well the boat building bug has hit me and i am now planning on building a boat. I've decided (almost) to build a 16' power flat bottom dory. i'm curious as to weather anyone on this board has ever owned one or fished out of one. i would appreciate any information they would like to share (how they ride, how they handle rough water etc...)
i plan on using it for the puget sound area. thanks in advance for any comments.
chum.

CS,

I have been kicking around the idea of making a Grand Banks style dory myself.

It sounds like you are going for the Dory Skiff style with a wider transom to put a small outboard on. I believe that style of dory has a small V to the hull. If not you will be subject to alot of the same things you will find discussed on "driftboat with motor " threads due to the flat bottom boat. There is a cool design called a San Juan Dory that you might look into.

While dories are famous for their foul water exploits, there are a few things to consider. If you are building a traditonal flat bottom dory, they tend to maintain a 4:1 length to beam ratio. This beam measurement is the "extreme beam", where the actual bottom of the boat is much narrower. This does a couple of things. One, it makes the dories easier to row due to the sharper entry. Two, it takes away from their initial stablity. This is more of a concern when they are lightly loaded. When under a heavy load they actually become rock solid. This is due to the flare on the boat, as it sits deeper, you increase your beam.

So if you are planning on a "power" boat that you will be using lightly loaded I would consider a Dory Skiff with some degree of V to the hull.

BTW, what construction method are you planning on using?

Fish Me!

birdnest,
i am planning on building a flat bottom dory/skiff.
i've looked at the san jaun dory, looks cool but not quite what i had in mind. the one i've found that i like the best is designed by Tracy obrien from chehalis washington.
as for teh method, it would be stich and glue. what got me started was watching a guy i work with building kayaks, he used a combination of stitch and glue and strip building. his boat turned out beautiful, but alas i'm not much into kayaking, but decided instead to build a boat that i can fish out of.

so what design and method are you looking into?

CS,

I saw one of his designs and it seems pretty close to the Pacific Dories used for salmon fishing off the coast of Oregon. If this is your plan you gotta check out this site....

http://home.att.net/~td2evers/doryphotos.htm

As far as method, I will probably end up with a ply on frame technique or stitch and glue.

I want a boat I can row for some exercise, toss an occasional crab pot, and a little manual trolling. Looking at doing a 16' Grand Banks Dory.

birdnest,
very cool site, those are exactly the kind of boats i have in mind, but not as big. i had that site as one of my favorites but, lost it awhile back and couldn't remeber the name, thank you.

the grand banks style would be a lot of fun for rowing around and crabbing. Keep me posted as to what you decide to build, or shoot me an email.
i think i'm going to order teh plans at the end of this month and hopefully start building a boat in december.

chum.
markriedesel@hotmail.com

Well done. I see we both live in B'ham, maybe you can tow me in when I get tired of rowing.

delmontejb@msn.com

not a problem,
would gladly do so, keep me posted on your plans.
chum