Construction of Lobo de Mar II, a South Haven Dory

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My career in Geological Oceanography gave me the opportunity to be around vessels of all types, large and small. Most of my work related efforts went into operational support of the research vessels used to conduct the scientific research. I traveled to many places and sailed on many oceans. At the age of 60, I had the opportunity to retire and hopefully enjoy some relaxation time that would include boating and fishing. In September of 2001, my wife and I left the San Francisco Bay Area in California and moved to the mountains of northeastern California. We owned a 34 Angleman Sea Spirit Gaff Rig ketch for over 30 years and enjoyed bay sailing and some coastal cruising early on. Unfortunately, we had to give her up in order to retire.

I spent my early years on the East Coast and was exposed to the ocean and river environment at a very young age. It was clear to me that boating would, and must, continue to be part of my life. I also realized that as I grow older, exercise must become part of everyday life if I was to stay in reasonable physical condition. Fortunately, there is a small lake nearby which will lend itself well in accommodating a rowing and/or sailing skiff.

I have always admired the appearance and grandeur of the East Coast Dory. One day I got on the Internet and typed in rowing dory and was swamped with return possibilities. The one Dory that caught my attention was the South Haven Dory. Besides its appearance, it was the construction method that really made this an attractive task. I had not built a boat using Stitch-and-Glue methodology before and the more I thought about it, it was the right thing to do. Paul VandenBoschs Guide to Sailing and Cruising Stories (http://cruisenews.net) had the plans and construction guidance for the South Haven Dory that I would need to build such a vessel. With occasional input from Paul, the Dory construction is complete. Paul has offered, and I gladly accepted, to post the digital pictures I took during the construction process along with comments about the process and the Dory itself. The Dory turned out far better than I ever expected and it attracts attention everywhere I go with her. This is a great opportunity to share the happening with you all.

The Dory hull was constructed with 1/4 marine plywood; 1/2 exterior plywood for the seat, cross members, and skeg; and 1/2 clear pine for the sheer clamps. I used West Systems epoxy resin and slow curing hardener for the glasswork. The hull was coated inside and out with a layer of epoxy, only the bottom of the hull was covered with glass cloth. A finish coat of Pettit Easypoxy was applied to the exterior hull, Pettit Shipendec enamel to the inside, and Pratt and Lambert spar varnish to the finish work. Total cost to build the Dory was about $980- wood, $200; hardware and glass cloth, $350; paint, $230; and epoxy resin and hardener $200. I started fabrication of the plywood panels toward the end of April and finished the Dory by early June.

In reality only a few hours each day was used for construction activity, the rest of the day was dead time allowing the epoxy to cure before moving on to the next step. The stitching process was a little intimidating at first but once I worked out a methodology things went well. Adding the concrete blocks and hearing the stitches pull at the wood to shape the hull was scary to say the least. Once formed things went quickly and relatively easy. It is important to secure a spreader bar inside the hull, once formed to dimension, and keep it in place until the entire hull is completely taped and the epoxy has cured. I used a 1 1/2 PVC plastic pipe coupling to smooth my fillets over the tape and cross member joints. It really worked well and kept my fillets consistent in appearance and strong as well. I placed Styrofoam blocks in the seat cavity to add a little more buoyancy to the hull to compensate for the weight of the hardware, glass cloth, and epoxy. It probably doesnt need it but I felt 65 pounds of extra buoyancy was a good cushion factor. To make the skeg I laminated 2 layers of 1/2 plywood. I positioned it from forward of the footrest crossmember to the transom. It is about 4 high at the transom juncture and has its aft end raked about 65 degrees with the horizontal. I wanted to structurally tie the aft end of the Dory together so that the Dory would carry weight while on the trailer without flexing the hull. In my situation the skeg rides on the roller at the end of the trailer. The overall length of the Dory is about 154. You will need the full 16 of pine strips for the sheer clamps and even at that they fall a little short of full side coverage. I made sure the port and starboard clamps were matched up at the bow and let the stern ends float, as I could be more creative in closing off the ends there. I ended up flattening the transom some and fitted in crosspieces of pine to complete the sheer clamp. Normally one would have limber holes through each cross member to allow free flow of bilge water from one end to the other. I agree with Paul that in this application it is nice to have some dry bilge compartments to stow stuff that you dont want to get wet. Getting in and out of the Dory at the shoreline does bring water aboard and its quite easy to sponge out the section aft of the seat when necessary without having to do the entire bottom area. Freshly caught fish can be stowed in the section aft of the footrest without compromising the other areas and is easy to clean up when done for the day.

As for performance, I am very pleased. The Dory rows well and is very fast, comfortably reaching 4 miles per hour with little effort. The skeg size is perfect and the Dory tracks well. There is resistance to quick turns, which confirms the effect the skeg has on performance. I used 7 1/2 oars that are just about right for long slow pulls on the oars to keep moving. Paul noted problems in selecting oarlocks that allow you to keep the oars in check and always attached to the boat. I found a pair of bronze oarlocks that have an elliptical shape to them. Because the hull sides are deeply slanted standard round oarlocks bind and dont allow the oars to clear the water surface easily while rowing. The extra height in the elliptical version compensates for the closeness of fit. To ensure protection of the wood/varnished surface area where the oars ride in the oarlocks I used a sleeve of heat shrink tubing to handle the abrasion and keep the overall clearance between oar and oarlock to a maximum. I used a set of rubber oar covers that have a rubber donut at one end to keep the oarlock confined to the oar and not slide off. I cut the sleeve part off as the heat shrink tubing takes its place. I used keeper pins at the bottom of the oarlocks to keep all parts attached to the Dory. I can now let go of everything and not see my oars quietly slip away from the Dory and leave me up the creek without a paddle.

I am a very picky person and a perfectionist at heart. I often stand back and look at the Dory with admiration, when no one is looking, and I cannot believe how well this vessel turned out. Most all of the smoothness in progressive steps during construction is due to Pauls excellent instructions and his being available for questions and clarifications. Fortunately I had some good experience using epoxy for repairs to our wooden ketch, which after time does have to be done and requires some creativity in the process. Having a new large shop area, heated for winter, really made things easier. Should you choose to build one of these Dorys I hope the pictures which follow provide you more insight as to how all this comes together and that you will feel the sense of personal reward that I have.

Steve Wolf
swolf at c-zone.net

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