I strip a lot of paint – it’s part of the job. Old oars arrive with many extra coats (and occasionally extra clubs) of paint from over the years. Stripping these back to provide a better surface for a new colour is something I am used to.

What I really hate is the need to strip back paint that I have only just applied!

Why do I need to do this? Paint can be a temperamental beast at times. All manner of things can cause an imperfect finish. Dust, greasy fingerprints, show-through of colours and patterns underneath, cold weather and so on.

With care these things can usually all be dealt with, however there is sometimes an element of luck involved, especially with the multi-colour jobs that require you to be lucky multiple times.

So today I’ve had to take a tri-colour blade and strip it back so that it can be done again. The first colour was perfect. The second colour wasn’t quite right, but it would have been hidden by the coat of arms and text added later. The third colour wasn’t that great at all…

In the end the customer will get a better finished product and I hope will appreciate the extra effort.

I just purchased a set of old oars from a club and they came with something cool that I’d never seen before.

Check out the quick release cam lever on this button. I believe that these Sutton oars are 1980s vintage and this part looks to be original and not a modification. I know that Dreher are making a mechanism to easily adjust their modern oars whilst on the water, but this goes to show that there is not much new under the sun!