She was the belle of the Halifax International Boat Show. Our 11-foot Little Sister dory, constructed of Fijian mahogany with copper fastenings and clear finish, was a true must-see for attendees of this annual event. But I have to tell you…she barely made it.

You see, it’s been so cold in Lunenburg this last while and The Dory Shop, located in one of the last two original fish sheds on the harbor here, isn’t exactly insulated. Fact is when the wind blows hard enough, like it did the morning of the show’s opening, the whole place shudders and the cold comes up through the floor as well as through the walls. Obviously, this does nothing to help a coat of varnish dry.

So our builder Jay and I decided to move the little bundle. It came as a surprise to me – and later to many at the show – that this dory is as light as she is. Jay made a few modifications to plank thickness to avoid the heaviness that might otherwise have resulted from our decision to build in hardwood. At roughly 95 pounds, we moved her easily enough to the warehouse used by the tall ship Picton Castle and there he was able to apply the last of the 12 coats of varnish used to give this dory its stunning, mirror-like finish (I kept joking with showgoers that I’d have used it to fix my lipstick if it hadn’t been situated so close to the floor).

As it was, her gunnels were a tad tacky as we loaded her up for the hour-long drive to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, but she was sitting pretty by the time the doors opened at noon Thursday and the admirers didn’t stop until the close of the show Sunday. We took so many fine compliments that we actually had to send Jay home as we feared his head would become too swelled!
Now back at Lunenburg, Jay’s working on a sister to the Sister, also mahogany, but this one of the opposite coloring – dark planks with light gunnels. Both are for sale.