Dories have been traced as far back in history as 300 A.D. when they were used as surf boats on the Arabian Sea. Early dories were built along the banks of the Douro, which flows from Northern Spain through Portugal to the sea. It's quite possible the name of this small craft comes from the name of that river. The Portuguese and other Europeans used the dory for fishing as far off as Iceland and Newfoundland at least as long ago as the start of the Sixteenth Century. Hendrick Avercamp of Holland was only one of the Renaissance painters to depict this sort of boat.

The English colonists on this side of the ocean later used dories for fishing also, and subsequent generations of Gloucestermen and Lunenburgers took them nested aboard their large schooners after ground fish on the Grand Banks. Down to within the last decade the Great White Fleet out of Oporto and the Tagus at Lisbon used them to fish the Atlantic. Many along our shores 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 nearby waters from day to day. Winslow Homer in the latter years of the last century painted the dory as the distinguished Canadian artist Jack L. Gray recently has.

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. Many want them as yacht tenders (particularly the Little Sister and the Admiral's Dory) and for general pleasure.

Dories are not only seaworthy but are also able to carry a lot. With the weight of people, fish or gear, because of their slack bilges, they become extremely steady without being sluggish. Their narrow sterns (transoms) are great in a following sea. In the tradition of the river bateaux, they are also handy for running white-water stern first. 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.

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 or pulled or pushed standing up for short distances.

Oars are made of spruce or ash. The hardwood oars are heavier but last longer. At the point where the oars swing against the tholepins or oarlocks they can be protected from wear with leather, a piece of canvas, or hide.

Outboard motors are often used either in the traditional inboard well or just forward of the transom*. Brackets on the quarter for a small motor can also be used.

Dories may also have sailing rigs.Years ago they had only one sail (with gaff or sprit) to run home to the mother ship on the Banks with a catch of fish.

*Propulsion with an outboard in the stern provides greater maneuverability (ordinarily not necessary); yet some prefer the entirely inboard well since the opening in the lower section of the transom with a stern well for the shaft to swing up alters the dory's profile slightly/ Dories are planked with red or white pine and clench fastened with deep-dipped galvanized boat nails. The bottoms are of white pine, between 1" and 1 º" in thickness depending on the size. Timbers (ribs or bends) are natural crooks from roots of hackmatack (tamarack), cedar, spruce or hardwood. Stems, sterns and gunwales are made of oak. Capping (on top of the gunwales) is oak or other hardwood. Pine or spruce thwarts come with each dory. Dories are painted with two coats of Dory-Buff with dark green for capping. Special preservative such as raw linseed oil mixed half and half with turpentine can also be applied.

Accessories are as follows:

• Oars
• Tholepins
• Oarlocks
• Bow and stern seats
• Rudders with yokes or tillers (including gudgeons and pintols)
• Shoes (hardwood strips on bottom) for extra protection when beaching
• False bottoms (hardwood) for extremely rough handling on rocky shores
• Sails, masts (spars), gaffs, booms, sprits
• Ring bolts in stem for special towing and mooring needs
• Centerboards (iron plate) and their trunks (wood)
• Outboard motor well and brackets
• Oak bedding for inboard engines
• Wooden housing for haul-ups
• Make-and-Break and jump-spark engines
• Propellers, shafts, haul-ups including universal joints and shaft logs (stuffing boxes)