Sculling is almost a lost art in the North American yachting


community and that is a personal concern for me.


four people actually scull a boat. Even so, sculling has been around for generations and is still used today on small boats throughout the world. Having the ability to scull gives you


SMALL-BOAT SCULLING


| Story and Photos by Dave Bacon|


foredeck with the setting bag in hand, knelt, and began packing the spinnaker as it was slowly lowered in the wind-less air. It would be needed tomorrow of course, but not for now. All around, the water had become a reflection of the sky and clouds with the nearby mountains imitating colors of a Grand Canyon sunset. It was the oar that was needed now to scull my sloop to an anchorage sheltered from the coming ebb. Te chosen anchorage still remained a good distance away. With the oar in the water, the first three or four strokes were mostly ignored by the heavy sloop, but she soon got the idea as I constantly prodded her with the determined push and pull of the oar. As I fell into the easy motion of sculling, I thought about the decision I had made


B


at the start of this cruise, sailing from San Francisco to explore the Sea of Cortez. Tere would be no motor, just a sculling oar, and I would sail alone. Some people questioned the sanity of that, but I had confidence in myself, even though I knew this cruise would be a serious test of seamanship and strength of character. Sculling is almost a lost art in the North American yachting community and that


is a personal concern for me. It seems the majority of people are completely unaware of sculling, and I must confess that in all my years on the water I’ve only seen three or


34


y late aſternoon, the last of the wind had vanished. Te spinnaker hung with its clews together doing a gentle hula to the motion of the boat. I moved to the


the practical advantage of easily mov- ing your boat short distances through congested areas. Once you’ve learned to scull, you’ll never sit on a wet thwart for an early morning row again. And you’ll find when sailing into a harbor, and then sculling into your berth, that it’s much more fulfilling than leaning over the stern to yank on a starter cord. Sculling is also the best way to view wildlife when exploring new anchorages. There are no oars or paddles splashing or waving about to disrupt the calm and startle the wildlife you’re watching. With experi- ence you’ll find that sculling is not only fun but also quite satisfying. And finally, sculling is a class act when it comes to yachting. So what is sculling? It’s the ability


to move a boat forward using an oar in a notch on the boat’s transom. In its simplest terms, the oar pries the boat forward as you pull down on its grip. After that, it becomes a little more


involved as you feather the blade into position for the next stroke. Tis is done by rotating the leading edge of the blade down slightly as it travels in a zig zag pattern to reposition itself for the next stroke. All this is well and good, but talking


about sculling is one thing and doing it is another. So let’s start at the beginning with muscle memory. When you first learned to ride a bicycle it was all about balance and practice. Although balance is the primary focus, it’s muscle memory, developed through continued practice, which makes it possible to ride the bike. Muscle memory works the same way with sculling, and sculling is easier to learn than riding a bicycle. You’ll need a boat to practice in. Te


SMALL CRAFT ADVISOR


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