For the "Old Iron" nerds out there

[Bill in Oregon]

I have had a couple of original hit-and-miss engines -- and miss them. This nicely machined little model goes together astonishingly well!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hodz4Q3jefU&t=1s

[Grizz]

I have had a couple of original hit-and-miss engines -- and miss them. This nicely machined little model goes together astonishingly well!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hodz4Q3jefU&t=1s

Way back Jerome, AZ had a living museum with a make-and-break engine running a sawmill. full torque was something, and when there was a pause they adjusted a valve so it only fired once in a while, kept it running on fumes i suppose. But the Sound!

I see a flathead L4 in the catalog. I can relate by several L6 flatheads I owned and operated. I kind of group them with 1911s for some reason not known to me. Easy and fun to disassemble and reassemble both I suppose.

thanks for the link and memories lane sidetrip . . .

[GunnyMack]

Not far from here there is a rather large show each spring, they have all kinds of ol iron for sale, trade, swapping. I've never been but those old coughin,farting engines come out of the wood work.

[Bill in Oregon]

Back home in dear old Oregon they have an entire "village" called Powerland in Brooks, a small town just off Interstate 5 north of Salem. On two back-to-back weekends in summer, they hold the annual "Steam Up" featuring steam power, one-lung power, and all sorts of wonderful old machinery -- and a swap meet. Nothing like the sights, sounds and smell of fresh pine being milled in a steam sawmill -- or the taste of fresh ice cream being churned by a Fairbanks-Morse hit and miss.

[Grizz]

Back home in dear old Oregon they have an entire "village" called Powerland in Brooks, a small town just off Interstate 5 north of Salem. On two back-to-back weekends in summer, they hold the annual "Steam Up" featuring steam power, one-lung power, and all sorts of wonderful old machinery -- and a swap meet. Nothing like the sights, sounds and smell of fresh pine being milled in a steam sawmill -- or the taste of fresh ice cream being churned by a Fairbanks-Morse hit and miss.

Fantastic. Do you have a link to a site or dates of this year's round-up? I'd go in a heartbeat if there are no calendar conflicts . . .

I found it. THANKS!

[Ji in Hawaii]

Back in my young teen years my dad a New England native, and a lover of fishing, and dories decided he wanted to get back into commercial fishing. This was around 1974 after his recent retirement from the Federal Government. Of course his dream commercial Fishing boat was a 26' Saint Pierre Dory. He already purchased the plans a few years earlier in preparation. The design called for a retractable propeller & shaft making for easy beaching, and rolling the hull over the sand bar at the mouth of the Ka'elepulu Stream which our home was located along about a mile upstream. During the prewar years 1938 to 1942 dad had owned a 20' Grand Banks Dory which he had purchased from an old cod fisherman who had recently retired. During his time off from college dad fished for cod & pollock to help pay for the bills. Powering this old dory was a Acadia made Make & Break 2 stroke petrol powered motor. He really liked that engine's reliability, ease of maintenance, and easy start-up. He remembered that Make & Break, so he was seriously considering ordering one from the Manufacturer in Nova Scotia. From what I gather they finally went bankrupt in 1979. Dad's second choice was another motor he was very familiar with, a Yanmar single cylinder 3hp which he had powering his Sea Bright Skiff which he had built in Yokohama by an amazingly talented Japanese boatwright back in 1964. Anyways, like most of dads dreams, for one reason, or another this dream would evaporate due to other family obligations.
Anyways, here a nice video, and soundbite of a Acadia Gas Engines Ltd. Make & Break chugging away in all it's glory.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qtSdi_okeVY

[Bill in Oregon]

Grizz, here you go, bro. Not many places you can see SEVERAL Case steam tractors chugging along in a line.

https://www.antiquepowerland.com/steam-up

Ji, you are calling up all sorts of memories! I bought a copy of John Gardner's classic "Dory Book" while in college -- and Acadia was still making their one-lungers. Dreamed of building a St. Pierre and re-read that chapter many times.
Having lost most of my mind, I really enjoy listening to the engine notes of these wonderful old powerplants. Lots of them still on fishing boats in Europe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQPuA0ZP8l4

