Sailing Canoe Chapter 6: Morton's Oar

Step 2 Measurements

Morton kindly let me measure his oar and answered my questions through a translator.
He only speaks Marshallese. He's an olympic level athlete of traditional sailing.
The more involved someone is with canoes, the less likely they are to speak English.

Marshallese canoes are designed according to rules of idealized proportions.
I don't know the rules for this oar because I didn't know enough to ask.

Here's what I deduce from these measurements:
This style of oar starts with a hardwood blank that tapers straight from the tip to the handle.
The length of this oar is half the distance between "Repakak" (yard sockets at bows) on his canoe.

Here are the measurements. Connect those points with straight lines. Curve them a little bit where the handle meets the blade. The edge of the blade is rounded down to a 1/8" thick flat edge.

Height Width Thickness
2.5" 7 1/4" -
12" 6 3/4" 5/8"
24" 6 1/8" 5/8"
36" 5 1/2" 7/8"
42" 4 3/4" -
48" 3" -
104" 1 3/4" 1.5"

There's a hole for a lanyard rope 38" up from the tip, 1.3" from the edge of the blade.