Charles Pezeshki wrote in message ...
Hi Folks,

After a long trip down the Main and Lower Salmon, I've become (somewhat)
interested in building a wooden dory with compartments for whitewater.

Woodworking skills are probably not a problem-- I build reproduction period
furniture. Still:

1. Any good plan recommendations?
2. Can one buy super-sturdy plywood (I keep thinking red oak might be the
thing to build the thing out of)?
3. How much space do you need to do this?
4. Roughly how much would it cost?

Scotty, I know you're out there and the expert. Here's a chance for us to
make up. I promise-- no politics, only boats! ;-)

Best,

Chuck

Welllll..... I am still here for the boats so here goes. You will find
a lot of great information at http://www.riverstouch.com/. These are
folks who have studied these boats for many years, finally putting out
plans and reproductions for boats which were actually built and used
on the Rogue and McKenzie rivers in the northwest. Another great link
is http://www.raysriverdories.com/, another long time study of these
boats.

You really need to come on over to my house (rec.boats.builders). We
can answer these and any other questions before you even start
construction, and of course, even you can call me if you have boat
building questions, I am always at the shop and love talking boats. Of
course Charles... you don't get my 800 number

I will probably start another fight here but I would never buy any
plans from someone who steals plans or drawings and puts them into a
cad program, sells them as "his" plans, then pays someone to build the
first boat and send him photos so he can post them on his page as
"his" design. One guy in particular mentioned in another post has been
doing this for years and gotten pretty rich in the process. He stole
all of Paysons boats, then did my site, then did the links on my site,
etc, etc, etc. Now he seems to be an international expert in
everything from kayaks to prams to large motor and even the really
specialized drift boats of which we speak. He did the Dories a few
weeks after doing all the boats on my site. A couple years later he
now he has a great "international" website, all built on others
experience... I would avoid that guy like a plague.. Hey, I am a
computer wiz and could zip out line drawings all day and sell them, I
could of done this many years ago but I have a little more respect for
the builders. I have watched several of my peers get rich doing this
over the years, but it is just not my style. Just a note. Make sure a
designer has actually built and tested a boat before you buy any plans
from them.. If you start with the two links I suggested you will get
in contact with folks who really know these boats.

River dories are indeed a strange lot and you should make sure you are
building the right tool. The double enders which look real sweet are
not great motorboats, or rowboats either. If you are not using them on
moving water they would probably be a waste of wood, that is why there
are few in my area. Remember, in a drift boat when you want to go you
stop rowing, when you want to stop, you row... That is the biggest
difference. Being very efficient boats for this use make them pretty
useless for about anything else. Just something to consider before
spending that much time and money on any boat. Now there are some
Rogue river dory skiffs that would handle a motor and row a little
better, you should really talk to Ray at Rays river and decide if one
of these boats will really be the right tool for your needs.. nothing
worse than a boat that does not do what you wanted it to do...

Scotty from SmallBoats.com