[Grizz]

Back in my young teen years my dad a New England native, and a lover of fishing, and dories decided he wanted to get back into commercial fishing. This was around 1974 after his recent retirement from the Federal Government. Of course his dream commercial Fishing boat was a 26' Saint Pierre Dory. He already purchased the plans a few years earlier in preparation. The design called for a retractable propeller & shaft making for easy beaching, and rolling the hull over the sand bar at the mouth of the Ka'elepulu Stream which our home was located along about a mile upstream. During the prewar years 1938 to 1942 dad had owned a 20' Grand Banks Dory which he had purchased from an old cod fisherman who had recently retired. During his time off from college dad fished for cod & pollock to help pay for the bills. Powering this old dory was a Acadia made Make & Break 2 stroke petrol powered motor. He really liked that engine's reliability, ease of maintenance, and easy start-up. He remembered that Make & Break, so he was seriously considering ordering one from the Manufacturer in Nova Scotia. From what I gather they finally went bankrupt in 1979. Dad's second choice was another motor he was very familiar with, a Yanmar single cylinder 3hp which he had powering his Sea Bright Skiff which he had built in Yokohama by an amazingly talented Japanese boatwright back in 1964. Anyways, like most of dads dreams, for one reason, or another this dream would evaporate due to other family obligations.
Anyways, here a nice video, and soundbite of a Acadia Gas Engines Ltd. Make & Break chugging away in all it's glory.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qtSdi_okeVY

Ji, thanks for the update. I still have notes somewhere about your Dad's boats. A man of good taste. Perhaps you could post some photos to anchor the topic.

[Grizz]

Grizz, here you go, bro. Not many places you can see SEVERAL Case steam tractors chugging along in a line.

https://www.antiquepowerland.com/steam-up

Ji, you are calling up all sorts of memories! I bought a copy of John Gardner's classic "Dory Book" while in college -- and Acadia was still making their one-lungers. Dreamed of building a St. Pierre and re-read that chapter many times.
Having lost most of my mind, I really enjoy listening to the engine notes of these wonderful old powerplants. Lots of them still on fishing boats in Europe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQPuA0ZP8l4

Bill and Ji, we have a lot in common, I think it's about the seas as much as the boats. Dory Book, check. St. Pierre Dory, check. Make and Break, check. L6 flathead in my boat, thirty years of working and still going, check.

One trip through the inside passage between the Canadian portion near to the Alaska portion in Prince Rupert vicinity a smallish double-end troller with a M&B engine was traveling across our bow in the lowest possible throttle speed, the pulses were far apart, and each power stroke sent the boat ahead more than its own length! Like a rower with a sliding seat setup and clean bottom, two boat-lengths, making time.

It has been said to me a couple of times by folks who would know that the pulsing troll speed imparted killer action to salmon and tuna troll gear! Something along the lines of the surface swell inducing the same attraction to lures in following seas. Add in the Beauty of the Morning, and the Beauty of the Evening, and the world around that vessel is blissful and blessed.

Fishing in the Beauty.jpeg

† grizz

[Bill in Oregon]

Grizz, it had not occurred to me that the pulsing of the boat speed would make for killer trolling!

[Grizz]

Grizz, it had not occurred to me that the pulsing of the boat speed would make for killer trolling!

That plus the rolling motion of the boat, the ones who tuned that out-produced the ones who didn't know. The underwater sounds make a difference in a boat that fish will follow, or won't. My last boat was a magnet, sperm whales would surface and lollygag at the surface, watching us haul gear after they had picked it on the way up. They look like brown beach logs, as long as the boat, [about 60 feet], with eyeballs that appear to be the size of a dinner plate, scanning the boat and the tiny creatures on board.

