Tuesday, June 9, 2009

The Island Bay Dory

So here it is, my one sheet dory design. I've only made a model of this boat so far, but I hope to make a life-sized version with my son in a couple of month's time. I'll probably use chine logs and glue and screw technique, rather than stitch and tape as documented here in the instructions. I'll document that technique as I build the boat.

If you want to have a go, please read the disclaimer and be realistic about this boat's ability. It's very small and has little load carrying capacity. The flare can be experimented with, more will add stability and buoyancy, but at the expense of freeboard, so its a smooth water only boat. Also, the flare adds rocker, so this boat will probably nod around. Perhaps a small amount of ballast in either end will help overcome this. If you weigh much more than 75Kg then be very careful getting in, I estimate that with that much of a load, the boat will sit around 150mm deep, leaving less than 150mm of freeboard amidships.

I had to post the instructions as JPGs because unfortunately the blogspot software does not allow such pleasant attachment types as PDF or DXF. If you build an Island Bay Dory, real or model, please let me know via the comments box.

1 comment:

rob buchanan said...

greetings!

my dad and i built one, along with my daughter, aged 7. the idea was to make her a first boat that she and a couple of her friends could use in a protected cove near our house. we used gorilla glue and, instead of a chine log, a series of six-inch pieces of square trim, 3/4 by 3/4 of an inch, because i felt like one longer piece wasn't going to take the bend. i loved the simplicity of the plan and the way it used most of the sheet of plywood. my only critique is that the 4-by-13 inch 'butt blocks' used to glue the two halves of each of the side planks together really aren't wide enough. the tops of the side plankds bent at an extreme angle right at that joint when we glued them to the bottom of the boat, so much so that the glue joints started to come apart. that seam is just such an obvious point of weakness, and it's right at the point of maximum stress. if doing it again i would make the butt blocks taper out to a greater width at the top of the side plank--six or eight inches at the gunwale would probably be much better. anyway, no big deal, we ran an outwale along the top of the plank and the whole thing seems to be holding up just fine. thanks for sharing your plans, happy to send photos if you like. haven't put it in the water yet, my daughter is still mulling her paint scheme.

rob buchanan
greenport, long island, usa
avironvoile@gmail.com