“Captains Courageous”
Remember that last scene in the old black &
white Spenser Tracy / Freddy Bartholomew movie?
The father and his son are towing a small trailer
carrying a row boat. While it was a ‘fine’ lapstrake
hull with a couple of fishing rods ‘artfully placed’,
rather than a ‘working dory’ with handlines . .
Well, you get the idea.
Anyhow, that was the mental picture I had last
week. I was fortunate enough to be ‘selected’ [Thanks,
again, Pete !!] to give a South Haven Dory a ‘good home’.
The folding utility trailer FINALLY got put to use. Pulling
the boat almost to the hitch and a ‘Red Flag’ at
the overhanging transom worked out nicely. [NOTE
- the trailer was so low, the only thing I could see - with
no load - was the outer edge of the license plate. With the
dory loaded, the ‘outside’ spare blocked the view.
If you use this type of trailer, a handy ‘accessory’
will be a couple of those cheap tall ‘Driveway Reflectors
/ Guides’ attached to the rear.]
I think I’ve wanted a dory since either
seeing that old movie, or one of the family vacations to Gloucester,
MA. Payson’s book on Bolger’s ‘Light Dory’
was the first ‘building’ book I bought, and I’ve
‘collected’ several plans over the years. Although
much lighter than the ‘plank-on-frame’ of the ‘fishing
dory’, the South Haven has the ‘Tombstone’
aft transom. A touch many of the ‘modern’ versions
don’t have. One drawback of the ‘light’ construction
is the fact that unsupported edges are vulnerable to damage.
In this case it was the top 4 inches of the ‘Tombstone’
that was almost broken off when the dory was accidentally dropped.
While a bit of epoxy, ‘injected’ into
the break, would be an adequate fix {she IS useable RIGHT NOW}
I decided to go a bit further {“And don’t you always?”,
says Joanne !!}. My intention is to ‘sandwich’ the
entire transom with two pieces of ‘1x ‘ Mahogany
& epoxy. This will also give sufficient bearing for the
‘sculling notch’ I will cut.
While well made, she has a, “she’s-finished-now-let’s-get-her-afloat”
paint job . . . ‘Battleship Gray’, with white gun’ls.
Probably very ‘traditional’ for a working ‘Banker’.
I’m thinking more on the lines of a ‘Bright Finish’
on the transom, a Deep Green hull, and a ‘Nantucket Sand’
interior. Also Bronze oarlocks & sockets.
While my primary purpose is to use her to work
on my ‘fat-a-tude’, she will also make a good conveyance
to my mooring at the ‘Dragon’. The ‘beach’
there is one of stone & gravel, so getting the paint off
her bottom and applying a layer of epoxy & fine-textured
‘glass {or Xynol, etc} is another project.
This may not top another club member - he rescued
a 30+ footer from the chainsaw [ever go by a boat on a mooring
with a BIG orange ‘CONDEMNED’ sign on it ??]. But
I think it still qualifies as a ‘good deal’. Rather
than give teasing snippets as I go along, hopefully in a few
months I’ll be able to do a ‘full report’
. . . stay tuned
