Can a Kara Hummer be rowed?

K

Ken Shindledecker

Member
Has anyone built a Hummer/Robber for rowing? Any pics???

I don't want to push pole and I'm thinking kayak paddling might be difficult with dog and dekes.

Thanks! Ken
 
I tried it but soon realized that having the oar locks on the cockpit coming wasn't going to work. The oars had to dip down into the cockpit to get the blades out of the water - just no room. You might have better luck putting the oar locks as far outboard as possible and up higher. I have seen a skiff or two that had them mounted on a piece pipe that would screw into a threaded flange mounted on the deck. Actually they really weren't oar 'locks' just the oar pins stuck into the end of the pipe. A paddle works pretty good.
 
Whatever works I guess. My dog never liked being behind me and always wanted to be up front so that's were he was. One thing I found difficult was keeping the Kara tracking straight no matter how it was loaded. Not much of a problem in the marsh but a PITA going across the lake. I put a homemade Sea Kayak type of fixed position rudder on the back end that took care of the problem. I made it so I could pull it up with a cord when I didn't want to use it. Worked OK. Sorry, no pictures of that set up.
 
Has anyone built a Hummer/Robber for rowing? Any pics???

I don't want to push pole and I'm thinking kayak paddling might be difficult with dog and dekes.

Thanks! Ken
Click to expand...


Ken

You don't want to push pole because you don't like standing? Or you don't want to be limited to being able to touch the bottom with the pole? I have a Wisconsin push paddle for my Fiberdome double ender. It's basically a long canoe paddle. Stand and paddle when deep, push on the bottom when shallow. Get out and drag the boat when really shallow.

Chuck
http://www.duckboats.net/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=83319#83319
 
Ken,
I mostly used a push pole with my Karas, but also spent quite a bit of time using a kayak paddle in places where the water was too deep.

First, trying to use a paddle in the middle of a Kara is a pain because the boat is so wide. You end up either having to lean way to each side or sweeping the paddle out more (causing more turning of the boat). When I sat on the back deck with my feet in the cockpit, it worked much better though it would still 'wiggle' some. With the Kara, you want to try and keep it fairly flat to the water (at least when in sheltered water) and it will glide a long way with each stroke. So, I piled all my decoy bags as far forward as possible and then would try to get the dog to stay close to them rather than coming back to where I was seated. At times, she would even ride on the bow, in front of the decoy bags although then she'd sometimes try to climb back over the bags :) It was pretty amusing to watch MOST of the time. It is possible to paddle them, and I know a few guys that only paddled them LONG distances, just know that it doesn't track/handle like a canoe.

Scott
 
Ken~

I have used pipe (1/2" Inside diameter) as oarlock stanchions. I run them through the deck (seal with 3M 5200) and bolt through a framing member. Here they are on my Grassboat:

Grassboat1-fromstern_zps8615ab2d.jpg


I planned to put them on this Sunfish conversion - note bolting through knee - but used conventional stanchions instead (below).

Sunfishconversionnotes-Page2_zpsfd0a796f.jpg


Height of coamings, oarlock stanchions and seat are all critical to comfortable and efficient rowing. I always try to have rowing seat double as my backrest:

IMG_4408_zpsa5954418.jpg


Hope this helps,

SJS
 
I lay down in the Kara with the dog behind me, inside the cockpit. There is just enough room. The divider between the dog and myself is a 2x4 that fits into the blind I have on the boat, it crosses the cockpit from port to starboard, and my headrest hangs on the 2x4. I have used a kayak paddle in the past that breaks down into 2 pieces that can be stored under deck. It works great, but not as well as a pushpole. If you have never pushpoled, there is a learning curve. I've been pushpoling boats for 40 years and there is no better or more efficient means of applying human power to watercraft. If you want to see a good lesson on how it's done, Ira had a video on youtube on how to pushpole the Momarsh DP fatboy. I could not turn in up on a quick search or find it on the website. Basically it all boils down to pushing the boat, then steering on the glide. Don't try to steer and push at the same time. My pushpole is stowed under the boat during hunting, or in Louisiana where the mud is really soft, I use it as a pole anchor and shove it all the way in the mud so that the duckbill end is just at the waterline, and then tie off to it.

Ed.
 
Chuck: Thanks for that link! Looks like one could even scull with those long paddles.

About your questions: I'm a little nervous 'bout standing, period... and even more so with a dog on board. I have stood and fly fished out of a 17' Grumman canoe, so maybe it's a non-issue.

Could a person sit against the back of the cockpit and push?
 
Ken, If you can fly fish out of a canoe you can pole a Kara. Take some time to get used to it of course but it is much more stable than a canoe. One of the first couple of times I had it out I was standing and poling through the the 'pods' on the Mississippi and jumped two woodies. As I grabbed my shotgun a thought crossed my brain that I was probably going to end up in the drink. If I remember correctly I only got one of those birds but I also stayed dry.
 
The Kara is surprisingly stable. It's nothing like a canoe or even a john boat. In South Louisiana we use pirogues, and skinny guys can stand in them and pole. I can't, not without swamping them, and I grew up fooling around in them. I stand up in a Kara and pole it without a second thought. Yeah you can sit down and pole them if you want. The boat draws very little water and doesn't require much power to get underway.

Ed.
 
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