| Dories are one of the few hundreds of year | | | | through the surf, fishing in the open ocean, |
| old boat designs to have survived into the | | | | drifting down whitewater rivers, water skiing |
| 21st century, and for good reason. Their sea | | | | in lakes, as work boats hauling heavy loads |
| keeping abilities, slippery shapes, extreme | | | | of traps or divers, sailing along on a light |
| versatility, and ease of construction make | | | | breeze, just about any use you can imagine. |
| them one of the best choices for a first-time | | | | They also do it with far less effort than |
| or veteran boat builder looking for a great | | | | many other kinds of boats. Imagine going 25 |
| boat able to be built on a budget. | | | | mph using only 25 horsepower in a 20 foot |
| | | | boat - a dory can do it. Imagine a 20 foot |
| Dories began appearing over 200 years ago as | | | | row boat that one person can row up to the |
| small, light, versatile work boats ideal for | | | | hull speed of 6 knots with ease over long |
| fishing. They were easy to construct, easy to | | | | distances - a dory can do it. Imagine loading |
| launch from the beach, easy to row or sail, | | | | 8 tons of cargo on a 27 foot boat and |
| and could haul a huge load of gear and fish. | | | | powering it in the open ocean - a dory can do |
| No one knows exactly where the design came | | | | it. |
| from but many builders started constructing | | | | |
| these boats on both sides of the Atlantic. In | | | | Modern dories are surprisingly easy to build. |
| Europe dories were popular in Portugal, and | | | | All of the frame elements are straight. You |
| in the US, Nova Scotia was the center of dory | | | | can literally go to any lumber yard, buy |
| construction. Dories were used extensively to | | | | pre-milled construction grade lumber, screw |
| fish the Grand Banks, one of the most | | | | and glue it together, cover it with plywood, |
| important cod fishing locales in the world at | | | | and viola - you have a dory. No exotic |
| that time. | | | | materials, no specialized tools, no special |
| | | | techniques are required. If you can build a |
| Many people think that flat bottomed boats, | | | | sawhorse, you can build a dory. Most modest |
| as most dories are, are somehow less | | | | sized dories can be built in a few dozen |
| seaworthy than boats of some other bottom | | | | hours for a few hundred dollars. All you need |
| shape. Nothing could be farther from the | | | | to do is to ensure the designer of the dory |
| truth. When you load a dory down, with its | | | | you select has designed his boat to be made |
| flared sides, the boat gets more and more | | | | from standard sized lumber. Some of the old |
| stable. As an example of how seaworthy dories | | | | fashioned designs call for unusual sizes you |
| are, in 1876 a man named Alfred Johnson took | | | | have to spend many hours sizing down the |
| a dare in a Gloucester, Massachusetts bar to | | | | lumber before you can start building. |
| single handedly sail across the Atlantic in | | | | |
| an open dory. He chose a 20 foot dory which | | | | With modern epoxy, and the new polyurethane |
| he named Centennial to commemorate the 100 | | | | "Gorilla Glue" type glues, you can build |
| year anniversary of the United States that | | | | strong, safe dories, even if you're not an |
| year. He fitted with sails and a centerboard, | | | | expert wood craftsman. These glues fill gaps |
| and on June 15th set off from Gloucester for | | | | well, so there is no need to carefully fit |
| England. He arrived in Liverpool on August | | | | and expertly clamp each joint in the hull |
| 21st 1876 after crossing one of the most | | | | framing. With fiberglass and epoxy, you can |
| treacherous stretches of water in the world, | | | | even use non-marine grades of plywood also. |
| the North Atlantic. He survived a major gale | | | | The flexible and exceptionally strong coating |
| and some horrid seas in a flat bottomed, open | | | | of epoxy and fiberglass on the outside seals |
| boat with no flotation or self bailing decks! | | | | the hull as well as adding strength and |
| | | | abrasion resistance. Unlike older polyester |
| Modern dories come in a number of variants. | | | | resin based fiberglass, with epoxy, there is |
| There are those optimized for rowing, sail, | | | | no specialized application techniques needed |
| power, high power, wild white water, and | | | | for boat building. You just lay the cloth on |
| more. Almost every possible boating use or | | | | the plywood then wet it down with resin |
| preference can be accommodated in some kind | | | | applied with a brush or roller. It's simple. |
| of dory. Dories are used for launching | | | | |