Installing the transoms

The transoms for these twin schooners arrived earlier this week and boy are they nice. Made by a craftsman friend of Dave's in the States, they are fashioned from laminated Spanish cedar - beautiful!

Plus, the installation of the transom in one of the schooners (schooner 1?) today provides another exciting landmark for this landmark project.

Photo fun

So I just love this house located directly up the hill from the Dory Shop Boatyard. It houses two different families and, as you can see, has different cladding and paint colours on each side.

Indoor work

Two weeks of sunshine have come to an abrupt end, so the gang's been doing a bit of indoor work inside Plant 2 at the Dory Shop.

A little cross fertilization...

In this blog, we strive to keep you informed about the historic twin schooner build taking place in the boatyard outside the Lunenburg Dory Shop. However, this time around we want to let you know about something taking place inside the shop this spring.

Starting May 10, the Dory Shop will be hosting a 10-day boat building course. This is your chance to build a Banks dory with our master dory builder Jay Langford.

Just six people will be accepted; a number selected to provide unparalleled instruction time and as much hands-on building as possible. At the end of the second week, we'll hold a fun launch ceremony. The dory will then be available for sale.

Given the ongoing schooner build outside, this is a rare opportunity to see and learn about large vessel construction at the same time as you build the dory. We also make field trips to visit other marine artisans including a local sail loft.

The dory course is designed for people with some woodworking skills. You needn't be a cabinet maker but should be familiar with basic hand tools. The course is open to men and women ages 19 and up.

Course tuition includes break-time refreshments, hearty daily lunches at a historic inn just two minutes' walk from the waterfront and a fun launch and send-off ceremony.

The Dory Shop is one of the oldest continuous production wooden boat shops in North America. It has been building traditional Banks dories and other fine wooden craft for fishermen and recreational boaters non-stop since 1917.

Spring fever

The great weather continues here. We've now had sun a record 12 days in a row and yesterday's temperature hit 12 degrees Celsius or roughly 54 Fahrenheit. Depending where you live that may not seem like much but for Nova Scotia in March, it's a little taste of heaven.
Of course, the day does not dawn quite that warm and given The Dory Shop's location, it takes a few hours for the sun to work it's way over the hill on which Old Town Lunenburg was built and warm our location at the harbour's edge. The situation caused Dave to observe that he and his gang of schooner builders work the opposite of boatbuilders in the West Indies.
"There you'd be working to get over in the shade as much as possible but here, we're always trying to get out working in the sun," he said.
A passersby told us to enjoy it while it lasts. He said the Farmer's Almanac calls for a big snowstorm before the end of the month!

View from the Government Wharf

Here's the very exciting view from Lunenburg's Government Wharf these days, looking back between the two Dory Shop sheds.

Sunshine and schooner frames

A person would have to be a fool to think that spring is really sprung and that Nova Scotia's wintry weather is done for another year.

Still, a week's worth of sunshine does the heart good after months of grey and wet, and it sure makes it more pleasant to be working outside in The Dory Shop Boatyard.

Boat lumber delivery

Dave was glad to have a shipment of excellent new boat lumber arrive today.

It's primarily Osage Orange, an extremely durable southern hardwood that creates such crazy, almost neon sawdust. You can see that the pieces are curved, a characteristic that makes them especially useful, even labour-saving, for frame construction.

There were also a few pieces of Black Walnut and Oak.

You know all that hooey about double-sawn frames two posts again? Well, the reality is if you can find timber to fit the curve then you darn well use it, as shown in this shot of a forward frame made from solid pieces of Osage Orange.