Once this movie re-starts it can go on for hours and sometimes days . . . ,

[Ji in Hawaii]

Ji, you are calling up all sorts of memories! I bought a copy of John Gardner's classic "Dory Book" while in college -- and Acadia was still making their one-lungers. Dreamed of building a St. Pierre and re-read that chapter many times.
Having lost most of my mind, I really enjoy listening to the engine notes of these wonderful old powerplants. Lots of them still on fishing boats in Europe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQPuA0ZP8l4

Aloha Bill, Dories are one of my favorite subject matters. A couple years ago I restored my dad's old Pearson rowing dory replacing the dry-rotted gunwales, and painting the interior. She's 15'6, and strictly a rower, but she rows beautifully with little effort needed. One day I got carried away, and rowed over 20 miles in one day out in the blue pacific. That motor sounds awesome "chug chug chug chug". My dad had a little single cylinder 3hp Yanmar diesel in his Sea Bright Skiff, and that boat sounded amazing in the same way. It had a big, heavy flywheel, and dad would squirt a little lighter fluid in the cylinder, then crack it by hand while holding the compression release, and as soon as he let go of the release, it would start right up, every time. I love the smell of diesel exhaust.
I think I own at least 2 soft-bound copies of "The Dory Book", and I downloaded an electronic copy too. I think I read it whenever I start feeling nostalgic about my Dad. Great off topic topic. Thank you.

[Ji in Hawaii]

Ji, thanks for the update. I still have notes somewhere about your Dad's boats. A man of good taste. Perhaps you could post some photos to anchor the topic.

As requested...
Dadʻs first dory the "Lousy Gander" 1940

Ōnuki Beach, Chiba, Japan 1959. Dory built by Yokohama boatwright in 1950. Mom in stripes was pregnant with me in this photo

Carolina Dory Dad and I built in 1983-ʻ84. Photo taken in Kaneʻohe Bay around 1986

Dadʻs 1996 Pearson Rowing Dory that I inherited after his passing in 2007. Some of you oldtimers here remember that.
The wood gunwales had dry-rotted so replaced with ABS plastic ones. This boat should outlast me now.

[Ji in Hawaii]

Hereʻs a page from "The Dory Book" showing the design of the Haul Out Propeller box the prop & shaft would fold up into for a flush bottom for easy beaching, and hauling out of water. We were at first going to keep the boat hauled up on the bank in our backyard, but later decided to keep moored at a nearby small boat harbor, so decided on another design.


This was the design my Dad wanted in the end. Still a Saint Pierre, but with a solid keel, and a small sail sail to keep the bow pointed into the wind when bottom fishing. I think he finally decided on a small single cylinder Yanmar diesel to power her. His dreamboat remained a dream.

[Grizz]

Thanks mucho Ji. great memories. great photos. great family. great boats. great times.
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FNL_dory-boat.JPG

this is the dory i rowed across San Francisco some number of times. night time was my favorite time to be in the island of darkness surrounded by millions of tons of lights. i towed it to Alaska when I moved everything on a flatbed truck, and towed it behind the fishing boat i bought. that dory has a thousand memories. it lives in Alaska.

I have a sister dory here in my shop scheduled for some repairs and conversion to a decked cruiser.

I have another dory that is a rescue, a 20 foot OAL bank dory, that is past overhauling. I plan to tend to all the wood and use the boat as a plug for a fiberglass shell, and keep the wood inside, and convert to a decked cruiser on the order of Centennial that crossed the Atlantic back when.
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DSCF7009.JPG

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doesn't look like it but it has good bones in spite of the non-standard construction, and it has perfect lines. most of the planking is douglas fir, and sound. i removed the centerboard trunk. will be plugged. seams will be splined. then a stout glass skin, layup like the early sailboats. And then LORD willing I will lash them together and have a catamaran for the Pacific Excursion.

That's the plan, a good imagination and some gumption mixed with stamina may see it through a journey to Japan perhaps . . . . .

Thanks Ji for the photos, I value them as preparation for the work I'm planning.

