AY Honors/Rowing/Answer Key
A dory is a small shallow-draft boat of approximately 15 to 22 feet in length. Lightweight and versatile, these boats are used both in the open sea for commercial fishing applications, as well as in interior river white water rafting, Mackenzie Dory versions - which usually seat from two or three to four including the oarsman.
The hullform is characterized by flat sides angled approx. 30 degrees from vertical and a bottom that is transversely flat and arced fore-and-aft. (Known as "rocker") The stern is frequently a raked surface that tapers toward the bottom sharply forming an nearly double ended boat. Nested stacks of dories were frequently carried on the decks of fishing schooners out to the fishing grounds, where they were then deployed to lay longlines or tend nets.
More glamorously, dories were once used to travel dangerous whitewater rivers, where their superior maneuverability, including that of rafts, made them preferable over other watercraft available at the time. They have since been supplanted in this purpose by inflatable rafts which require less skill and are generally more durable for collisions with rocks. However fishing guides on many Western USA rivers still use drift dories because of their ability to be rowed upstream, low resistance to the water flow due to high rocker and extremely shallow draft, effectively holding the boat in place for the prolonged fishing of holes in the river. Typically salmon, trout, and steelhead are fished for this way.
See also Cape Ann Dory, Swampscott Dory, Banks Dory, Mackenzie Dory and Glouster Dory
External links
Historical use of dories in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River
