Hey, all you folks that have been asking about building a Doryak: Reservations for the Doryak Class at WoodenBoat School back in Brooklin, Maine, will open January 3. I think class is limited to twelve students, and if it fills we plan to build two of the adorable little things. At the end of the class we will draw straws for which two lucky folks get to take one home for the cost of materials–about $1500 each.
Building the Whitewater Doryak
The class is June 19 through July 2, and tuition runs $1500. Board and room are available there, indoors or camping. If you’ve never been to WoodenBoat School, be forewarned: It is highly addictive. It ruined my life ten years ago, and I’ve been relapsing every summer since. (2020 excepted–the closest Covid came to killing me was the withdrawal effects of no Maine time.) The campus is right on Eggemoggin Reach, an arm of Penobscot Bay, and is unbelievably lovely.
We will start with a sheet of confusing numbers, loft the boat, make all the parts from our drawings, and build the suckers. By the final day we should have both boats painted and in the water.
We don’t have whitewater there, but here’s what they do when you take them into Lava Falls:
So there you have it. If that sounds like fun to you, sign up next month and we’ll see you in June!
How do I sign up? I’d love to get in the class!! I work for OARS in Flagstaff and love rowing dories. I’ve helped work on friends’ boats in the past but would love to have my own!!
Cole–I think you’d LOVE the course. Incredible place and great folks there. go to thewoodenboatschool.com and follow the links to register for the course. There were still five spots last time I checked.
Will you build me a dory yak hull only. I have builtbuilt numerous dories wold love to deck it myself and do all the glass and paint shoot me a price I live in Carbondale colo on the roaring fork thanks
Hi Butch,
I just found your query. We can certainly build a Doryak hull for you. Pricing depends on just what we do.
We can do a fiberglass inner chine or a traditional wood one. (We do the glass one on ours)
We can build the bulkheads into the ribs, making life a LOT easier for the decking process (but you’d need to know what you want to decks to be like ahead of time)
We can glass the exterior bottom and chines with heavy duty 26ox biax and a 10 oz surface coat. (This is what we do to ours)
We can make the gunwales and steam them to fit (although final installation is best done after the decking is on.)
Let me know what you’d like and we will work up a price. Not sure we can get it out before river season, but it might be possible.
Brad