How To Scull


This section of this website proved to be the most difficult to put into words the meaning that I was trying to convey. The sketches below are the best known visual illustrations of the sculling procedure. When I first tryed to learn to scull, I found that I had better results when I first tryed to just make the blade of the oar, flat side down, slice through the water back and forth, which did nothing as far as propelling the boat. But at this point that was not important - I was just trying to get comfortable with getting the feel of the oar and finding the proper laying position, etc.

The picture below is this "slicing" back and forth with the oar causing the boat to quiver in the water.

Later, I tryed experimenting by slightly turning the oar at the end of the stroke until I felt resistance as the oar tended to dive into the water. This is when I first noticed the boat starting going forward. From there on, things started to get easier every time I went out.

Even though the sketches below are of a "knotch in transome" type instead of a "through the transome" type - the theory is the same.

Sketches by permission of S.F. Manning - Camden, Maine. For more illustrations as well as text regarding "how to scull," go to the links section of this website and click on the link "How To Scull : Illustrations and Text by S.F. Manning."

The picture below is of a young sculler at the helm showing the distance of travel at the end of the oar from inside the cockpit - which turns out to be 11" off center in each direction from a 32" wide cockpit.

Photo courtesy of Greg Stender

Additionally, I found a "scull hunting video" for sale at Lock Stock & Barrell which is an excellent video on this topic. It is a 2 hour long video of scull hunting, set-ups and sculling instructions. It shows scull hunts on Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Mallards, Woodies, Bluebills, Merganser, Redheads and Coot. and sells for $25 + shipping and I would highly recommend it for anyone trying to learn to scull.