Bic Sportyak 213 Oarlock kit

thingiverse

So yeah... Bic don't just make pens, they also manufacture small plastic dinghies called Sportyaks, which often face a tough life as they're a popular size for transporting to and from lakes on car roof racks. The breakable part is the oarlocks. Since Sportyaks aren't yet widely popular enough to find replacement oarlocks on store shelves, Plan B kicks in: print something up to replace them as needed. Keeping it simple, the main body lines up with the two mounting holes and the central pin hole. By placing a threaded bar down the pin hole and securing it with a nut both inside the housing and another underneath the bar, you get added strength. The insert drops into place on top of the nut and can be lifted to allow a lightweight oar to set in the P-shaped insert. It swivels 360 degrees and can be turned either direction as needed to put the leverage of rowing against the threaded bar rather than the plastic. A bit of rubber tube serves as a solution to prevent metal-on-metal wear. The end result, even with PLA and a protective coat of spray paint, proves to be a very simple solution since it's more likely to be damaged sooner during boat transportation than its natural life cycle. Print again whenever a replacement is required. Enjoy!