Single oar sculling is a skill worth having, says Dick Everitt

To see what you are doing, sit or kneel looking aft. Hold the oar so the blade is horizontal, with your wrist under the oar. Move the blade from side to side twisting your wrist to the correct angle as you do so. Once you’ve got the hang of it, adjust your grip (D) so you can sit or stand looking forward.

Sculling used to be very common and most dingies had a notch in the transom to take a sculling oar. Basically it’s waggling an oar blade from side to side, to act a bit like a fish’s tail. By angling the blade (B) the water will push sideways, so the oar is forced into the notch, which moves the boat forward. There’s a knack to it and fishermen (C) stand to use their body weight to move very large loads. The French also scull quite large yachts around.

Chinese sailors use curved, or cranked, ‘yuloh’ oars that have a variety of pivot designs which let the blade flop over to the correct angles. A lanyard at the front (F) not only sets the right depth for the blade but, if you pull on the lanyard first, it also twists the complete oar to the correct angle.

There are all sorts of oar designs around the world, with a variety of blade sections to encourage the correct ‘angle of attack’ - some even have metal edges. A team of skilled scullers is a joy to watch and they can move massive loads.

At the other end of the scale is the stealthy American duck-hunter who uses a curved oar, in his right hand, and completes figures-of-eight over his left shoulder.