Honwave

yanyan1960 · 06 June 2017, 16:50

I've just bought a Honwave dinghy from a chap who bought it brand new, then discovered it was too big for his yacht's locker and I got it off him for £200 less than he paid for it two weeks ago - I'm happy! It is a Honwave T25-SE. However... all dinghies require to be stored vertically in the dinghy shed at my boatyard. When I upended my dinghy the other night, I noticed that the oars (in the shipped / stored position), extend over the rear of the pontoons and therefore have to carry the weight of the dinghy themselves on the blades. I've called several dealers to enquire if this was OK and won't stress the oars / fixing points only to be met with "blank stares". Can anyone on here advise me if this is ok to do this? I don't want to damage anything on the dinghy, but I don't really want to remove the oars every time I store my dinghy. Many thanks in anticipation of your advice.

Yabadabadoo · 06 June 2017, 18:54

Is each oar in two sections or one piece? Even if one piece it's just a thumb screw holding the oars on, a doddle to take off.

Putting long term stress on the rowlocks prob not a great plan as one day you might need them, can the oars be flipped up the opposite way?

Fenlander · 06 June 2017, 18:55

Edit: Great minds and all that... **can the oars be flipped up the opposite way?**

I think this comes under the category of "it's up to you". It's not ideal from my experience that plastic oars can be brittle and chunks easily broken off particularly when they are cold.

The answer would be to glue on an additional couple of oar grips towards the bow so they can stow forward. Like these...

Oar Retainer Patch for Inflatable Boat Tube - PVC 120mm diameter

yanyan1960 · 06 June 2017, 19:01

They are two piece oars - I've split them for the moment and tied the paddle end parts to the seat - not ideal. You're right; it's dead easy to spin off the plastic nuts at the rowlocks - just seems a pain to do it given the oars only extend an inch or so past the end of the pontoons and if they were slightly shorter, there wouldn't be a problem. I don't want to damage my new dinghy, I'm just frustrated at this apparent oversight in design. Other alternative is to spin the oars through 180 degrees and see if I can secure them that way when storing the dinghy.

yanyan1960 · 06 June 2017, 19:04

Oops - I did see your suggestion about spinning the oars through 180 degrees; sorry my reply didn't acknowledge that!

jeffstevens763@g · 06 June 2017, 19:32

Are they safe left on ?

yanyan1960 · 06 June 2017, 19:34

They are safe left on - no theft or security issues at the boatyard.

rossymtb · 07 June 2017, 13:54

Stand the boat on a plastic crate? Then it wouldn't be sat on the tubes or oars

yanyan1960 · 07 June 2017, 14:05

I've just been down to the yard. I've spun them through 180 degrees so the paddles are at the bow. I've used the painter to lash them to the carrying ropes; two second job Just strange that the dinghy was designed so the oars stick over the pontoons a few inches.

Fenlander · 07 June 2017, 14:45

>>>strange that the dinghy was designed so the oars stick over the pontoons a few inches.

I guess there is a certain point as the SIB model gets shorter whereby the oars get to a min length which will overhang... the only way to stop this would be to move the pivot point forward on the tube which would be in the wrong place for rowing.... or move it further towards the paddle on the oar which would make the balance of oar length inboard/outboard of the tube wrong.

Mikefule · 07 June 2017, 15:00

I'm really struggling to see why this is an issue. Surely it only takes a few seconds to remove the oars and 2 seconds to put them back on. As Fenlander says, the oars are a certain length and in a certain position for sound reasons. Although it is nice to be able to keep your SIB inflated (a luxury many of us envy) they are designed to be taken apart and stored easily.

If for any reason you want to leave the oar shafts attached to the hull, in most models, the blades can be removed from the shafts and replaced in seconds. On mine (Zodiac) you push a button and pull, that's it.

yanyan1960 · 07 June 2017, 15:27

Hu Mikefule - I'm sorry if I've caused you to really struggle with this. This post was intended to find out if it was "ok" to store the dinghy up-ended on the blades of the oars. I was convinced it wasn't and didn't really want to store it like that. I'm happy with the solution I posted earlier wherein I spin the oars through 180 degrees and use the painter to secure the blade ends to the rope carry handles; job done. If I were to remove the oars in two seconds as you suggested, they then have to come home with me or else be stashed in the sole of the dinghy and wedged there as when the dinghy is stored upright, canted at an angle to make sure it doesn't fall over and to drain any water out - the oars fall out unless they are roped in. Hopefully nothing else major causes you to really struggle today. Many thanks to everyone for their input.

Mikefule · 07 June 2017, 16:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by yanyan1960

Hu Mikefule - I'm sorry if I've caused you to really struggle with this. This post was intended to find out if it was "ok" to store the dinghy up-ended on the blades of the oars. I was convinced it wasn't and didn't really want to store it like that. I'm happy with the solution I posted earlier wherein I spin the oars through 180 degrees and use the painter to secure the blade ends to the rope carry handles; job done. If I were to remove the oars in two seconds as you suggested, they then have to come home with me or else be stashed in the sole of the dinghy and wedged there as when the dinghy is stored upright, canted at an angle to make sure it doesn't fall over and to drain any water out - the oars fall out unless they are roped in. Hopefully nothing else major causes you to really struggle today. Many thanks to everyone for their input.

You appear to have read something into my choice of words that wasn't intended, but I apologise if it upset you.

jeffstevens763@g · 07 June 2017, 20:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by yanyan1960

I've just been down to the yard. I've spun them throuegh 180 degrees so the paddles are at the bow. I've used the painter to lash them to the carrying ropes; two second job Just strange that the dinghy was designed so the oars stick over the pontoons a few inches.

Its not dinghy design its width of boat and tube diameter that decides oar length just shows having a play soon sorts the problem

dave3235 · 08 June 2017, 07:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by rossymtb

Stand the boat on a plastic crate? Then it wouldn't be sat on the tubes or oars

Hi all
What about two buckets , an end in each.