Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Build a 16-Foot Dory

Dory boats are used in many countries of the world, but originated on the north eastern seaboard of North America. Some of the most famous ones were used by the fishing schooners to haul fish in on the Grand Banks off Nova Scotia.

If you are thinking of building a boat, you can do a lot worse than a 16-foot dory. The 16-foot dory has been around for years, and has been used by both serious fishermen and weekend boaters. Usually, once a person has a dory, he or she keeps it for years. You see, a home-built 16-foot dory can easily last for 30 years, and like any wooden boat, should one panel or part of a panel perish, it is easy to cut it out and glue a new section in.

Dories can last a very long time

This is one reason why they last so long. The other is that wood does not rot in salt water, so left in water the boat will last well. Of course, if it is left in the water all the time, you will need to maintain it by anti-fouling regularly and so on. But maintenance is minimal really.

Softwood, glue, fasteners - and plans

To build this 16-foot dory, you will need quite a few planks of softwood, which you can buy at your local timber merchant or hardware store, wood glue, screws - bronze are best but difficult to get these days, but others will do. Not ordinary steel screws as they will not last long at all.

However, the most important thing you will need are some detailed plans, preferably of a Grand Banks Dory. These plans need to be provided by an expert, who can answer any questions you might have, and they need to be detailed - step-by-step. The best are those supplied as a set of digital images so you can see what is done - and then do it. You can find out about plans to build a 16-foot dory at http://www.healthfunsuccess.com

John Hartley has been sailing for 20 years, and you can find out the secrets to building a super dory cheaply here.

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