnt rip w/proofs when sitting out.
Hello Mark. I've got a Mk3 which had original nylon rowlocks that were flimsy to say the least. I bought a pair of Plastimo Alloy rowlocks (very sturdy) that can easily be removed from the socket - they have a type of bayonet fitting that locks them into the socket by turning them through 180 degrees. The socket is blind, so that when fitted there is no water ingress (as long as you seal under the flange of course!). As for the wood backing plate, it was in position already on my dinghy, so I just drilled through with a larger bit to accept the new sockets. After a season of tripping over the oars which I had bungee'd either side of the centre case, I finished cutting them in half yesterday and making a ferrule with a length of ally tube and some bolts/and 'R' clips to assemble them to their former glory. I'll be fixing them to the centre board case with a couple of lengths of epoxied and taped marine ply and then adding some tube clips to keep them secure while sailing. If you're interested in the rowlocks or the oar stuff, drop me a line at gcurrell(at) sky (dot) com and I'll send some pictures
fitting rowlocks to a mark III
Posted - 14/01/2010 : 13:23:14
