# Rowing Bay Size



## gretch6364 (Nov 22, 2013)

I know this is all personal preference, but I was hoping you all could give me some general ideas as I am new to this boat owning thing.

Try to make this quick, purchased a used 13'9" Hyside with 4 bay DRE fishing frame. Didn't come with a cooler and the rowing bay felt too large for me. I have a 17" bay under my captains chair, which is set and not changing.

I am 5'11" and am the primary rower. My wife is 5'6" and will do some rowing in mostly calm water. Fishing partners range is height with my main friend that will row half the time he is with me, which is 80% of the time, is 6'3". I like where the oars are, and made the bay smaller this weekend. It is currently at 20.5." Is this still too big?

I don't want to be overly aggressive and make it too small and uncomfortable for the taller rowers, but I do want it to fit me right. I purchased a canyon 90qt that goes in the bay in front of the oarsman and it is 19" wide. I have it NRS adjustable cooler mounts. The cooler bay is too big and I want to move the bar in front of it back to make a tighter fit so it doesn't twist.

I am re-doing the deck in the first bay in the next couple weeks, and need to get everything set before it is milled. My current deck is too small if I move the bar back, and the swivel seat is too far back on it and hits the cooler. It just plain needs re-done, so I am doing it.

Any help on sizing of the rowing bay would be much appreciated, since as you can see from my situation, it will decide the size of the front bay and the deck, where I have drop bags. My only storage when float fishing and not using the tail for gear is under the oarsman's seat and the front deck, so balancing storage space and comfort for the rower is very important.

Thank you for help!


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## BCJ (Mar 3, 2008)

Yikes. Hard to be too precise on someone else's frame, but my own experience has been that about 20" is about right most of the time. Set it up for the most frequent rower.


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## gretch6364 (Nov 22, 2013)

To confirm, the raft does have the DRE mesh flip seat, and pretty tall oar towers and the 20.5" is inside to inside, not center of bar to center of bar.


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## Stiff N' Wett (Feb 18, 2010)

Ive found that if you sit in a chair or you sit on a cooler its different. When I used to sit on a chair i needed a larger cockpit but with a cooler it can be smaller. Mainly because when your in a chair you sit more forward on a cooler you can slide way back. I would just mess around with it.


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## sledhooligan (Mar 12, 2009)

My DRE frames are setup with 20 inch rowing bays, seems to be the average setup on DRE frames. Seems to work for all except the really tall people.


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## gretch6364 (Nov 22, 2013)

Thank you for the replies. For clarification, is that 20" measured from the center of the bars, or 20" measured from the inside to inside?

Thanks


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## goldcamp (Aug 9, 2006)

Go with what fits you the best afterall you will be rowing most of the time and it is your raft. 

Interestingly I was just fitted for AAA inflatables frame and they determined that my cockpit should be 27" (I am 6.3) which seemed too big to me and was alot bigger than my current setup. We ended up having to shorten it to 24" because the frame was going to be too long for the flat part of the raft.


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## Spanky (May 6, 2012)

You might set it up to take captian boxes in the future or rocket boxes. Both sizes make for a nice opening.


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## sledhooligan (Mar 12, 2009)

20 inside to inside.


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## elkhaven (Sep 11, 2013)

All I know is that it is always easier to make a rowing bay smaller (ammo can foot rest, block of wood, etc. etc. but idifficult to make one bigger (gotta break out wrenches and move bars).

I'm 5'10 and have stubby legs, my captains bay is about 25". I usually strap 3 small ammo cans across the front of the bay (first aid, personal box and patch kit) that way I have several options for feet placement: On the floor, against the boxes, on the boxes or on the cooler behind. All work and help spread the work around to different body parts.


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## cataraftgirl (Jun 5, 2009)

Stiff N' Wett said:


> Ive found that if you sit in a chair or you sit on a cooler its different. When I used to sit on a chair i needed a larger cockpit but with a cooler it can be smaller. Mainly because when your in a chair you sit more forward on a cooler you can slide way back. I would just mess around with it.


