For those of you who have been paying attention, you will remember that some time after the dinosaurs we got hung up on the foot stretcher fittings. Fitting the cleats (or sharks fins as they came to be known) required carpentry in three dimensions. A couple more than Chris and I had in our arsenal. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, captain cockup snuck into the garage and chopped the ends off our foot stretchers.
So, to complete the complicated three dimensional cleat arrangement, we first needed foot stretchers that fit. I made the visit to City Timber to buy a couple of metres of foot stretcher, only to be told it would be $60 and ready in a couple of days. I explained the problem and it was suggested I scarf a bit of mahogany on the ends and call it a feature. Not wanting to back down in the face of a woody challenge, I agreed. We chose a length of mahogany and the friendly assistant offered it to me for $5. I offered him the contents of my pockets, $2.40, we agreed I'd make up the difference on my next visit.
 |
| Testing our scarph angles on about 35c worth of Mahogany |
 |
| The bits of mahogany extending the foot stretcher That's clingfilm, not ice. |
After a morning of sanding, planing, sawing and routing, we now have two foot stretchers that we can offer up to the new fittings. Given it took us two years to solve the problem, you'll thank me for not describing the solution in this post. Trust me, each element has been finely crafted to a precise angle.
The stroke seat foot stretcher slotted into it's cleats can be seen in the last picture. We need to fit the remaining cleats for normal sized rowers, this first setting is for people more my size. We also noted that when we move the foot stretcher into the furthest position, the coxswain will lose his or her toes. Given the effort we put into this part of the boat, I am more inclined to learn toe surgery than to sort this little "feature" out.
 |
| Does the protractor on the deck convince you that this was tricky. |
No comments:
Post a Comment