# Dorie build



## curtis catman (Sep 29, 2015)

week one of my Dorie build


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## k2andcannoli (Feb 28, 2012)

When ya gonna BREAK her in?


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## curtis catman (Sep 29, 2015)

Tomorrow l am going to put her in Middle Island to establish the water line so I can drill the bail holes and put the rub rails on.


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## markhusbands (Aug 17, 2015)

Awesome.


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## curtis catman (Sep 29, 2015)

Thank you very much. 

I am going to row this Dorie down the Upper Gauley this fall. I think it will be the first time a Dorie has been down the Gauley.


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## WalshJuice (Sep 10, 2005)

Dory. Better spell it right if you are going to spend that much time building one. Looks great so far.


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## caverdan (Aug 27, 2004)

curtis catman said:


> View attachment 12220
> week one of my Dorie build


Wow....you built that in a week? Very impressive. Is it a kit, or are you working off a set of plans?


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## mattman (Jan 30, 2015)

WalshJuice said:


> Dory. Better spell it right if you are going to spend that much time building one. Looks great so far.


"No respect for a man that can only spell a word one way"
Often attributed to Mark Twain, but possibly came from someone else. 
Quote investigator

"Simplified spelling is alright, but, like chastity, you can carry it to far."
Simplified spelling speech,December 9 1907

"I don't see any use in having a uniform and arbitrary way of spelling. We might as well make all clothes alike and cook all food alike."
Speach at a spelling match, Hartford Coneticut, May 12, 1875

Last two are from Mark Twain, Mark Twain quotations

" A man who builds a boat should be able to call it any damn thing he pleases." Mattman


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## ncordial12 (Mar 20, 2014)

whos plans are you using? do you have any other photos of the build?


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## curtis catman (Sep 29, 2015)

WalshJuice said:


> Dory. Better spell it right if you are going to spend that much time building one. Looks great so far.


Thank you
Sir you are correct about the spelling.


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## curtis catman (Sep 29, 2015)

I bought a book by Roger Fletcher called Drift Boats & River Dories. It has ten sets of drawings in it of ten diferent style drift boats and dories. They are not a set of detailed plans but I used to be a carpenter and My best Friend is a better carpenter than I am. We both took a weeks vacation and worked on it 10 Hours a day for 5 days. First day built the frames and layed out the sides. It has half inch sides and 3 quarter bottom. We cheated and built two sets of sides out of quarter because we knew we could not bend half. 

It is the third design of Woodie Hindman. The 16 foot Double Ender with a Transom. So it is actually a Mckenzie River drift boat but when I get done Decking it it will be a dory. I am having a little trouble getting it to self bail any advice on this subject would be apprecciated.


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## curtis catman (Sep 29, 2015)

Oh yeah, This idea popped into my head to build this thing for Gauley season one week and did it the next. If I wrap it around a huge bolder and have to river board out with a piece of it I will not be out a fortune. We typically tend to over build things so I do not believe that will be the case but You never know. For any one out there thinking about starting one of these it can be done. I believe if you have a friend that will help you it will go a lot easier. Getting the shape of the boat is not that hard. The rocker forms its self as you bend the sides in. Put the middle frame in and start working your way toward the bow. Then put the back frames in. There is a youtube video of three guys putting the sides on and all the frames in in just over one hour. All the hard work is finishing the inside which I have not done yet. We just build two water tight or should I say resistant compartments in the bow and stern. Any way thanks for the compliments. 

Mattman, I tried to spell every thing correctly here so I will not get scolded by the teacher anymore. Keep Missspelling into the future


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## Tom Martin (Dec 5, 2004)

Excellent work Curtis! If this type of craft is new to you, get some practice in easy water and work to improve your skill set. These are very fun boats to row, but failure happens quick. Have fun with it! Yours, another boat builder...


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## curtis catman (Sep 29, 2015)

Thanks Tom, Your book Big Water Little boats is what inspired me to build this. I had her out on a mild run yesterday and discover how much more responsive the dory is compared to my larger catarafts. She turns like my sabertooth. I also noticed how it will find small currents and follow them. Thank you for all your work putting the book together.


