Boat Warrant of Fitness
Motor cars need annual assessments that they are road worthy and it’s good practice to do the same for your rowing boat.
This is a good time to check on things you might repair (cosmetic) or upgrade.
Here’s our helpful guide
Checklist for boats
- Bow ball is not perished and is firmly attached
- Heel restraints are correct length (pull up heel no higher than horizontal) and strongly attached to the shoe heel which is not perished
- Hatch covers fit snugly
- All bolts on footstretcher can be unscrewed
- All rigger bolts can be unscrewed
- The oarlock pitch is identical on port and starboard (bow side and stroke side)
- The oarlock height washers are a snug fit
- Oarlock sills are not too worn
- The oarlock pitching inserts (the blue plastic at the top and bottom of the oarlock) are a snug fit and there isn’t too much play in the oarlock on the pin
- The seat wheels are smooth and turn easily
- The slides are smooth and un-pitted. The wing nuts under the deck holding the slides can be unscrewed
- Shoes are not rotting and the closure holds.
- The spread / span between the pins is what you expect and in sculling boats is symmetrical
- Any electronics mounted in the boat work correctly
- Oars are the correct length and inboard and sculling oars are identical
- Repaint your oars in club colours
- Check the sleeves and buttons are not worn and losing pitch accuracy.
- Check oar spoon tips aren’t splitting or delaminating
Upgrades to your boat
There are plenty of things you can do to improve your boat and to replace the “consumables” which are things that wear out over time.
