Sturgeon Moon

The Toledo, Oregon Wooden Boat Show 2010


Last night, while observing the moon's diurnal libration, Doryman rowed his new Valgerda nine miles from the Toledo Slough to the docks at Sawyer's Landing. The ebb tide ran from a high of eight feet out to a low of two-tenths below mean.

In the late summer months, the warm air inland draws cooler air off the ocean so the afternoon winds almost always blow inland at high velocity. To travel west, it is best to catch an ebb tide after dark or around sunrise if your vessel is human powered.





The fearing Saga no longer has a motor, but still weighs about seven hundred pounds. Two knots is about top cruising speed, using a pair of twelve foot spruce sweeps.
The semidiurnal range of oscillating tidal streams can easily double that speed.


With a light sea breeze on the bow, the fearing ran the nine miles down river in three hours. The GPS screen was visible by the light of the moon. No one else was on the water but the seals and birds.



Saga and I were leaving the sixth annual 2010 Toledo Wooden Boat Show in Toledo, Oregon; heading back to the haul-out sling at Sawyers Landing under oars alone with the pull of the moon before us and the tidal river beneath.
From moon rise to sunrise.



Toledo is a very small town with a love of it's waterfront and a memory of when business and commerce centered on the waterway. The boat show is a celebration of that heritage.

It's also the culmination of a years work here in Doryman's Boatyard, since it's Mistral's home port.

This year four boats from the Yard found their way into the show and I was pleased to find a few other boats in attendance that have come from my Yard as well.



The weather here on the coast this summer has been cool and cloudy, but last weekend the curtain came up on a show with no complaints.

During the slide show, be sure to note the family boat building projects. The kids joy in their new creations is priceless.



A fitting celebration of the last full moon of summer. A sturgeon moon.
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Teak Lady, MaZu

During the summer of 2009, Jim Hitchman's recently restored 1958 Teak Lady, MaZu was hit by a fishing boat while on it's first voyage in many years.

Jim was heartsick - and when his insurance company's replacement offer came in insultingly low, he donated the boat to the Port of Toledo's nascent rowing and sailing club.





My good friend Rick Johnson, local shipwright extraordinaire, recently completed the repairs and called me to help step the mast (which had been split in half by the accident).











MaZu was built in Hong Kong in 1958 and is made entirely of teak. At a demure seventeen feet, she is a petite yacht. We have yet to complete the running rigging for the sails (which are a robust and weathered tanbark), but hopefully that will happen during the upcoming boat show in Toledo, Oregon this weekend.





MaZu waits at the dock for the show along side Lively, Doryman's Ed Monk knockabout.
Lively is a regular at the Toledo Wooden Boat Show and is sailed by members of the local yacht club, offering free sailboat rides.



The Toledo Wooden Boat Show promises to be better than ever, for it's sixth year running. I need to get back to work... there will be four boats from my fleet in the show and it's only two days away!








If you're in the neighborhood, be sure to stop by!

Toledo, Oregon Wooden Boat Show

It's that time of year already. In Doryman's home port, Toledo, Oregon, the annual boat show is coming up this weekend. If you're in the neighborhood, please stop by and say hello.

The eighth annual Toledo Wooden Boat Show is a small town event with a big heart. You'll love it.

Toledo is seven miles east of the seaside town of Newport, Oregon, on the Yaquina River. You've heard a lot about this area if you are a regular reader. If you've never been to this show, you owe it to yourself and if you have, welcome back!






Of course the most fun is on the water so bring your boat. There is no limit to registration. For those who can't bring their own boat, they will find many free options for rowing, sailing and motor boat rides available.

Hope to see you there, Saturday and Sunday the 18th and 19th of August, on the waterfront. You can't miss it.

Toledo, Oregon Wooden Boat Show, 2013

Whew! Just recovering from a long weekend at the annual boat show in my home port. This show happens every third weekend in August and it's always a lot of fun in the sun, on the water. Of course there are the boats, many of which were created by their owners. The live music is excellent, the food is very good, there are activities for kids, demonstrations of kayak skills and paper boat races. The last is completely insane. Toledo is a mill town and the paper used in making the boats is a water resistant packing material donated by the mill. The rest is up to the imagination. I'm afraid that to get the full effect, you have to visit the show.

My cruising dory, Mistral was in the thick of the action, at her usual mooring and I talked myself hoarse in three days, visiting friends from near and far. Our Teak Lady sailboats were in action, giving rides up and down the slough and the Toledo Community Boathouse provided rowing and paddling craft for free, to all comers.

I asked some friends to help take photos, which you can find on Doryman's Flickr site. You will recognise many boats from previous years as well as newcomers to the fleet (some of us just can't quit building).

Speaking of building, a real highlight of this show is the Family Boat Build. Starting on Friday, each group begins their boat, which was a  kayak this year. By Sunday afternoon, the boats are launched and tested by the proud owners. This little fifteen foot kayak is so appealing, I'm going to build one myself. The hull is already begun. It will be the annual winter boat build, here on Doryman, so stay tuned

Electric Tug from doryman on Vimeo.

Neap Tide

It was a gorgeous summer weekend for a boat show. This year's Toledo Wooden Boat Show was the seventh annual and the best yet. An amazing number of people come to the Oregon coast for this August event and the slideshow will demonstrate why.

Please enjoy!





Doryman's friends Claire and Bob were there to show us how to row a faering. Come on, Bob - Give me 20!

The Doryman Song, by Scott Kirby. Courtesy of Dave Calhoun. Thanks Dave!
Video produced by Mary McCall. Thank you, Mary!

