Please give me advice. I am new at this. And this project is different.

I have a Colorado camouflage fly fishing boat.

http://www.ventureoutdoors.net/colorado%20camo.jpg

It is nice. I learned that I can't do much against a wind with fins. I think that I might have some improvement if I get a seat that leans back. I will use fins while actually fishing, but I also want exercise for health and fitness and to use my athletic ability to move the boat far to get to the good spots.

I hear that oars will give me much more speed.

I went shopping for oars and found so much information and variables in what I might buy that I am now reading and learning more about it on the web.

After a lot of thought on trolling motors, I have decided, while looking at my excess fat, that I should get some exercise and buy oars and cancel the motor plan. I suppose that a trolling motor makes more sense for a less athletic person, but I have been looking for another form of exercise that I could enjoy since I moved to Utah and stopped ridding my bicycle due to safety concerns regarding traffic.

I am thinking that I have the strength for longer strokes and greater speeds, so longer oars would be best for me. Also, I don't mind spending a lot of money to get something that is high quality or something racers and athletes would buy for competitive rowing or sculling with the sliding seat..

Also, in looking for oars, I learned about sculling with the sliding seat and wonder if anyone has ever experimented with this sort of system on a fly fishing boat. I know it seems extreme and a different sport, but I have been a bicycle racer and this will make use of my bicycle racing leg strength and keep me fit as I propel the boat to the good spots to fish or return against a wind. I want both -- fly fishing and good exercise with a good range and good speed to make my boat move.

If you have any ideas or suggestions, then please tell me and know that I can build it if needed because I am a machinist and a welder. If there is something that I can buy that is already designed and proven, then that is better -- that is unless I can improve upon it.

I'm looking to buy sculling oars for my fly fishing boat close to Utah. I figure they would cost a lot to ship from far. Anyone with experience on that?

Anyone near me with oars to recommend and sell to me?

Your friend,

Ronald H Levine Ronald.H.Levine@mindspring.com

Midvale, Utah 566-2112 after 4 p.m. Utah time and in and out evenings, but no limit on calling late, but e-mail is best for messages.

-- Ronald H Levine (Ronald.H.Levine@mindspring.com), July 13, 2003

Answers

Dear Ronald,

I have been fly fishing since the 1960s and designing and building, both fixed and sliding seat, rowing craft since the 1970s. I've been an avid cyclist all my life. I went to the site you mentioned and saw nothing that looked to be suited to sliding seat rowing. From an efficiency standpoint, if your craft doesn't at least resemble a serious rowing shell in length, weight, beam and shape it probably isn't suited to it. Rowing is rowing and fishing is fishing and physical exercise is yet another thing. All forms of rowing are good exercise, but I can't think of anything more in the way, in a fishing craft, than a rowing sled. It's just another thing to get tangled up in. By the way, fixed seat rowing should involve the legs. If a fixed seat boat doesn't have a good, sturdy footbrace it isn't as efficient as it should be. If you feel you need still more strenuous exercise for your bottom half, find another way to exercise your legs. I just can't imagine giving up cycling any more than I could fishing or rowing. By all means, treat yourself to a good, stable and efficient rowing craft. You'll be glad you did.

Yours,

Andre

-- Andre de Bardelaben (middlepath@aol.com), July 13, 2003.

I'm going to second that about a sliding seat in a fishing boat. It will just be in the way. You'll drop hooks, sinkers, fly's etc and you would have a hard time retreiving them. I also doubt whether the sliding seat would add any speed to a boat this short. It's an interesting idea, but IMO, a non starter.

As for biking, get a MT bike and go to Mohab! I thought there was some of the best Mountain biking in the country in Utah. I understand about biking in traffic but there are other places to go.

-Gary-

-- Gary Powell (gwpowell@hotmail.com), July 14, 2003.