[Ji in Hawaii]

Beauties, are they both Aeolus dories? Would love to try and row from Puget Sound to Juneau. I was thinking of rowing my Pearson dory from Kailua Beach, Oʻahu to Haleʻolono Harbor, Molokaʻi, but my wife talked me out of it. About a 40 mile run across the Kaʻiwi channel in usually rough seas. Maybe if my cancer diagnosis is not looking good Iʻll give it a try, and go down in a blaze of glory.

I almost forgot my dadʻs 1967 Aeolus Grand Banks Dory. The photo below was taken in May of 1968 on a little islet about a half mile offshore from Kailua Beach, Hawaiʻi.

[Grizz]

Beauties, are they both Aeolus dories? Would love to try and row from Puget Sound to Juneau. I was thinking of rowing my Pearson dory from Kailua Beach, Oʻahu to Haleʻolono Harbor, Molokaʻi, but my wife talked me out of it. About a 40 mile run across the Kaʻiwi channel in usually rough seas. Maybe if my cancer diagnosis is not looking good Iʻll give it a try, and go down in a blaze of glory.

I almost forgot my dadʻs 1967 Aeolus Grand Banks Dory. The photo below was taken in May of 1968 on a little islet about a half mile offshore from Kailua Beach, Hawaiʻi.

Thanks for this photo, I will keep them all together. . . . Yes, the 18 footers, [OAL] are from Aeolus. The 20 footer is a one off, but the lines are perfect, topside is very close to Centennial, but the bottom is a bit wider, which I don't mind. I added an inch of marine ply to the bottom of the Aeolus, and glassed over to the top of the garboard. Not a lightweight any more, but huge strength. Both of mine were very lightly built. Designed as trailer sailers. But tough boats. The one I have now had a leak at the bottom/chine junction just forward of midships, which I assessed as someone jumping into the boat from the dock. Oh yeah, I removed the engine well, which makes the boat even more seaworthy. When he is sea-ready he will have two WT B'hds to the deck at the iako location.

The 20 footer has a double bottom, with the first layer seams overlapped by the second. Good idea, poor execution. Three quarter net so inch and a half bottom, and 3/4 net topsides. But note the carvel planking with see thru seams! I still don't know where this comes from, unless the Canadian open St Pierre's have wide seam gaps. There was something like horsehair oakum over cotton. Yuck. But I have not the patience or time left to put proper lapstrake sides on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaZPymB3iEA a modern reproduction from Gardner's Centennial lines plan.
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Alfred Johnson's Centennial.jpg

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DORY_Centennial.jpg

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aloha

[Bill in Oregon]

Boys, you are making me regret tossing out my stacks of Woodenboat magazine ...

[Ji in Hawaii]

The old 1940 photo of my dad, and his dory was looking faded, and worn. I decided to try and edit the photo by adding more contrast, tint, etc. Here are both before, and after shots.
Hard to imagine this photo was taken when dad was just 19 years old, and before he entered the US Army in the summer of ʻ42 right after graduating from college, and fought in the SE Pacific until the wars end.

[Ji in Hawaii]

Thanks for this photo, I will keep them all together. . . . Yes, the 18 footers, [OAL] are from Aeolus. The 20 footer is a one off, but the lines are perfect, topside is very close to Centennial, but the bottom is a bit wider, which I don't mind. I added an inch of marine ply to the bottom of the Aeolus, and glassed over to the top of the garboard. Not a lightweight any more, but huge strength. Both of mine were very lightly built. Designed as trailer sailers. But tough boats. The one I have now had a leak at the bottom/chine junction just forward of midships, which I assessed as someone jumping into the boat from the dock. Oh yeah, I removed the engine well, which makes the boat even more seaworthy. When he is sea-ready he will have two WT B'hds to the deck at the iako location.