Rowing the Faering, Ravn from doryman on Vimeo.

Brandon is the proud winner of the "People's Choice" award for his beautiful Ravn.
Doryman rows over to offer congratulations! Couldn't have chosen a better man, nor boat.

The seventh annual Toledo (Oregon) Wooden Boat Show was a huge success, right here in Doryman's home port.

The DoryMan blog has logged over 200,000 visitors, as of yesterday. Thank you all for stopping by and please come back soon!
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Doryman's Kayak

It's been a few months since we looked at the development of last winter's Doryman kayak build. Wild Rose has been outfitted with outriggers so that she can now be paddled or rowed. Being only fifteen feet long, she is quick off the line, though takes concentration to track well under oars.

All said, I am very pleased with this little boat. She weighs 65 pounds and is easy to load on top of a car, yet carries up to 300 pounds of payload. The rowing option is to accommodate my aching shoulders, which I suspect might appeal to others, as well.

Leo Newberg, who designed the original of this kayak, and Rick Johnson, the shipwright who leads the Family Boat Build at our local Toledo Wooden Boat Show, were impressed enough by the changes I've made to implement them in the show this year. These changes include a new, more graceful shearline and an open, more accessible cockpit. Wild Rose is currently in Leo's capable hands, having her lines taken.




This kayak will be the centerpiece of the Family Boat Build at the Toledo Wooden Boat Show, August 16th and 17th, 2014. Follow the link above to the Port of Toledo, Oregon website, for more information about signing up. There will also be a "kid's build" this year, with a smaller, simpler kayak for the little ones. Be sure to get your name in soon, August is just around the corner.

More photos of Wild Rose can be found on Doryman's Flickr Site.

Toledo Wooden Boat Show 2017

Family Boat Build, Solar Eclipse, Garibaldi Coast Guard.

What do these all have in common? Please stay tuned...

During the Toledo Wooden Boat Show this year, the popular Family Boat Build featured the Tango Stand-Up-Paddleboard.

We built three SUPs in four days, a new design for everyone involved. Anyone familiar with building wood airplanes would recognize the method - the boards even resemble a wing.

The builders ranged from a local shipwright and his niece, to a group of Job Corps teens, to the new Toledo City Manager, who confessed he had very little wood-working experience.

That's the challenge that makes this weekend project so much fun. Everyone walks away with a unique creation they can use with pride.

Definitely one of the highlights of Doryman's year.

The show was very intimate this year. Being one of the very first geological locations in the USA to experience the recent total eclipse of the sun, we all expected a deluge of tourists, but the Oregon coast was very quiet, considering the moment. You know I like it that way - quality over quantity is the Doryman way. By now, you've all heard eclipse stories. My only observation - it's very strange to see twilight approach, with the sun in the east.

And, oh yes... in the tiny coastal town of Garibaldi, Oregon, there is an old boathouse at the end of a long finger pier, which once housed a United States Coast Guard Lifeboat station. A local group has formed the Garibaldi Cultural Heritage Initiative, to preserve this historical maritime asset. How cool is that?

As it turns out, these fine folks have many ambitious plans to enliven the structure as an asset for the community, which currently include building five kayaks to be used by visitors and the community at large. Serendipity brought the Garibaldi Cultural Initiative to these pages, and Doryman is privileged to have been asked to mentor the build. To say this is an honor is an understatement. I made a quick stop in Garibaldi to see the site yesterday.
I'm very excited. What a week it's been.

Expect to hear more about the Garibaldi Cultural Initiative and Pier's End in the next couple months.

Family Boatbuilding

For the third year running, The Toledo, Oregon, Wooden Boat Show hosted a kayak build for it's family boatbuilding event. I was there to mentor the builders and what a great group we had. None of the participants had ever built a boat before, though they must have had transferable skills because all of the kayaks turned out very nice.

This design by Leo Newberg is simple yet elegant. We do not provide kits for this build so the entrants learn basic skills such as spiling off a mold and fairing a plank. The lofting and building jig are done before-hand so the builders can start early Friday before the show. We constructed four kayaks this year, down from the overwhelming six we turned out last year. This allowed Gus Loomis, Rick Johnson and me to provide more in depth instruction to a very receptive group.

In a video interview with the local high school, I was asked why I'm involved with this volunteer effort. Over the past forty years as a boat builder, I have had the good fortune to learn from some truly amazing artists, a process that continues to this day. I think of an opportunity such as this as a chance to give back to the community of builders and designers that have given me so much.

Perhaps some of the participants will take away a new passion along with fresh skills.

Rick and Gus are exemplary boat builders who share my love of building. It's a joy to work with two such talented artisans. Thanks to them and the Port of Toledo for inviting me to participate in this event.

Next to us was a group of kids along with their parents building Phil Bolger's Elegant Punt, from Dynamite Payson's book, Instant Boats. I've often admired the simple utility of these tenders.

Waiting for the first launch.

A neighboring paper mill produces waterproof packing cardboard and sponsors a design/build contest and race. My favorite was an entry from local ribs and burgers restaurant, Pig Feathers.

Pig Boat swims!
Photo by Ralph Grutzmacher.

My good friend Darrell touts himself as a ship's carver. This year I bought a carving of a seahorse to add to my collection from this eclectic artist.

Next, I'd like to own this beautiful rendition of a sea turtle. Darrell has studied with Northwest First Nation carvers for inspiration in his work. Saving up my pennies for this one!






More photos of this event can be found at Andy Linn's Toledo Community Boathouse.