Inside San Juan Dory - M. ScheidelIt may be an unusual sight to see a person building a boat in their backyard, but not if you live in Dave's neighborhood. My boat-building brother-in-law Dave Vasher is at it again with the completion of his third watercraft. He discovered his dream of building boats as a young boy. One summer while up north vacationing with family, he and his dad went for a walk. The scent of fresh cut cedar was heavy in the air and the sound of someone hand-sanding captured their curiosity. They discovered a man building a canoe in his driveway. Since that day, Dave knew he wanted to build one too.
Presently on a padded wooden rack, stacked in Dave's garage sits his exquisitely detailed handcrafted Wabanaki cedar strip canoe, a strip kayak, and a refurbished canoe that was given up for trash. His newest accomplishment, a San Juan Dory sits on a trailer next to his other creations; Dave calls this beauty, "The Amanda Mary."
Several years ago while Dave was still working on his canoe, he noticed a man that walked his dog by the house daily. The man seemed intrigued, but never said anything for several weeks. One day he stopped and introduced himself as Walt. They shook hands and became quick friends as Walt was not only a wood craftsman , he was also a boat builder. He had quite a collection. The only difference was, Walt's boats were on much smaller scale, but certainly not lacking in vision or detail.
Not long after a conversation with Dave about how a dory is lightweight, durable, and designed specifically for fishing and hunting. They agreed this boat sounded faultless. Walt surprised Dave with an intricately crafted wooden miniature model of a dory boat.
After seeing Walt's model, Dave had no doubt that this boat was about to become life-size in his garage. Placing the model on a shelf by his workbench for inspiration, Dave got on the Internet to find the ideal plans for a San Juan Dory.
San Juan Dory
The 16-foot San Juan Dory is wider and deeper than the canoe and the kayak Dave previously built. It is 5 foot 6 inches wide at the beam and about 36 inches at the bow. Originally, Dave contemplated making this boat a center console, however in the end decided to go with tiller control. "It just feels right," He said. For this craft, he used large pieces of mahogany marine plywood instead of ripping hundreds of cedar strips as he had done for his other watercraft. He used vertical grain fir, the strongest part of the wood to make the ribs of this boat. After working eight months on the bottom and sides he was anxious to flip the craft over. The high bow and deep sides on the San Juan Dory gives everyone, including Captain Dave the feeling of being safe and secure, even in the rougher waters of Lake Erie.
In eighteen months of work, he completed the gunwale or rub-rail and floor boards just on time for the 2010 Annual Gibraltar Vintage Woodies Boat Show. This is held at the Gibraltar Boat Yard in Michigan and sponsored by the cities Rotary Club. The day included over forty boats and free tugboat rides along with many vintage attractions, everything from autos, ships and wooden watercraft.
Dave's three handcrafted watercraft attracted plenty of admiration and photo shots. (photos below)
After building boats and mastering his abilities to canoe and kayak on the Detroit River, one might wonder what's left? "Well," Dave said. "There is this other dream I frequently have. It has something to do with catching a record breaking Walleye. As for my plans on building more watercraft, it's like eating potato chips, you can't stop at one. There is another challenge (hint) tugging at my heart."
Dave works on his boat projects after his day job and on weekends. He accomplishes more in the winter when he's not out on the river fishing, kayaking or canoeing.
The New-Herald, article August 26, 2010, Gibraltar: Vintage Woodies Show to Feature Boats, Autos, and Ships, by Jackie Harrison-Martin
Nexus Marine Corporation, San Juan Dory Plans
Copyright Meline Scheidel. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
Meline Scheidel, Two time graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature
Inside San Juan Dory - M. Scheidel 
Bottom and sides of San Juan Dory - M. Scheidel 
Canoe, Kayak and green refurbished canoe - M. Scheidel 
Bottom of Wabanaki Canoe - M. Scheidel 
San Juan Dory - M. Scheidel 
San Juan Dory - M. Scheidel 
San Juan Dory at Boat show - M. Scheidel 
Walt's model San Juan Dory - M. Scheidel $(function() {$(".imageCarousel").jCarouselLite({btnNext: ".next",btnPrev: ".prev",visible: 4});});
No comments:
Post a Comment