Students learn age-old craft of dory building in Lunenburg, N.S. — in 2 weeks

The art of building dories is a craft that dates back a century in the town of Lunenburg, N.S., and for some students participating in a unique workshop, it's a chance to be part of that boatbuilding history.

The Dory Shop on the Lunenburg waterfront hosts two-week courses where students of varying skill levels learn to design and build a dory.

The classic dory is a small, open boat closely identified with Lunenburg and Atlantic Canada.

For Morgan Smith, the boatbuilder who leads the workshop, it’s an introduction into a craft that’s been a part of his life since grade school.

“To make a boat from scratch, by hand, it’s very satisfying,” he says.

Adam Brown, one of the participants, is an amateur boatbuilder as well. He often works alone, so he says this course gives him a chance to bond with like-minded people.

He says many of his projects can take anywhere from a year to several years to build.

Adam Brown is an amateur boatbuilder. Getting to work with other boat lovers on this craft is one of the perks of the workshop. (Colin North/CBC)“To see how to build a boat from start to finish, in two weeks, is totally mind-blowing,” says Brown.

Two weeks is feasible with five students to help, but Smith guesses the Dory Shop makes about 12 dories a year, many of which are for sale on their website.

Dories on the Dory Shop website range from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars. Smith estimates that the dory this workshop will produce could sell for $9,500.

The workshop costs participants $1,950. But during the 10 days of hands-on building, participants will learn about bending wood, fasteners and the craft of making a seaworthy dory.

By the end of the first week of the course, the boat is starting to take shape as a classic dory.

The Dory Shop is a landmark building on Lunenburg's working waterfront. (Colin North/CBC)David Williams is an engineer who came down from Cape Breton to take part.

Originally from Newfoundland, his uncle’s father-in-law was a member of the Grandy family, which built the Grandy dory, a style of high-sided dory found in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia.

Williams says it feels like a full-circle moment to help build one himself.

“It's really simple to build,” says Williams. “And when it's together, you've got a really durable kind of craft that is simple yet elegant at the same time.”

The participants in the workshop are carrying on a tradition as old as the Dory Shop itself.

The shop was established in 1917. Its simple wooden buildings are perched over Lunenburg harbour and remain a staple of the town's working waterfront.

Tourists routinely pop their heads into the shop's open doorway to see the boatbuilders in action.

Morgan Smith is leading the workshop. He says building a boat from scratch is very satisfying. (Colin North/CBC)Smith said the Dory Shop is intricately linked to Lunenburg's history as a fishing community but it was never about building boats purely for profit.

“The building of the dories was subsidized by the fishing companies that needed them," he said. “It's never really been about money. It was just necessary.”

For Adam Brown, building a dory during the workshop is a reflection of many things.

“For me, boatbuilding is about love: it's love of the craft, it's love of the form, it's love of the ocean.”

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Colin North is an associate producer with CBC Nova Scotia. He can be reached through email at colin.north@cbc.ca.

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