The 20 footer has a double bottom, with the first layer seams overlapped by the second. Good idea, poor execution. Three quarter net so inch and a half bottom, and 3/4 net topsides. But note the carvel planking with see thru seams! I still don't know where this comes from, unless the Canadian open St Pierre's have wide seam gaps. There was something like horsehair oakum over cotton. Yuck. But I have not the patience or time left to put proper lapstrake sides on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaZPymB3iEA a modern reproduction from Gardner's Centennial lines plan.
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Alfred Johnson's Centennial.jpg
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DORY_Centennial.jpg
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aloha

I just subscribed to "Dory Danʻs" YouTube Channel, Thanks!

[Bill in Oregon]

Good stuff on old iron and marine engines in particular right here:
https://www.smokstak.com/forum/forums/a ... motors.38/

[Ji in Hawaii]

Good stuff on old iron and marine engines in particular right here:
https://www.smokstak.com/forum/forums/a ... motors.38/

I can get lost in there for hours. Thank you Bill.

[Grizz]

Good stuff on old iron and marine engines in particular right here:
https://www.smokstak.com/forum/forums/a ... motors.38/

good link, thanks Bill

[Bill in Oregon]

Ji, Grizz, I agree on getting lost on Youtube watching old iron at work and listening to those wonderful engine notes. Time just flows right on by ...

[Grizz]

Ji, Grizz, I agree on getting lost on Youtube watching old iron at work and listening to those wonderful engine notes. Time just flows right on by ...

That's a fact. About those engine sounds -> when we were drifting at night in bouncy seas and the sound of 2000 gallons of fuel sloshing around beneath the f'ocsle deck was keeping the children awake I would let the engine idle all night, all the few hours of night, and Boom, everyone was asleep. I still associate the sounds of the seashore break with nap-time.

[Bill in Oregon]

Grizz, regarding engine sounds, the only planes I can sleep on are turbo props like the dear old Dash 8. Head against the bulkhead and those vibes sing me to sleep.

[Ji in Hawaii]

Grizz, regarding engine sounds, the only planes I can sleep on are turbo props like the dear old Dash 8. Head against the bulkhead and those vibes sing me to sleep.

I always preferred flying in turbo props than jets when traveling inter-island, and they arrived at about the same time due to not needing to fly as high. We flew in the NAMC YS-11, Fokker F-27, ATR 42, DeHaviland Twin Otter, Dash 7, Dash 8, and Cessna Caravan. I preferred low & slow flight to enjoy the scenery much better. Air Molokai was flying the Douglas DC-3, but I never got the chance to fly in one before they went under. DC-3 or any other radial engine plane still on my bucket list.

[Ji in Hawaii]

Ji, Grizz, I agree on getting lost on Youtube watching old iron at work and listening to those wonderful engine notes. Time just flows right on by ...

That's a fact. About those engine sounds -> when we were drifting at night in bouncy seas and the sound of 2000 gallons of fuel sloshing around beneath the f'ocsle deck was keeping the children awake I would let the engine idle all night, all the few hours of night, and Boom, everyone was asleep. I still associate the sounds of the seashore break with nap-time.

The chug chug chug of the 3ph Yanmar diesel in my dadʻs 22ʻ Sea Bright Skiff motorsailer would always lull me to sleep in the cabin. If I ever find a photo of her Iʻll post it.

[Grizz]

Ji, Grizz, I agree on getting lost on Youtube watching old iron at work and listening to those wonderful engine notes. Time just flows right on by ...

Speaking of machinery I stumbled on an aircraft site with some video of small plane grass field flights. The really great aircraft engines make really sounds and like the machinery get-together in Oregon, aircraft engine people do the same. now there are some great, Great sounds.

But I found a sail tale you two might enjoy. Someone made a voyage from Scotland to Norway in a Wayfarer dinghy. [qv].
He did this in the 60s, and made the movie as well. Not a video. A film. I love this stuff...

https://intheboatshed.net/2014/04/01/frank-dye-film/
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I'll front load this a little bit by mentioning that after making this trip he sailed his skiff to Iceland and then up the US East coast and into the great lakes . . . Frank Dye had the right stuff.

enjoy

[Grizz]

And a follow-up to the machinery sounds fork -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPf0lKx5UvA careful with the volume, enjoy !!

