Preview: Advanced Rowing with Havilah Hawkins, Part 1 – Techniques and Maneuvers

19 Responses So Far to “Advanced Rowing with Havilah Hawkins, Part 1 – Techniques and Maneuvers”

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  Jennifer Read says:

  Having posted my comment (and not finding how to delete it) I tried to find out more. It looks (?) like it was designed by Mr. Hawkins. What lovely lines!

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    Jennifer Read says:

    The Off Center Skiff. Now I really feel silly – and request a ‘delete comment’ option!

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  Peter Strock says:

  I am a fan of the ~18 foot Gloucester Gull dory. Despite decades of getting in and out of various rowboats the apparent initial instability when getting aboard is always unsettling until she settles down on her flared side. Other than stepping into the bottom or just getting used to it is there anything that will make her behave better, especially for my bride who is always a bit wary?
  On the other hand she-the boat- is so seaworthy in almost any condition and such a pleasure to row that I put up with her small skittishness. Sort of like a co;t when you first put the tack on.

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  Rick Clark says:

  Very relaxing just watching you row…thank you for your tips!!!

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  Martha White says:

  Enjoyable on many levels, Havilah; thank you. Particularly enjoyed your memories of your father.

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  Ben Fuller says:

  Come for a ride in TIPSY the dory this fall or winter. We can look at trim, shifting ballast about, rigging locks to be one handed in and out, stretchers, getting your back into it, a short slide, fendering

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  Dan Mehlman says:

  I’m an experienced canoe/kayak paddler who just rescued and restored a decrepit Oughtred Auk tender/dinghy… not much experience rowing, so this video gave me lots of ideas and things to practice, very valuable and well-explained techniques. Though with round oarlocks and short oars, there is less freedom of movement than in the video.

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  Robert Stumm says:

  Thanks Havilah and the team for another great video. It is a valuable lesson to those who view it how real pleasure can be found in simple activities. I thoroughly endorse your advocacy of the virtues of a flat bottom skiff, given in a previous video. Last year I built a skiff and find it faultless as a light rowing craft for giving pleasure out on the water. The flat bottom is great for standing buckets and gear while jigging for squid and fishing. I can row out a mile in a matter of minutes, and it is easy to wash out at the end of the day. Just great. Keep the videos on rowing and small craft coming.

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  Robert Von zuben says:

  Great video guys, learning lots, please keep the rowing and sculling videos coming

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  JAMES Tew says:

  Mr Hawkins demonstrates a good technique for rowing relatively short distances, as around a harbor, in that he uses arms [primarily. For longer distances you would want to bend at the hips and swing back, then pull your arms to the chest. Your back is far stronger than your arms, and the swinging motion does add a bit to the speed. Go just a little past the vertical when you finish the stroke. You need to be sure your back is up to it, however. Go slow. You can also come to a brief stop at the end of the stroke, with your hands at your chest, to give your back a rest. Then start your recovery by pushing your hands away, followed by your shoulders and back after your hands clear your knees.

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    David Tew says:

    Hi Jim! Remember the time in the 80s when we were in Port Clyde in that dinghy with pinned oars? An observer ashore commented about how you needed to learn how to “feather your oars” and went on to explain feathering? We had to stifle a laugh about it. (Jim had rowed for USA in the ’64 Olympics.)

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  David Tew says:

  Nice to see Roger and Maynard enjoying the ‘playing’.

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  George R. Iemmolo says:

  OH!!! What a difference to my first exposure rowing on Central Park Lake in NYC 80 years ago with my Father. Thank goodness for friend’s in the intervening years who gave me some proper instructions but not any where as good as Havilah’s . Thank you for the Lesson. Underwater rowing to reduce the spread of the oar’s was new to me, makes a lot of sense when you give it some thought

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  John Wujack says:

  Fantastic! I would like to learn how to scull my tender with a single oar. In your explanation of sculling sideways, I understood you to say that learning the sculling stroke is easier with resistance? If so, wouldn’t a beginner be well served by tying a tender’s transom to a dock/anchor or even dragging a bucket, and learning the motion with little regard to moving the boat forward initially? Thank you for sharing your expertise!

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  Tom Bryan says:

  Most enjoyable. Is there a preference for no leathers? Does the (lack of) loom-to-lock clearance forego the use of them?

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    Dean Herring says:

    He is using Ash oars of his own making. Using dry leathers in the oar locks was like washing your feet with your socks on. You could not feel the water very well. Using Haddie’s Ash oars they just slip and slide inside the oar lock giving you a very strong instant connection with the water. We ended up making sure the oars we used that had leathers were well lubed and everyone noticed the difference. Also the Ash is a hard wood and does not need leathers. The spruce needs leathers to protect it from bruising… Pete Culler also mentions Ash oars not needing leathers in his book. Gee I must have learned something at the course!

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  David Corey says:

  “Never seen a pair of oars I couldn’t start!” That will be my mantra as I explain to friends why my peapod is a much better tender than those ghastly inflatables.

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  Dean Herring says:

  I took the Wooden Boat School course “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” with Captain Haddie a couple weeks ago now when he made this video. Play, play, play on the water with your boat and your oars is tantamount to learning what the you, the boat, and those oars can do. I had to think back to that banana seat bike that I mastered a way back in the 70’s where I took it out everyday and just played and played. While Cap’n Haddie was giving a lecture on the dock about rowing a Caledonia Yawl I had to keep the boat by the dock in wind and tide for about 15 minutes – learning that wore me out in a good way! Thanks Cap!!!!

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  Alan Roberts says:

  Reminds me of hiring out boats (mostly inboard or sailing) as a teenager on the Helford River. I also learned these techniques and they became life-long pleasures.
  “Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” (Ratty in Kenneth Grahame’s book, The Wind in the Willows