any mods out there enable manual use of the small rowboats/gondoliers?

There was this Galleon mod... it could swapn a rowboat for you to sale also. If I do recall right, it's Ultimate Galleon.

jep, it's http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=14460&id=2734. You need 100 Str and 100 Int to get it (or you could try to kill MadMax but without cheating it's rather difficult). but fliggerty made a http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=4647, so you can buy it for 50K.

Prior to UG MadMax released the http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=1431 which also includes a real time sailing ship and a rowboat.

There is a third, similar mod called Sell 'n' Sail Galleon, but it is rumored it's quite buggy.

stormrider? it is on pes and i believe you get to buy row boat and later a ship if you want it. i have not used it yet myself.

I've tried those mods in the past, and while I love the aspect of being able to sail in real time, it was the actual manner of doing it (standing in a rowbow walking) that made it feel a bit...odd. That said, if they could apply this to say a Longboat mod, that would make more sense. Have the Player Character sit upon the aft holding the Steering board, while there are seated figures mid ship who do a rowing motion. I am sure it could be done, because I saw Dunmer folks in Mournhold Expanded doing the Macarena.

Like the equippable mead drinking horn idea, a sailing longboat would be the ultimate seafaring Nord lovers 'Digiorno'.

stormrider is based on Sell'n'Sail. it uses the same script (slightly altered afaik) but uses a vanilla MW ship instead of the custom model.
The original Mod is hard to find...


this is where the trouble starts. NPCs can be forced to do specific animations. but unfortunately you cannot force the player to do any animations.
this is why mount mods requre "riding pants" which pretend the player would sit uppon the mount.