The Dory Shop

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada | (902) 640-3005 | info@doryshop.com

Building and Launching a Dream Dory at The Dory Shop

Oct 25, 2021

Keith Farrier still has a hard time believing that the dream boat he’d been wishing for since he was a child is almost ready to be launched in Lunenburg Harbour. Currently on her cradle at The Dory Shop yard in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Farrier’s beautiful Seine Dory with a cabin attracts a lot of attention from passersby and visitors as the final touches are being worked on. Now she’s ready for her big debut: to be launched in the Lunenburg Harbour on Thursday, October 28th before heading to her new home in Shediac, New Brunswick. “I say to my wife often, ‘I find it pretty hard to believe that I’m going to have a boat in the water soon, something I’ve always wanted my entire life’ and now it’s like my childhood dream is coming true,” said Farrier. “Who gets to say that? A lot of people don’t.” (To read the rest of the article, click READ MORE)

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Bluenose 100: "The Dory Story: A Conversation with Captain Daniel Moreland"

Sep 09, 2021

The Bluenose 100 features The Dory Shop in their latest video! Watch the interview with Captain Daniel Moreland (Captain of the Picton Castle and owner of The Dory Shop) as he explains the significance of The Dory Shop in Lunenburg (building dories for schooners since 1917), the history of the schooner fishery and what that history means today!

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“Such an unassuming little shop, but very special…like you can feel the history of the place.”

About Us

We build dories. Day in, day out, one after the other. In fact, we have been building the iconic Grand Banks dory and other traditional wooden rowboats for close to a century. Although we’ve added a few power tools, we’re proud to say our boats are still hand-built using tried-and-true construction methods, along with quality materials like solid oak transoms, pine and cedar planking, and our signature grown hackmatack frames, all held together with quality copper fastenings. We like it this way. It works and it will continue to work as long as the sea is salty and the ocean has waves.

That doesn’t mean nothing ever changes here. These days, in addition to dories for rowing and sailing, power skiffs and runabouts, we’re also building big powerful schooners, perfect for coastal cruising or blue water adventures across the world’s oceans. Like our dories, they are traditionally-built; in this case, from a designer’s half model instead of the decades-old jigs and patterns from which we build our smaller boats, their edges worn smooth from the touch of so many craftsmen’s hands.

Our boats are strong, durable, seaworthy, and beautiful in their simplicity. But the place we work is special too. The Dory Shop is located on the harbour shore of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada, a port renowned for shipbuilding and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We welcome you to drop by – the locals all do! – or better yet, to join us for one of our two-week dory building classes. For those unable to visit, we are happy to work with you to build the boat of your dreams and can assist you with all the shipping details.


Contact Us

The Dory Shop
PO Box 1076
Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada
B0J 2C0

Ph: (902) 640-3005
fax: (902) 634-9985

email: info@doryshop.com