My experience was the opposite. When I used a flip seat over my dry box and sat higher, I needed less space, as my legs were bent more and I sat back into the seat more. Rowing from a dry box & sitting a little lower, put's me a bit more forward, with less knee bend, and I need a longer bay. I always had mine set at 19 inches with the flip seat, now have it set at 21.5 inches. I do use a foot bar/cross bar combo that angles the foot loop towards me, so that takes up some of the space. I'm a 5'6" female with short legs. We are all unique in how we sit & row, so it's hard to be exact. Looks like a lot of folks go 20 inches give or take.


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## gretch6364 (Nov 22, 2013)

Yeah, 20" seems to be about the consensus. I will probably go down to 20" and when I have the deck milled, make sure the lips go to the outside edge of the pipe, rather then the middle. Can always mill a deck smaller...can't make it bigger!

That will give me bays of about 15", 19", 20" and 17" (Front to Back).


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## gretch6364 (Nov 22, 2013)

Quick question about drop bags. For my front bay (35"x15") and the bay under my seat (17"x35") would you just get like a medium drop bag for both (35x18x9) or is it worth going to the trouble of having ones in the exact size sewn up?

Thanks


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## cataraftgirl (Jun 5, 2009)

Every time I've paid extra for a custom size I've regretted it. The next season I change something and wish I had a bigger bag. So it depends on how sure you are on sizes and what you will carry.


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## gretch6364 (Nov 22, 2013)

cataraftgirl said:


> Every time I've paid extra for a custom size I've regretted it. The next season I change something and wish I had a bigger bag. So it depends on how sure you are on sizes and what you will carry.


I have separate cooler mounts, so the bags are for carrying general gear, like lifevest, pump, fishing bags, dry bags with cloths, jackets, towels, etc.

Thanks


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## BoilermakerU (Mar 13, 2009)

goldcamp said:


> Go with what fits you the best afterall you will be rowing most of the time and it is your raft.
> 
> Interestingly I was just fitted for AAA inflatables frame and they determined that my cockpit should be 27" (I am 6.3) which seemed too big to me and was alot bigger than my current setup. We ended up having to shorten it to 24" because the frame was going to be too long for the flat part of the raft.


AAA set mine up initially too, and I found it to be way too big (I am also 6'3").

I think mine is currently 22", because that's what fits my two captain boxes.

The frame on my Mini Max is even smaller, I think it's something like 18". It's a bit cramped for me, but it's nice for my wife and kids. The foot bar can be tilted out for the kids to give them some better leverage (effectively making it even smaller).


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## 90Duck (Nov 19, 2012)

First warm weekend of the spring, so I broke the boat out yesterday and measured since I was curious. I have 25" between the cross bar at the front of the drybox I sit on and the cross bar behind the cooler in front of me. I have a hard floor in the cockpit and two footbars that are at 22" from the seat bar. After reading this thread it sounds kind of big since I'm just a hair under 5'10", but sitting on the drybox allows the oarsman to move forward or back as needed to accommodate a wide range of arm/leg lengths. I've had shorter setups before, but I've then had trouble cracking my knuckles on the cooler when really getting after it.

I guess you just get used to what you run.


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## ColoradoJudd (Sep 10, 2010)

gretch6364 said:


> That will give me bays of about 15", 19", 20" and 17" (Front to Back).


My DRE 4 bay is set front to back approx at 16", 22", 18", and 12" inside to inside.
It goes dry box, feet with kick plate, cooler, dry box.
I row from over the 3rd bay since I prefer to be more centered on the raft.
I also have a DRE kickplate, 22" for me and 16" for my wife.
Kickbar for Down River Frame
Make sure your widths will accommodate your boxes and coolers, custom sizing to retrofit always costs more.


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