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## mattman (Jan 30, 2015)

Curtis, that boat looks sweet! That's some solid Carpentry to, getting that much done in a week!
I think if I ever built a Dory, it would be after the Colorado River Dory design, sounds like such a solid boat. Really enjoyed that book to, Maulty sounded like such a solid, easy going person, one of my favorite river books.


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## curtis catman (Sep 29, 2015)

Thanks Mattman, I am with you on the Colorado River Dory. It is by far the sweetest boat, I just needed something smaller for these Eastern Rivers.


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## Tom Martin (Dec 5, 2004)

Hey Curtis, You have a good question in the self bailing department, and you have a couple of options. 

Moulty Fulmer wanted to keep his center of gravity low, so he made his seat height so that his feet would be on the bottom of the boat. His scuppers were just above the waterline, but it meant his footwell would flood below the waterline and he would have to bail that out. 

Otis "Dock" Martson had solved the flooded footwell problem by raising the seat in his hard-hull motorboats so that his feet were at the waterline, where his scupper holes were. Dock wrote Moulty suggesting Fulmer raise his seat higher and put his feet up at the waterline, but Fulmer didn't do it as he wanted to keep that Center of Gravity (COG) low. 

The big Briggs style dories have so much under deck storage that the boat rower sitting higher is not that big a deal, and the boat bails like Dock had it figured out. 

Having rowed both a fully loaded 15 foot McKenzie style GC dory and an 18 foot Briggs stye GC dory, I really like the smaller boat as it is so much more responsive. 

Hope you are having fun with this. Please let us know how the Gauley run goes, and here's wishing you all the very best in your water adventures!


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## curtis catman (Sep 29, 2015)

Thanks again Tom, l loaded the boat with 500lbs and marked the water line. It came in 1.75 inches above the floor which was on top of the bottom frame piece. I filled that space with Styrofoam then added 2 inches more. Put a quarter inch floor on that and drilled 1.5 inch holes at the floor line. That makes the holes half inch above the waterline. I hid the holes on the inside with panels leaving a quarter inch gap at the bottom. I hid the holes on the out side with the rub rail cutting through it and removing the bottom of the holes and facing the rub rail with a piece of quarter inch ply wood. I left a sump in the floor so I can completely drain the boat once out of the water. If l ever want to load it heavy and take it on a milder river, l can pull of these rub rails and put on a solid set that will.cover the bail holes.


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## kokoroltd (Apr 12, 2015)

I had a 16.5 foot Ray's river dory years ago. Am I sorry I ever sold that!! It handled so, so sweet. I took it down the Deschutes and Hell's canyon all of the time. Your boat looks awesome. I want to get one again one day.


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## curtis catman (Sep 29, 2015)

Here is the New color. And thank you Kokoroltd


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## Tom Martin (Dec 5, 2004)

For the first painting job on the home-built dory, I used some very nice $60 a quart boat paint. Flowed on really wall and had a great shine. Only trouble way, at the end of a very muddy Grand Canyon trip, it needed another coat of paint. Now, I paint the GEM every year with $9-a-quart Rustoleum oil based paint. The boat looks GREAT at the put-in, and at the take-out, needs another coat of paint! Have fun Curtis!!


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## curtis catman (Sep 29, 2015)

That is what l used also. Rustolem oil base. I mixed one quart of green wild three quarts of blue to get a better teal. This boat has been 4 different colors in two weeks.


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## curtis catman (Sep 29, 2015)

Ran the Upper Gauley today in the drift boat. Got hung up in some little no name rapid. Other than that l smoothed it. There will be an article in Dirtbagpaddler magazine.


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## k2andcannoli (Feb 28, 2012)

Sweet Curtis!


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## curtis catman (Sep 29, 2015)

Drift boat at Pillow


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## curtis catman (Sep 29, 2015)

Running the meat.


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## curtis catman (Sep 29, 2015)

I could not have done this without help from my support team on and off the river. They know who they are, Thanks again.


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## mattman (Jan 30, 2015)

Man that's freekin' awesome!


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