For the 2013 National Boat Building Challenge, which Clare enrolled us as a team as a Father’s Day gift to me, new this year, the Belfast committee decided to add a “Best Oar” competition.  Since this was the ONLY opportunity in the competition to do any ‘real’ woodworking, I decided that this would be a fun and challenging wood working project in its own right.

Originally I considered making the oars out of Ash, but, on researching oars, I realized Ash is usually reserved for Paddles and very long racing oars (single person per oar).  Typically, Spruce is used for the type of oar appropriate for this kind of boat.  Unfortunately, by the time I learned this, I was not able to find any decent clear spruce and, also in my research, I had learned that laminated pine is often used and we have an excellent source of clear pine here in Maine.  I was able to find some good ideas and designs from both the web and a few boat building books.

The result?  WE WON!!!!  These oars were deemed the “Best Oars” in the competition.  I was pleased with the result regardless, but the award, makes this project especially memorable.

Here is the final result:

I enjoyed building these oars as it gave me a chance to try techniques and tools I haven’t used before (or only briefly).  Below is the complete sequence, from start to finish of the oar project. Enjoy!

 

Woodworking Projects

• Clare’s Bed
• Clare’s Nightstand
• Dinette Table
• Music Box
• Oar Project
• Pencil Post Bed