# Small self-bailing dory



## jefflind

Does anyone know about these? I can't find any info.


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## climbdenali

Pretty fun looking little boat! What are its measurements?


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## jefflind

It's 12 ft long with 8ft oars. Just got it. Going to tip test in the lake Saturday.


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## AZJefe

Could that be one of the late Randy Fabreze's Ouzels??


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## jefflind

There is a Logo with a black bird on it.


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## chutney

I think AZ JEFE has this right, Randy built about 20 or 30 of them. PM me and I can give you some more info.


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## climbdenali

Hey Chutney,
Post info up here, if that's cool. I'm interested in river dory history, and I'd bet there are a few others on the Buzz who are as well. After Jefe posted that it might be an Ouzel, I searched around, and couldn't find word one on them.


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## AZJefe

I knew Randy and knew that he built the Ouzel mini-dory but never got pictures of them. A close friend was on a winter Grand Canyon trip with one in the late 1980's and related a story to me about putting a hole in it at Crystal and wanting to scuttle it but they wound up repairing it over 2 days instead. As I recall, they had to prop the Ouzel over a fire to get it warm enough for the epoxy on their repair to set. I've forwarded these images to my friend but haven't gotten a reply as of yet.

Brad Dimock mentioned the Ouzel in a post on woodenboatpeople.com and I will ask him about this boat as well.


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## chutney

I am almost positive that this is a Randy Fabres ouzle. I have one in my carport and my sister-in-law has two at her place, one of these probably being the one AZJefe mentioned in the Crystal story. I know that there is at least one more in Flagstaff. I can call my sister-in-law tomorrow and get more info if anyone is interested. Jeff I tried to reply to your PM I hope I was successful.


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## climbdenali

One of the few references I could find lastnight was in the Spring 2008 Boatman's Quarterly Review, in a couple articles on trips taken during the '83 high water. I've recently found Brad's fretwaterlines blog, and it's awesome. He's doing some really cool work, and I've learned lots of good info from his blogs.


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## yak1

That's an Ouzel. A friend of mine had one on our April,1983 Grand trip and it was the first flipless grand trip in that dorry design. The only problem we had was that we put too much ETOH on it and it started taking on water in the first mile on the river. It was a rock and roll ride. It should be noted that while the water was a bit higher than normal it wasn't the stomping flows they had latter. Our put in date was the last day of the winter season 4/15 and we had a great 21 say trip in the canyon and another 3 days to Pierece Ferry.


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## jefflind

The guy I got it from said its tippy if not heavily loaded. Thoughts?


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## jefflind

I would love any info you can get Chutney.


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## yak1

The one on our trip was loaded heavily and had a very lively ride. One thing you might want to try out in a pond is getting it back upright yourself. I know it can be done because I watched him practice before the trip. They're a fun boat if you want to row a dory. They are also an old boat so check out the glass for dings and brush up on your fiberglass repair skills. Judging by you picture you we'ren't around for fiberglass kayaks unless you've got a squirt boat or race boats.
Have fun you could probably bag a first D in the NF of the Payett in an Ozel.


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## jefflind

47 yrs around for a while. LOL


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## jefflind

yak1 said:


> The one on our trip was loaded heavily and had a very lively ride. One thing you might want to try out in a pond is getting it back upright yourself. I know it can be done because I watched him practice before the trip. They're a fun boat if you want to row a dory. They are also an old boat so check out the glass for dings and brush up on your fiberglass repair skills. Judging by you picture you we'ren't around for fiberglass kayaks unless you've got a squirt boat or race boats.
> Have fun you could probably bag a first D in the NF of the Payett in an Ozel.


There will be no first D on the N fork Payette. Too breakable at this age!


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## Schutzie

jefflind said:


> The guy I got it from said its tippy if not heavily loaded. Thoughts?


Beer makes great ballast.


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## kwagunt2001

*Ouzel advertisement from 1984*

As a dory lover I knew that I had seen something about the Ouzel boats. After searching my collection of old river mags I found this. Advertisement from River Runner Magazine July 1984. Cool! Mike


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## BCJ

Looks like a solid boat, well made, dang-near river-ready after a hose off! Have fun mon! Yes - - they run better with a bit o' weight in them!


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## LowlyW

I'm sorry, but I knew Randy and Denise a long time ago. Can anyone tell me what happened to him? He was such a memorable, charismatic, genuine person.


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## dancook56

*I built these boats...*

I used to work with Randy in 1983 when he was designing and building the prototypes under the umbrella of my dad's company Quintus, Inc. Seeing the "Brecchi Design" name and logo on the ad above brought back a lot of memories.

I think the boats were well made, and yes, they handled much better when full of cargo. In the April 1983 trip mentioned above, Randy was using it as a support vessel for the accompanying kayaks on the trip.

I recall a combination of polyester resin/woven fiberglass roving/PVC 1/4-inch foam core sandwich construction, which was vacuum-bagged in two separate steps. I recall being quite proud of the Adiprene L-100/MOCA urethane cast stems in the prow and the stern, designed to transfer the shock of impact. Reading about the repair on the boat that required a fire to cure the epoxy is eyebrow raising; it sounds like quite the adventure.

