| Active III A 16' 7" Pirogue-Rigged Keel Dory By William & John Atkin |
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| A Pirogue-Rigged Dory | |
| Active I was (and still is) a banks sailing dory built about 13 years ago by the Toppan Boat Company. We bought her for ten dollars from a man who neglected to take any care at all of the boat. The former owner left the dory in the water all one of those severe winters between 1933 and 1936 when the ice in the small harbor at Pratt's Island, Connecticut, froze nearly two feet thick. She was open and a mess inside, which under the circumstances was not surprising. Bottom, planking, and fastenings were in very good condition but the centerboard and trunk were not worth repairing so these were removed along with dirt and whatnot accumulated during her ordeal in the winter's ice. | |
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Dories are tender things so we decided on a long shallow keel with 190 pounds of lead along its bottom to give stability. We fitted a deep rudder, decks all around the cockpit, and a pirogue rig similar to the one shown herewith. With these changes she proved to be an excellent little boat, lots of fun to sail with her two masts and sails, a grand little sea boat and much faster than as originally rigged. Active II is a fin keel edition of Davy Jones Too. Active III is presented herewith in design form and may become reality one of these fine days. The plans show a boat 16 feet 7 inches over all; 14 feet on the water line; 4 feet 10 inches in breadth; and 1 foot 10 inches draft. The freeboard at the bow is 2 feet 1 inch, at the stern 1 foot 7 1/2 inches, and at the lowest place on the sheer, 1 foot 2 inches. Active III is rigged like a pirogue and I suppose she might be termed a cat-ketch; at any rate it is an excellent rig for any small boat having a low center of effort, short masts, and simple rigging. The main sail has an area of 54.1 square feet; the mizzen, 37.4 square feet. Total area 91.5 square feet. | |
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| The boat is decked over leaving a cockpit 8 feet long by 3 feet 8 inches wide amidships. The waterways are 6 inches wide as indicated on the deck plan. There is a single thwart somewhat abaft amidships which forms the bench for the mizzen mast. There is just enough room abaft this for the helmsman to sit in comfort and nice room forward for the main sheet tender. Single-handing, the crew's weight should be forward of the thwart in which case the boat will be steered with the tiller line extending around the coaming. | |
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| A dory is an easy kind of boat to build, no twist to the planks, no rabbetted chine pieces, no steaming of planks, no heavy timbers. In some ways an easier hull to build than a flat bottom skiff. | |
 PHOTOS OF ACTIVE III 
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| Plans for Active III are $100 MYSTIC SEAPORT MUSEUM SHIPS PLANS STORE https://store.mysticseaport.org/ships-plans/ shipsplanstore@mysticseaport.org
+1 (860) 572 5360 | |
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