When the wind don't blow...

...ya better be ready to row.

While I'm still in the mode of making the supporting cast for my Goat Island Skiff, I've turned my attention to an important piece of safety gear: oars.  Michael Storer has a free set of plans for a 9' set of oars, a size he finds to be well suited to the GIS.  But his plans call for plywood spoons and I'm not ready to do that yet so I surfed around for other free plans.  Jim Michalak, a well known and highly respected designer, has an essay on rowing theory in which he includes simple plans for oars.  I found it with Google, but here is a link to his newsletter site where one can probably find this and other great writings: Jim Michalak's Boat Designs

His plan is for 7' oars, so I distributed two additional feet from the pivot point outward.

I think the rest of the pics are pretty self explanatory.  Mark boards, cut on the lines.  Use the off fall to add thickness, glue up the lamination.  There will be extensive shaping, but I still need to glue up the second oar.

Next up: more spar work.