[Ji in Hawaii]

Back in the summer of 2002 I was making a maintenance inspection of Kaunakakai Harbor on the island of Molokaʻi, and I spotted a St. Pierre dory moored there, it was beautiful, in great condition, and best of all it was for sale! I took several photos and emailed them to my dad, and letting him know it was for sale. My dad replied that those dreams had long since faded away. Besides, he did not want a dory if I was not there to fish with him, and besides he was already 81, and his purpose in life was now to take care of my mom who was fighting lymphoma. He did appreciate the thought. Below are 2 photos of the Molokaʻi St. Pierre Dory.

[Bill in Oregon]

I think the St. Pierre has the most glorious sheerlines of all the dories.

[Grizz]

I think the St. Pierre has the most glorious sheerlines of all the dories.

Thanks so much Ji ! I agree with you Bill, they are, to my eye, unbelievably beautiful. Proper dorys have no bad angles from which to paint them . . . Ji's photos bring to mind a gggdad sitting on a French Mediterranean beach perhaps ->
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BOAT_DORY_on the beach.jpg

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fishing boats I can relate to . . .

[Grizz]

Back in the summer of 2002 I was making a maintenance inspection of Kaunakakai Harbor on the island of Molokaʻi, and I spotted a St. Pierre dory moored there, it was beautiful, in great condition, and best of all it was for sale! I took several photos and emailed them to my dad, and letting him know it was for sale. My dad replied that those dreams had long since faded away. Besides, he did not want a dory if I was not there to fish with him, and besides he was already 81, and his purpose in life was now to take care of my mom who was fighting lymphoma. He did appreciate the thought.

DORY_dory with kids.gif

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Hey Ji, this is my first dory, the Aeolus from california, we rowed across SF Bay a number of times, and motored with a seagull engine pulling oil-soaked birds out of the bay and running them to a rescue station in SF. First big oil spill in the bay. The night time rowing trips to Sausalito are still good memories.

The kids spent hours pottering about the secret cove while their parents consumed coffee and bread and fish and clams and crabs and coffee, etc.

This dory was stolen once from my winter cache, altered, then lost by someone somehow and wound up in the middle of the Gulf of Alaska on the shipping route, recovered by a Red Stack tug with a double tow that made a huge circle to come alongside and hoist him aboard. I picked him up in the Red Stack sort yard and took him over to M/V Kasilof, loading in Fisherman's Terminal for the start of the salmon season. Kasilof was a buy boat that I sold fish to when I was starting out. Long long time ago that seems like yesterday sometimes.

A dory with lots of tales to tell, like all the working class vessels. Although I know it isn't true I sometimes think about the dorys beached together quietly reminiscing about the one who fell overboard, or the one swamped, or the full loads to the schooner, etc. Quietly lest someone overhear and doubt such things are possible.

They are not, but there is a smile in the revery none the less,

grizz

[Bill in Oregon]

For an in-depth look at the Portuguese dory fishermen off the Grand Banks, it is hard to beat Alan Villiers' "Quest of the Schooner Argus," and of course there is Rudyard Kipling's classic "Captains Courageous."
By the way, the 1937 movie of the same name with Spencer Tracy and Lionel Barrymore is a daisy if there ever was one.

[Grizz]

For an in-depth look at the Portuguese dory fishermen off the Grand Banks, it is hard to beat Alan Villiers' "Quest of the Schooner Argus," and of course there is Rudyard Kipling's classic "Captains Courageous."
By the way, the 1937 movie of the same name with Spencer Tracy and Lionel Barrymore is a daisy if there ever was one.

Thanks Bill, I will check that out. When I was in NYC I met someone who was a dory fisherman on the banks. He made the trip by sail from Portugal and back. Might there be an actual dory dna link there?

Yes the movie is amazing, time for a re-run.

[Ji in Hawaii]

I think the St. Pierre has the most glorious sheerlines of all the dories.

