The Dory Shop

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

Stories from the The Dory Shop


Stop and smell the cedar

Jay is still working away on a lovely steam-bent Alaskan Yellow Cedar dinghy for the Schooner Martha Seabury. It’s a much fussier project than a Banks dory, which planks up lickety-split using nice, wide planks fashioned from pine with no need for a steam box.

Our multi-talented dory builder

Posts to this blog regularly bear witness to the incredible boatbuilding talents of our team here at The Dory Shop, particularly the work of our master dory builder Jay Langford. But Jay’s talents extend well beyond the boatbuilding world as proven by the painting – his latest! – shown here.

Schooners all planked up

There was much merriment in the boatyard this weekend (too much?) as we celebrated the installation of the last plank in our twin schooners – the Shutter Plank. Actor-adventurer Billy Campbell, for whom one of the 48-foot schooners is being built, did the honours – dousing the plank with rum and hammering in the fastenings. The more than 150 people who joined us also got a look at the dory being built by participants in the Boatbuilder Employment Preparation Training Program.

Class making progress!

Participants in the Boatbuilders Employment Preparation Training Program (phew – what a name!) are making good progress with the 13-foot-bottom Handline dory they are building.

New schooner documentary airs this weekend

A new television documentary featuring interviews about the building of the twin schooners out in The Dory Shop boatyard premieres this weekend on CBC Television.

Banks dory declared ‘iconic’

An article in this month’s issue of Classic Boat, entitled 10 Iconic American Boats, lists both dories and working schooners.

Live at the Dory Shop!

We’ve just become aware of some great short videos of some of the live performances that took place in The Dory Shop as part of the Nova Scotia Schooner Association’s September Classic two weekends ago. Check out this one of the über talented singer-songwriter-musician, and sailor, Lennie Gallant singing his haunting Peter’s Dream at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTQxvjGCUYo  Or how’s about some blues with Steve Hickmore at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4is1JNdxNXg&feature=related. Check them out!

Seeing double

Dory Plug has been away on vacation (and even Jay took a week off to sail aboard the stunning schooner Mistral!), so that explains why there haven’t been any posts here lately. However we did have the lovely Miss B taking some photos for us as Jay continued to build not one, but two lovely Nutshell Prams with the assistance Arran.

First Lunenburg Wooden Boat Reunion a big success!

We’re delighted to report that the first-ever Lunenburg Wooden Boat Reunion held over the weekend was a great success. Two very full days of activity including the Heritage Cup schooner race, sloop, small boat, even putt-putt-powered boat races, displays and demos by boat builders, oarmakers and sailors, shop tours, musical entertainment and much oogling of beautiful wooden boats, wrapped up last evening. Phew!

A little sailing dory

So the little Black Rocks sailing dory that we had planned to take to the WoodenBoat Show – but then, receiving an order for a rowing dory, took that instead – is finished. As you can see, it’s a sweet little boat with a simple lug sail rig. Perfect for a beginner sailer as the boat provides a very safe and stable platform from which to learn. Plus a dory of this size is easily rowed by a child as young as nine or 10 but can still hold a few people (her capacity is over 1000 lbs.!).

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