Keeping tradition alive, one dory at a time
Terry Learned
Story & photos by Rebecca Stone • For the TODAY
For Terry Learned, there’s nothing like a stack of 3/8-inch-thick Douglas fir plywood just waiting to be crafted into a 22-foot fishing machine. The last dory boat builder still in business in the Pacific City area and a member of the Dorymen’s Association, he builds two, sometimes three boats a year (with the help of his daughters, Pam and Annie), which he sells for around $9,000 each.
Learned, who works out of a former dairy barn, has been building the flat-bottomed wooden boats since he was a senior in high school in 1967.
“My dad (Victor Learned) built boats,” recalled Learned, “always out of plywood. When plywood became unavailable for a time, he tried his hand at building a plank boat. But he didn’t realize that planks need to swell and need caulking to make the boat watertight. “The first plank boat sank,” he said, with a shrug and a chuckle.
Learned builds his boats upside down due to the low ceiling height of his barn. He carefully bends the plywood to take the curve along the sides, and uses 7/8 x 2½-inch stock for the chines, which he soaks out in the grass to help them take the required bend. Two pieces of plywood laminated together make up the bottom.
“That way,” he said, “there’s no flexing. It’s about as rigid as you can make a wooden boat.”
He said that nailing the sides to the bowstem and then to the transom is a 3½-hour job. And 14 ribs go into each boat, starting with the transom and going forward.
For Terry Learned, there’s nothing like a stack of 3/8-inch-thick Douglas fir plywood just waiting to be crafted into a 22-foot fishing machine. The last dory boat builder still in business in the Pacific City area and a member of the Dorymen’s Association, he builds two, sometimes three boats a year (with the help of his daughters, Pam and Annie), which he sells for around $9,000 each.
Learned, who works out of a former dairy barn, has been building the flat-bottomed wooden boats since he was a senior in high school in 1967.
“My dad (Victor Learned) built boats,” recalled Learned, “always out of plywood. When plywood became unavailable for a time, he tried his hand at building a plank boat. But he didn’t realize that planks need to swell and need caulking to make the boat watertight. “The first plank boat sank,” he said, with a shrug and a chuckle.
Learned builds his boats upside down due to the low ceiling height of his barn. He carefully bends the plywood to take the curve along the sides, and uses 7/8 x 2½-inch stock for the chines, which he soaks out in the grass to help them take the required bend. Two pieces of plywood laminated together make up the bottom.
“That way,” he said, “there’s no flexing. It’s about as rigid as you can make a wooden boat.”
He said that nailing the sides to the bowstem and then to the transom is a 3½-hour job. And 14 ribs go into each boat, starting with the transom and going forward.
The Lucky Dog, with Terria Wallace, Mary Getchell and Gail West.
The construction of a seaworthy vessel, which will stand up to the elements dished out on the Oregon Coast, is no small feat. Learned makes his boats completely out of old-growth Douglas fir, with some redwood or other types of wood for accents here and there, often left bright (unpainted but often varnished or coated with clear epoxy so the natural wood shows). The bow stem is reinforced with oak.
“Old growth is more rot resistant,” explained the veteran builder.
This is an important point. When you consider how well fungi grow here on the coast, you’d think that rot would indeed be a problem with wooden boats. But Learned said that as long as the boats are kept inside for the winter, they rarely end up with rot.
“In fact,” he said, “a number of the boats built in the 1970s are still going strong. And there are even some double-enders from the 1950s around still, that were built by George Calkins of Calkins Craft, that used to be on Devil’s Lake over by the D River.”
The hardware and fittings on Learned’s boats are stainless steel, regarded as basically bulletproof in the marine environment. It also helps that the entire construction is laminated and coated with a flexible epoxy. Then, someone else in the area lays on a fiberglass skin, colored with Gelcoat. Another trick Learned uses to help preserve boat integrity is to slop transmission oil all over it for the winter.
“This is great protection,” he said.
