Tapered Oarlock Socket Issue

[cycleswithdogs]

Hi everyone. I recently bought my first boat other than a canoe. It's a 1983 Lowe 12' jon boat. It came with oars and oarlocks. The oarlock socket bushings were very worn, but worked okay for a bit until I lost one. So I decided to replace them both. The new ones arrived, and it appears that the sockets themselves must be slightly tapered as the bushings only insert perhaps ½ or ¾ of an inch. I ran a Google search for tapered oarlock bushings, but don't find any special products. I ran a search for "taper socket" on Tinboats.net, but that yielded zero results. Can anyone advise me on the situation? Is it okay to oar around with 70% of the oarlock socket bushing sticking out of the socket while the bushing wears down to a better fit or something? Is it common to have to cut the bushing length and not have the entire socket interior protected by a bushing layer? Thanks in advance!

 

[Al U Minium]

If you have bushings the oar horns fit into snug but not tight but they don't fit the holders on the boat, reshape the bushings to fit. You could also make your own bushings. Don't waste your time trying to row with it as is. In an emergency you could just not use the bushings.

 

[Mark_Fisher]

You could turn a set of HDPE bushings to serve. In an emergency, you could just carefully sand the outside to the needed taper.

Congratulations for even thinking about oar power!