Banks dory
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| the dory |
| Banks dory |
| Cape Ann dory |
| Gloucester dory |
| McKenzie River dory |
| Swampscott dory |
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| traditional boats |
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The Banks dory is a narrow-bottomed, slab-sided boat with a very narrow transom used for fishing off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland since the 16th century. These boats were inexpensive to build, and stacked on the decks of larger fishing vessels. Dories came into use once it was discovered that handlining for cod was more successful than fishing for them from the larger mother ships.
[edit] Origin of name
It is unclear if the name refers to their use in fishing on the Grand Banks or to the fact that they were stored in stacks, individually called a bank, on the deck of fishing ships.
[edit] Characteristics
Banks dories have long overhangs, both bow and stern, to help lift them over large waves. There were both one-man and two-man versions, the two man dory being somewhat larger. The larger ones (12ft or more) were capable of being fitted with sails, and tiller, and were much more stable in rough weather when loaded with about half a ton of catch, estimated to carry about 2 tons of fish. They would usually set out from the mother ship in the morning and return by sunset with the day's catch.
A Banks dory is seen in Winslow Homer's painting The Fog Warning.
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The Fog Warning by Winslow Homer |
Banks dories have been capable of surviving long voyages, some unintentional, when the fishermen became separated from their mother ships. One of the more famous adventures was by Howard Blackburn, who survived 5 days in the North Atlantic in January.
See also: Dory, Glouster dory, Swampscott dory, and Cape Ann dory.
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