Homeric Questions

From an IM conversation with the sagacious T., while doing our Greek homework:

Ijon: Tell me: how come Homer calls the Phaeacians 'oar-loving' (philorhetmoi)? Their magical ships don't need oarsmen; they sail by themselves!

T.: That's precisely why they're oar-loving! They don't know what a nightmare it is to row for weeks on end at sea. Calluses etc. I'm an oar-lover myself!