Oar Power

It's amazing how many people, when they hear of my interest in building a dory, ask with their first question, "what type of motor will it have?"

The engines have arrived in the shop!  Via the Andy Hutchinson - Ned S. express from Dolores to Salida to COS.  Thanks guys!

Sawyer Smoker Drifters, w/o rope wrap or foam handle.

Starting to gather the leather, sinew, skills and knowledge, etc to wrap the oars.  Also thinking about painting designs.

Making the yearly batch of posole.  Mmmm, the house smells good.

And here's a pic of Kev and I flaming bamboo culms for the next set of bamboo fly rods.  Well actually Kev flaming and me offering support!  Pretty much similar to the time "we" installed the dory hand rails.

Happy Birthday

It was around this time last year that I laid some Core Cell form on the garage floor and, forgetting to use some wax paper underneath, proceeded to epoxy it to the concrete. It was the start of a long, frequently enjoyable, sometimes challenging, but alway fascinating project.

Things have been winding up here at the Marland Boat Shop.  I may actually get my parking spot back for my truck just before winter.  There are only a few things left to do - all on hold until my oars arrive - the final fitting of the foot rest and footbar, and shaping and gluing the seat.

And the leather wrapping of the oar shafts, plus the custom painting of the oars, to match the color scheme of course.

Today, Huerfano's birthday was celebrated with installation of her seat cushions - custom made to size and with room for the seat drainage holes by Jason at Wet Dreams Supply in Flagstaff.

Now it's time to start planning the permit selections and hope for some rivers to take her down next year.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Ok Pookie, Do the Honors....

"Spaulding, get your foot off the boat!"

- Judge Smails, Caddyshack 

Saturday, Oct. 1 was the boat christening ceremony.  First the launch at Quail Lake, where several friends gathered, mainly to see if the Huerfano would actually float.

Followed by some illicit champagne (city park = no alcohol) and a toast to the Huerfano.

Then, with some trepidation, it was time to push her off into the water.

Some rides were enjoyed by the faithful, all glad she floated just fine.

All were very appreciative of the fly-over, specially arranged with the Air Force, prior to the AF-Navy game :)





Then it was time to winch her back on the trailer and head back to the Marland Boat Shop for burgers and beer with many friends, including many of those who have helped so much in the boat build process.

Trailer mods and Footrests

Finished up the trailer mods, with some new welded brackets for the chine bunk guides, adding some king starboard padding material.

Seat foam is set in place with wood rails, both for support and looks. I'll carve the seat shape and glue it to the deck with contact cement once I get the oars and can do a final fitting.

Built a footrest out of left over ash and Port Orford cedar (love that stuff). I may just go into the wood shop once a week and cut and plane some scraps so I can re-permeate the house with the wonderful odor.  And turned a foot bar from hard maple. These too will be mounted once I do the final fitting with the oars.

Passing by the dory's namesake on the way to South Fork, CO. Hello little Huerfano!

And finally, I found a Lone Pine flag at the Dartmouth Co-op. Might be fun to fly it off the dory sometime. But maybe a little too flashy and pretentious?  We'll see.

Filling Space

Nothing much of substance to add to the blog right now, just filling some space while waiting for oars from Andy so I can do a final fit on the seat and add the foot brace and bar. Then she'll be pretty much done.

Once Cheryl finishes her painting touch up on the transom art.  You just can't rush artists...

Added a galvanized ring bolt to the transom, with a rope wrap to keep it quiet, and make it pretty.

Some dory shots on the Boulder Boat Works trailer, on the way to Wagner's Prop Shop to get some new, larger bunk guides to help keep the boat centered.

Side trip to the garden, where the beefsteak tomatoes are finally staring to come in.  Now, too fast and can't keep up with eating them.  Tough problem to have.  May have to give some away. Check out the beautiful Big Beefs, Goosecreek Blacks, and Pork Chops!

I drew some rough dimensions of the front and back seats to send with some pics to Jason at Wet Dreams for some seat cushions.  Originally was planning to just use paco pads but decided they would be too large and not fit well.

Here is a side pic of the original trailer chine guides.  With the relatively flat section of the mid-Briggs rocker, compared with a typical fishing drift boat, the guides didn't seem to be high enough to help keep the boat off the fender wells if it should shift during trailering.  Now, that would never happen on a trip such as a Deso put-in!  Right?

The pic on the right shows the brackets Chris made for me, compared to the old one.  I have some King Starboard, to add some padding, and square u-bolts on the way and then back on the trailer for testing.  Or hopefully, not.

Trailer Loading

I was able to round up the usual suspects again and the dory was loaded onto the trailer.  It went surprisingly easily, thanks to the roll bar on the back.

I wanted it on the trailer to get a better idea where to drill and mount the bow eyebolt.  Still trying to decide how to get the winch rope over vs under the Y bow stop.  May switch it out for a roller.

Another option is to run the boat transom first, which is what many of the dory guys do.

Lastly, a pic of a visit to the Marland Boat Shop later that night from our good friends Scott and Jean.

Always a dory photo op!