Up until the late 1950s, dories featured a double-end design, meaning they were pointed both fore and aft. But to accommodate transom-mounted outboard engines (and some sterndrives), dory designs began to incorporate square sterns. From then on, oars, if used, became a backup, and, as engines became more reliable, the horsepower race was on. Most dories aren’t pushed by more than a 90-horsepower 4-stroke outboard, which Learned says have become the hot ticket for reliability.
“Old growth is more rot resistant,” explained the veteran builder.
This is an important point. When you consider how well fungi grow here on the coast, you’d think that rot would indeed be a problem with wooden boats. But Learned said that as long as the boats are kept inside for the winter, they rarely end up with rot.
“In fact,” he said, “a number of the boats built in the 1970s are still going strong. And there are even some double-enders from the 1950s around still, that were built by George Calkins of Calkins Craft, that used to be on Devil’s Lake over by the D River.”
The hardware and fittings on Learned’s boats are stainless steel, regarded as basically bulletproof in the marine environment. It also helps that the entire construction is laminated and coated with a flexible epoxy. Then, someone else in the area lays on a fiberglass skin, colored with Gelcoat. Another trick Learned uses to help preserve boat integrity is to slop transmission oil all over it for the winter.
“This is great protection,” he said.
Up until the late 1950s, dories featured a double-end design, meaning they were pointed both fore and aft. But to accommodate transom-mounted outboard engines (and some sterndrives), dory designs began to incorporate square sterns. From then on, oars, if used, became a backup, and, as engines became more reliable, the horsepower race was on. Most dories aren’t pushed by more than a 90-horsepower 4-stroke outboard, which Learned says have become the hot ticket for reliability.
Pam Learned, in a Dory Days parade. TODAY photo.
“They’re the workhorses of the dory fleet,” he noted, adding, “Most top out at 20 knots.”
Designs of these craft vary slightly, but those who have been around them for decades say that many of the designs originated in Oregon. As far as amenities, some are stripped-down models with only a center console, while others feature cuddy cabins large enough to overnight in. The more up-to-date rigs have hydraulic controls to tilt the engine up, which helps to keep the skeg from losing too much paint on beach landings.
But when asked what makes a dory a dory today, Learned didn’t miss a beat.
“Pointy bow, flat bottom.” He explained that a flat bottom offers safety and convenience for launching from the beach. “It allows you to correct quickly, floats in the shallows, and is easier to control launching and coming in.”
Besides, though they’re noted for slicing through water like a hot knife through butter, Learned said that it’s tricky to launch a V-bottomed boat in the sand, though some dories do feature a slight rake in the forward third.
You’d think the ride on a flat-bottomed boat might be rough, but not according to Learned.
“If you back off the throttle a little bit, you’ll be OK,” he said. “Nobody complains about the ride being rough.” And when it comes to 90-horsepowered boats racing the waves — and sometimes launching off breakers — as they come in for a landing, that’s probably a good thing.
Designs of these craft vary slightly, but those who have been around them for decades say that many of the designs originated in Oregon. As far as amenities, some are stripped-down models with only a center console, while others feature cuddy cabins large enough to overnight in. The more up-to-date rigs have hydraulic controls to tilt the engine up, which helps to keep the skeg from losing too much paint on beach landings.
But when asked what makes a dory a dory today, Learned didn’t miss a beat.
“Pointy bow, flat bottom.” He explained that a flat bottom offers safety and convenience for launching from the beach. “It allows you to correct quickly, floats in the shallows, and is easier to control launching and coming in.”
Besides, though they’re noted for slicing through water like a hot knife through butter, Learned said that it’s tricky to launch a V-bottomed boat in the sand, though some dories do feature a slight rake in the forward third.
You’d think the ride on a flat-bottomed boat might be rough, but not according to Learned.
“If you back off the throttle a little bit, you’ll be OK,” he said. “Nobody complains about the ride being rough.” And when it comes to 90-horsepowered boats racing the waves — and sometimes launching off breakers — as they come in for a landing, that’s probably a good thing.