Thanks so much Ji ! I agree with you Bill, they are, to my eye, unbelievably beautiful. Proper dorys have no bad angles from which to paint them . . . Ji's photos bring to mind a gggdad sitting on a French Mediterranean beach perhaps ->
.
BOAT_DORY_on the beach.jpg
.
fishing boats I can relate to . . .

Hereʻs one of my favorites by Winslow Homer: "The Fog Warning" from 1885

[Ji in Hawaii]

DORY_dory with kids.gif
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Hey Ji, this is my first dory, the Aeolus from california, we rowed across SF Bay a number of times, and motored with a seagull engine pulling oil-soaked birds out of the bay and running them to a rescue station in SF. First big oil spill in the bay. The night time rowing trips to Sausalito are still good memories.

The kids spent hours pottering about the secret cove while their parents consumed coffee and bread and fish and clams and crabs and coffee, etc.

This dory was stolen once from my winter cache, altered, then lost by someone somehow and wound up in the middle of the Gulf of Alaska on the shipping route, recovered by a Red Stack tug with a double tow that made a huge circle to come alongside and hoist him aboard. I picked him up in the Red Stack sort yard and took him over to M/V Kasilof, loading in Fisherman's Terminal for the start of the salmon season. Kasilof was a buy boat that I sold fish to when I was starting out. Long long time ago that seems like yesterday sometimes.

A dory with lots of tales to tell, like all the working class vessels. Although I know it isn't true I sometimes think about the dorys beached together quietly reminiscing about the one who fell overboard, or the one swamped, or the full loads to the schooner, etc. Quietly lest someone overhear and doubt such things are possible.

They are not, but there is a smile in the revery none the less,

grizz

How long was your dory missing? I have that photo, you shared it with me several years back. It looks a lot like my dadʻs Aeolus (see above) except dad opted for plywood planking, and tholl pins instead of oarlocks. He had that dory for about twenty years until the shipworms ate thru the bottom planking, and she sunk right at her mooring in stream in dadʻs backyard. It was a sad day. During high school I used to launch her at dusk, and row out into Kailua Bay to lay gillnets at the outer reef, and wait a couple hours before hauling the net back onboard. Used to catch Weke (veh-keh) aka goatfish by the hundreds, and Iʻd ice them down, and later the next day freeze some for future meals, and the rest distribute to my friends as needed. Iʻd be back, and in bed by 10 pm, and head to classes the next day. I used to row the dory up and down the stream with my dad at the bow throw-net at the ready for the large Gray Mullets. It all seems like a dream now.

[Ji in Hawaii]

For an in-depth look at the Portuguese dory fishermen off the Grand Banks, it is hard to beat Alan Villiers' "Quest of the Schooner Argus," and of course there is Rudyard Kipling's classic "Captains Courageous."
By the way, the 1937 movie of the same name with Spencer Tracy and Lionel Barrymore is a daisy if there ever was one.

I am sure you have seen this 1968 National Geographic Special; The Lonely Dorymen - Portugalʻs Men of the Sea.
It was always my dadʻs favorite.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFK10PouRCY

Not the classic 1937 version, but this 1996 remake is not bad, and you get to see dorys at work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b25L288CkQg

[Bill in Oregon]

Ji, I watched a segment of that classic.
Imagine being lowered with your dory, lines, hooks and baits to spend the next 12 hours alone on a heaving sea handlining cod, and doing it again day after day. I confess to getting motion sickness at the drop of a hat all my life, so just that alone -- the sea legs these Portuguese fisherman had -- is alone worthy of my deepest respect, not to mention their skill and incredible courage. I wish I had grasped this better going to high school in Humboldt County, California. There was a Sons of Portugal Hall across the street from our high school and on the plaza downtown in Arcata, old Portuguese women dressed in black would sit on the benches and comment to each other in their beautiful language about the passers-by -- and I was told by Portuguese-speaking friends that it was rarely complimentary!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Git-48_CPww

[Grizz]

DORY_dory with kids.gif

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DORY_OLO in Port Townsend-s.jpg

This is a Colorado River Dory, a scaled down Briggs. It has run the river, and it is the sister of a famous dory now called Betty Boop. The owner invited me to row it at a boat show, naturally I was too polite to refuse.

