Board Thread:Skyrim/@comment-115.64.41.131-20140222231141/@comment-24261859-20140223005518

Well, first of all, he's not a combat follower. He's a pilgrim who wants to accompany you to Eldergleam, so it makes sense that he is poorly equipped and not good at fighting.

If he's stuck in Broken Oar, that's just a glitch. Fast travel somewhere, and maybe he'll show up, otherwise use console commands if on PC.