I enjoyed Randy's company very much; he often made me laugh with his clownish humor. I'm sad to report that he died of a heart condition about five years ago or so, while doing work as a firefighter, I think somewhere in New Mexico. It's been a great trip down memory lane seeing these photos and hearing these stories, and I hope this information is of help. Let me know if I can help further.


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## Aerocam

A friend of mine ran one down the Canyon around '89 or so. Beer was a great ballast... Until we drank it all. He had about 100lbs of rocks in his boat by the time we got to Lava. There was also a group of about six of them that we played leapfrog with for a while. Looked like lots of fun!


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## joecoolives

jefflind said:


> The guy I got it from said its tippy if not heavily loaded. Thoughts?


IHave One. You Need To Load It Heavy On The Bottom. I Have , 5 Gallon Gas Cans( Water Only) Put In The Side Hatches. A Yeti Sherpa 80 Qt Cooler Fits In The Front. Stay Away FroM Hard Containers Like Rocket Boxes. It Is The Funnest Boat I Have Ever Rowed. It Will Flip If Your Hit Sideways. I Have Flipped Twice. run A Flip Strap Under The Boat Pretty Tight. You Can Flip It Easily. It Wants To Be Right Side Up. I Have Some 8 Ft Oars,But Want To Try Some 9S. Try To Load It With The Most Weight Under you Centered.Jacks Plastic Made Some DeckpPads For It. I have a board that will go over the cockpit so the deck pads to make a bed. 
When I Flipped my Girlfriend At The Time Faced Forward Holding The Gunwells. I Think The Extra Weight On Top Was A Big Factor. On The Plus Sidewhen She Was At The Front And We Would Hit The Top Of The Wave She Would Throw Her Weight Forward And It Would Pop Me Up Into Yhe Air. like riding a seesaw down the river. My Phone Is Capitalizing Everything.


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## joecoolives

I Will Post Some Pics


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## joecoolives

Jim Aton was the man I bought the Dory from. he ran it down the Grand Canyon a few times. it still has the patch from granite. I wonder if its the same Dory that they're talking about from above.


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## joecoolives

here are some pics. note the deck pads.


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## kanuman

*Little Dory Story*

I knew Randy well and was on his first two GC trips. Rocky Rossi did a little video "The Little Dory Story" with my good friend Ed. Someone is bound to still have a copy of it somewhere?

Love the history and the memories...................................Gary


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## restrac2000

joecoolives said:


> Jim Aton was the man I bought the Dory from. he ran it down the Grand Canyon a few times. it still has the patch from granite. I wonder if its the same Dory that they're talking about from above.


Small world. We were just talking about the boat as we floated down the Grand this month with Jim. He is sad he sold it in hindsight. He had some adventures with that boat over the years. Never saw photos of it until now. 12 feet never looked so small.

Looks like a fun design. Can only imagine you want to hit laterals dead straight.

Phillip


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## BCJ

Can't be sure but I think I came across one of these while camped at Tanner a few years back. A guy was rowing it solo, pulled in and asked permission to hunt around with a metal detector, did so for awhile then happily rowed away. Smallest dory I had ever seen. Guy was very friendly and I had to laugh - - when I asked if he ever found anything good he said "I find a lot of tent stakes." I think he was searching for a beer stash. No, we didn't find it either, nor would we have taken someone else's stash! Peace


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## joecoolives

restrac2000 said:


> Small world. We were just talking about the boat as we floated down the Grand this month with Jim. He is sad he sold it in hindsight. He had some adventures with that boat over the years. Never saw photos of it until now. 12 feet never looked so small.
> 
> Looks like a fun design. Can only imagine you want to hit laterals dead straight.
> 
> Phillip


yeah you really want to be set up straight for anything you're going to hit head on. anything that hit you on the side is going to knock you over. I named it tipsy. When Your By YourselF You Can Really Use Your Hips To Control Your Pitch. Thats Why I Flipped In Granite On Hells,tThe Second Lateral Pushed Me Over. The First Stoll The Momentum.


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## Spey_chucker

Hey guys, I am new here but have been all wet for years.
I am hoping you folks read old posts!
That boat was an ouzel for sure.
Rowed one once on the South Fork of the American.
Fun lil boat!

Does anybody have one that I could loft?
(Take the lines from).

Cheers!


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## zoltar

chutney said:


> I think AZ JEFE has this right, Randy built about 20 or 30 of them. PM me and I can give you some more info.


I just bought an ouzel myself, and looking for any information you could give me. Thankks,

Rich


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## flagstaff1

I guess I never followed through 9 years ago! I don’t know a lot about these boats except that they were built by Randy with help from various folks. I know some were built in the small town of Mogollon, New Mexico. I believe some of the molds are still there. And if your buddy picks a Rocky camp just pick her up and carry her to a nice sandy beach! If you have specific questions I could try and find answers.


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## flagstaff1

I just realized my replies from years ago was my “chutney “ account- not sure if that’s still active, but same person.


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## tBatt

A buddy in SLC is selling this one if anyone is interested.


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