Dory Boats: An Important North American Fishing Vessel

A dory boat is a boat steeped with history in North America. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, dory boats emerged as a very important boat for fisherman in North America, as they continue to be today. Dory boats are built to be able to hand both rough waters and shallow water conditions. They are fairly small vessels, normally ranging between sixteen and twenty-two feet in length, and are characterized by a flat bottom and high sides.

Fishermen have long loved dory boats because they are easy to maneuver, and they can be used in everything from the open seas to shallow creeks. They have a nice cargo capacity, despite the relatively small size, and they have been proven to be reliable sailing vessels in difficult waters and weather.

If you are interested in obtaining a dory boat, there are several options. You can purchase a new vessel, which can be quite expensive given their relative scarcity. You can try to find a used vessel for sale, although this may take years as they are rarely found in classified ads. Or you can build your own. If you decide to build your own dory boat, you can either build one using a boat kit (another expensive option) or by using well documented and detailed dory boat plans.

To get excellent dory boat plans online, there are two sources the Wooden Boat Plans website recommends:

1) Grand Banks Dory Plans. A step by step guide to build a sixteen foot grand banks dory plans. These plans are suitable even for people with no boat building experience. Includes over sixty pages of images detailing the complete building process. (Price: $78)







2) Plans4Boats Complete Boat Plan Package. Although there are many different kinds of boat plans in this package, several of the plans are for different types of Dory boats (there are over 250 different boat plans altogether!). If you are looking for multiple dory boat plans to choose from, then this is the package for you. Also includes numerous bonus materials useful for beginning boat builders. (Price: $49)