Dory Story Part One: Building the "Tillamook" Dory

Caution note added October 2025: Plans include cap rails on the sheer as an option. Consider them mandatory. If you build without cap rails, seal the top of the sheer with fiberglass. Epoxy alone is not enough. Normal wear and tear may crack the epoxy enough for water to seep into the plywood. Here is the link to the first in a series of repair videos:    • Rot Repair In My Jeff Spira "Tillamook" Do...  
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Building a boat is not difficult. It's a good way to stay occupied in this time of social isolation, and when it's finished, you can enjoy using it while also staying isolated.
I built this dory because I couldn't afford to buy a seagoing boat, and, on the Oregon Coast, I needed one.
I wasn't thinking ahead to YouTube when I reduced all the photos to small files. Watching this on a phone or laptop is good, but a large monitor or a TV will show my lack of foresight.
I've built three of Jeff Spira's designs, and I have my eye on two or three more. I've already had to sell one of my boats to make room for the others.

I should have included definitions of terms unfamiliar to people unfamiliar with boat construction. Keelson is the spine of the boat that runs from bow to stern in the bottom but inside the hull. The chine is the line at which the side meets the bottom. Chine log is the frame member that supports and defines that line.

  I had to skip over a lot of details that, if you're going to build a ply-on-frame boat, might be helpful. This video is based on a PDF-file book I wrote as I built this dory. "Dory Story" is available FREE at http://www.ericrush.com

Jeff Spira died in 2022 and his website vanished. A year later, there has been no news regarding what will happen to Spira International. There is high demand for his boat plans but no legitimate way to acquire them. Purchasing a set of boat plans entitles you to build one boat from them, but many builders resell, trade, and give away plans. Some justify doing so by the fact that there has been, for a year now, no other way for anyone to get Spira plans.
After saying No for many months, I've found an ethical way to sell copies of my dory plans: You pay me what I paid Spira plus copy cost plus mailing. I or my heirs will hold the cost of plans in perpetuity. If and when Spira's business is resurrected and plans become available, I or my heirs turn over all money collected by me for the sale of copies.
This way, you get dory plans and I get to sleep well.