This is the Boop's story -> https://fretwaterboatworks.com/boats/betty-boop/
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DORY_Betty Boop.png

† grizz

[Ji in Hawaii]

Here are a couple short videos of me in my dory. The first one out in the blue Pacific Ocean is from several years ago before I replaced the gunwales, and the second one of after I installed the new ABS gunwales, and returning to He'eia Kea Harbor after trying her out in Kane'ohe Bay, same day as photo in previous photo above with her then new P-40 mouth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Usq0unFPGYU

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8aUWZDFwZh4

[Ji in Hawaii]

DORY_dory with kids.gif

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DORY_OLO in Port Townsend-s.jpg

This is a Colorado River Dory, a scaled down Briggs. It has run the river, and it is the sister of a famous dory now called Betty Boop. The owner invited me to row it at a boat show, naturally I was too polite to refuse.

This is the Boop's story -> https://fretwaterboatworks.com/boats/betty-boop/
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DORY_Betty Boop.png

† grizz

My dad was at one time interested in purchasing a low maintenance aluminum hull dory. The only ones he could find were the Mackenzie River Drift Dory types. He ordered the brochures, but on review he determined they were not an optimum design for the open ocean. A welded aluminum hull St. Pierre Dory was his dream. I actually found a used one-off 20' welded aluminum hull Grand Banks style dory in Portland, in the Portland Craigslist, but by the time I called it was already sold. I'm sure the shipping cost would have been prohibitive. Nice to dream.

[Bill in Oregon]

Ji, you are moving along at a good clip in that short! Beautiful waters you are fishing there.

[Grizz]

Ji, you are moving along at a good clip in that short! Beautiful waters you are fishing there.

Dittos, Beautiful. The Pacific is lovely when he is pacific.

[Ji in Hawaii]

Mid Pacific ocean, nowhere else I'd rather be. Hopefully the last place I'll be, a hospice in the sea. My parents ashes are out here.

[Grizz]

DORY_dory with kids.gif

.
DORY_OLO in Port Townsend-s.jpg

This is a Colorado River Dory, a scaled down Briggs. It has run the river, and it is the sister of a famous dory now called Betty Boop. The owner invited me to row it at a boat show, naturally I was too polite to refuse.

This is the Boop's story -> https://fretwaterboatworks.com/boats/betty-boop/
.

DORY_Betty Boop.png

† grizz

My dad was at one time interested in purchasing a low maintenance aluminum hull dory. The only ones he could find were the Mackenzie River Drift Dory types. He ordered the brochures, but on review he determined they were not an optimum design for the open ocean. A welded aluminum hull St. Pierre Dory was his dream. I actually found a used one-off 20' welded aluminum hull Grand Banks style dory in Portland, in the Portland Craigslist, but by the time I called it was already sold. I'm sure the shipping cost would have been prohibitive. Nice to dream.

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Nah. Portland to Hi all down hill if you catch the right pressure at the right time. put on a temp deck, dry buckets for storage, Lotsa tunes, the Book, hand line fishing gear. kerosene stove, dry shack for the hammock. seems do-able to me . . . the only difference between day fishing and cruising is you just sleep every off watch in a new location. !

[AJMD429]

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More...

https://youtu.be/5l7lEqe9V00?si=LSnKBoJCGgKacDjB

[Grizz]

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More...

https://youtu.be/5l7lEqe9V00?si=LSnKBoJCGgKacDjB

Perfect if it can spin an alternator. It's the perfect way to trigger a lunatic that complains about the bbq smoke ! ;)

[Bill in Oregon]

Thanks Doc. My kinda people. Love the 1893 Henry Ford kitchen sink engine.