Another sweet dory story

Recently we had an email from Jamie McSween of Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia. Jamie was just a youngster when his family purchased a dory from The Dory Shop, then operated by Lawrence Allen. Indeed, young Jamie had his photo taken with Mr. Allen as shown here.

Jamie says he was pretty hard on that first dory. “Of course we were just kids so we were bumping into things and leaving it on the mud.” After several years of enjoyment, the boat was beyond repair.

After that, Jamie says he went through “that speed boat phase.” But he realized that unless you had a big powerboat (40-foot plus), there were too many days that conditions in the Northumberland Strait weren’t safe for a lightweight power vessel. “So I decided to come back to a dory.”

Jamie couldn't remember where the dory was built but he'd heard of The Dory Shop and so made the trek over to Lunenburg. “I walked in with these pictures and I think [former owner Kim Smith], Jay and Jill were there and I asked them if they knew where this dory was made and Kim said ‘look out the window at that cement slab, that’s where the shed was in the background.’”

That same day in 2004, Jamie ordered a new Handline dory with a motor well. This summer he’s looking to rig the boat for sail.

Powered by a 5 hp, 4-stroke Mercury, Jamie and his dory have traveled as far as Prince Edward Island, a trip that takes about four hours over and another four back at a maximum speed of about 7.5 mph.

Many thanks to Jamie for sharing this great dory story!

Dory Plug