Sailing/Rowing/Paddling/Sweeping?

From NOOA:

HURRICANE FELIX FORECAST/ADVISORY NUMBER  12
AT 5 AM EDT...0900 UTC...THE GOVERNMENT OF HONDURAS HAS ISSUED A
HURRICANE WARNING FROM LIMON HONDURAS EASTWARD TO THE
HONDURAS/NICARAGUA BORDER...AND A HURRICANE WATCH FROM WEST OF
LIMON WESTWARD TO THE HONDURAS/GUATEMALA BORDER.
THE WESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA SHOULD CLOSELY
MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF THIS POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC HURRICANE.
HURRICANE CENTER LOCATED NEAR 14.1N  75.9W AT 03/0900Z
PRESENT MOVEMENT TOWARD THE WEST OR 280 DEGREES AT  18 KT

Very little sailing or boating except once to explore the Bull River bridge area. Anchored and rowed the dinghy under the bridge to the Bull River Marina and tied up long enough to walk to a convenience store. It was on the way back that we experienced engine trouble. The current was pushing us home so I decided to use an oar to help. Just like the last time I had motor trouble several boaters in runabouts immediately motored up to offer a tow when they saw me with the oar. I declined the first offer but when we got to a back eddie in the current and were proceeding very slowly I changed my mind and the next time I was offered a tow I took it. They towed us just a half mile or so until we could get well past the eddies and then we continued with the main and oar. It was a slow but languid sail down the creek.

I had just the main up with only a five knot breeze and because the tidal creeks meander this way and that it was sometimes working for me and sometimes not. Blewtooth is around six thousand pounds with all the junk I have in her so basically this idea to move or "maneuver" is certainly doable but not without reservations. Joshua Slocum describes using a sweep in his book and he was on a forty footer with no motor so of course it is a practical idea but one I have had trouble implementing due in large part to not having a long enough oar or "sweep".

I bought an eight foot oar which I have realized is about four feet too short. I paddled with it at first off of the bow, basically changing my direction by simply making enough of a splash to push/pull the bow which ever way but I found it much easier to sit in the cockpit and use sweeping motions. It appears the rudder still had some effect in spite of the fact the current was keeping almost no water flow over it. Or, perhaps it is just the way Blewtooth is balanced and the way she sits in the water that gives better control.

So, my plan now is to buy a twelve foot oar and try it again. Also considering a yulow but I think it would be too difficult to stow. It will be hard enough with an oar.

It will provide something to use for emergency steering as well as auxlillary power. Another good reason for not having too large a boat. The more I know Blewtooth will be able to move whether the motor is running or not will add to my overall confidence and embolden me to sail to more places.

Here are more links I have been collecting:

I'd like to have one made specifically for a Westerly Tiger but would probably be too expensive?
Welcome to Sawyer Paddles and Oars

http://www.brownellboat.com/stands.htm

Bateaux autour du monde - Sail The World - L'Univers de la grande croisière en voilier - STW

Welcome to AIWA

Not trying to be sarcastic in showing this one but it just seems to reveal the contrast between two worlds:
YouTube - The Love Boat

NOAA Graphical Forecast for CONUS Area

Six garçons dans le vent !

Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before, by Tony Horwitz

I wonder if my back would be able to handle one of these? Just looks like so much fun:
Olimpic Sailing 470 Class Video

Funny! What a classic:
YouTube - What About Bob Clip 3

Greatest Blunders In Boating, Yachting, Shipping, Sailing. Video