A Little Dory Information
The Dory is a flat-bottomed boat, and was originally a double-ender but the pointed stern was replaced with a V-shaped plank that resembled nothing so much as a tombstone. A straight, uniform flare to the sides made the boat easy to plank, which also allowed fishing schooners to stack one boat inside another in "banks," saving space on deck. Its hull form increased stability as it was loaded, a sure attribute for any working craft. Their narrow sterns (transoms) are great in a following sea. Their sheer is good for not taking water in over the bow. The shape of their bottoms, moreover, allows them to slide in a beam sea to avoid broaching-to (flipping over).
Dories up to and including the size of the trawl dory are easily rowed by one or two people. Unlike some lighter craft they enjoy a fine run. The larger dories can be rowed with sweeps (longer oars), two rowers to a thwart (seat). All dories may be sculled over the stern.
Renowned for its seaworthiness, the Dory was the choice of fishermen who entrusted their lives and livelihoods to these able crafts. By 1870, the world's largest fishing fleet was located in the port of Gloucester, Massachusetts. The bulk of its fishing was done from dories. Simple, sturdy and economical, the dory came to symbolize the qualities for which American Maritime traditions are famous.
Many men once supported their families from a dory when one man with a couple of handlines or two men with tub-trawls or nets harvested the waters from day to day. Winslow Homer in the latter years of the last century painted the dory.
Dories are still common for fishing in Labrador, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and the coast of Maine. They are here and there along the rest of the eastern seaboard south to Cape Hatteras as well; and they can be found in the Carribean and with the salmon vessels of the Pacific Northwest including Alaska. They continue to be in demand as lifeboats on draggers and long liners far and wide.
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