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!