With morning temps starting out in the mid 30's and a 5 knot northerly on the docks, the weather wasn't exactly inviting. It did moderate some as Tony Marchesani and Bryan Oliver mustered below in the Saloon to make coffee and decide what could be advanced.
With Eva Keyes confirmed a non-return, Shipyard still a go, and feelers out among Bryan's tall-ship network for crew, riggers, and shipwright, things were overall positive. Still, we were left with no clear sets of priorities.
But Dory was just sitting out on the dock, waiting to be finished up. Over the past several weeks, Dallas Spencer had rebuilt half of her destroyed sapele gunwales and oarlock mounts, and restored her transom, which had been torn out while suffering high winds and wave actions pounding her against a dock earlier this summer. But her four-foot daggerboard and some thwart panels had apparently floated off when dory finall swamped. Her sail rig and canvas appeared to still be serviceable.
While Tony searched the ships collection of bronze fasteners to pre-drill and screw down the thwarts, Bryan made a quick errand to the Hardware Store for some wood filler to fair out the rough edges along the scarfs in the gunwale where Dallas had refashion new ones.
Next, we fitted and mounted two new oarlock bolsters Dallas had recreated. The daggerboard was slipped into its trunk to test for fit. Finally, a first coat of varnish was laid down along the entire gunwale. With one more coat of varnish, a white coat over the hull and inboard, Dory will be ready to rig up and launch.
Dory's back story..according to Bryan.
In 2017, at start of the Tall Ship Challenge to Quebec City, the first mate, Dan Cleveland, and Engineer Doug Faunt pooled their funds to purchase a "stitch-and-glue" boat kit from Chesapeake Bay Boats. Their intent was to build a small craft capable of both rowing and sailing, which will be shared across the crew for recreation, and with student/guest crew to learn rudiments of sailing and seamanship.
They chose a 16 foot, dory-style kit called a "Noreaster Dory". For two weeks, the entire kit, hung suspended over my head in my berth during the passage to Bermuda and on to Boston. Docked for the week in Boston, the Mate and Engineer pulled down the kit, and laid its keel on Spirit of South Carolina's midships deck. For the next two months of the cruise, which included ports of call in Quebec, Port Hawkesbury, Halifax, and a two-week biannual haul-out-shipyard in Belfast, Maine, the entire crew participated in stitching, gluing, fiber-glassing, painting and varnishing, and rigging her up. She took her maiden sail in Boston, the last stop before the return passage to Charleston.
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| Dory deck-stowed coming into Kingston Harbor |
For the next two years, "Dory" was lashed to the deck and accompanied the crew and students to the Caribbean, another shipyard and various harbor cruises, until COVID struck, the schooner was basically laid up, and became the domain of Volunteer caretakers. Care for Dory has been the responsibility and expense of Volunteers ever since. Officially, she is regarded as a "Tender" vessel to the schooner, thereby avoiding legalities of registration. She even sports a burgee on occasion, a silhouette of a Cock, or chicken- the back story of which is known to a privileged few. Fully loaded crew on liberty, bound the dock in downtown San Juan
We expect that Dory will be ready for sail again in the next two weeks,, not likely to go to Shipyard, but otherwise remaining at the Maritime Center under the Volunteer Coordinator for Volunteer use and practice.
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| Dory's Burgee- created by 2d Mate, Tripp |
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