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I'm looking for a really sexy...

8K views 15 replies 8 participants last post by  martinc 
#1 ·
rowing dory... something that looks like this....



any suggestions / experiences?
 
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#5 ·
Juro, That dory does not have enough stiffness to be a good rowing dory. Too light, too much flex. Nice looking though for a fiberglass mold. I'm sure it is made for easy to handle weekends. If you need a trailer to get it around then get a wooden dory or build one with all your spare time. The proper wooden dory will row sooooo smooth and it will be soooo much more quiet, just the sound of wooden oars against wooden pins.
 
#7 ·
Juro, what's your spec? Is it rowing for exercise, fishing, clamming, or all of the above? If rowing is primary, the Whitehalls and their copies are hard to beat. There are some stitch & glue built hulls that will come in at under 30#.
 
#8 ·
Thanks guys, I am learning a lot.

I want exercise, access to clam flats and lobster traps, ability to take friends and family for a pleasant row or across to Nauset "island" from a Chatham landing, and of course to flyfish out on the bars. I really don't care if it takes a motor but I do have a small Honda pram-sized motor and would probably use it sometimes.

I currently run 5-7 miles one day then bike/swim the alternate day during good weather but find myself longing to be on the water with that time instead of pounding the pavement to get cardio. Rowing would be fantastic.

I drive my car to the clam flats along the road - but want to go to the shoals that are a row away from the beaten path.

Lobster trap permits in MA are cheap, but the boat isn't. I would like to add that option.

If I could stand in the boat to make a cast to a pod of big stripers that would be a huge bonus.

The Whitehalls look great but I've heard that shipping can be thousands from the west coast.
 
#9 ·
The Whitehall is a thing of beauty for a fiberglass rowing vessel. They are strong and ridged enough so that your rowing energy equates into forward motion, sort of like how a good racing bike uses its energy. The 17 footer would be the only way to go for your needs. The sliding seat is nice for rowing but would be messy for other activities like pulling pots, moving parts and clam shells, seaweed don't mix. The sailing 17 would be really fun, can row too, I would even come out and show you how to sail it if you got one. I still think if you plan on leaving it in the water for the season you should go with wood. There must be hundreds around New England for sale and in good condition. With wood there is more maintenance but it is wonderful work to do in the off season, really helps make life more pleasant in getting through winter. If you got the 17 footer passage maker we could sail it up to Nova Scotia.:eek:
 
#11 ·
Art -

Thanks buddy I appreciate that! I saw the one with the motorwell, looks nice. Also considering building one... they have a week-long building class in Newport this summer. I like the notion of building one myself in a proper facility and with time set aside.

 
#15 ·
Funny - at a different point in my life I would've never "wasted" a vacation to labor in a boatyard even if it is located on the Newport RI waterfront. But now this is a symbol of where I've ended up in life - where I value most the things that are simple and pure like the lines of a Gloucester light dory; things that can bear the load like the 8 to 1 ratio of capacity to hull weight; and are free of frills like the man-powered glide of the hull on a quiet Cape Cod morning.

It's more than just a project, it's a new page in an adventure called life. Can't wait!

 
#16 ·
juro said:
where I value most the things that are simple and pure like the lines of a Gloucester light dory; things that can bear the load like the 8 to 1 ratio of capacity to hull weight; and are free of frills like the man-powered glide of the hull on a quiet Cape Cod morning.
That made me think of Henry David Thoreau - someone I have always admired.

Martin
 
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