Howdy,

It is important to look at a broad base of information when trying to come to conclusions about the character of a boat.

Mostly I know of dories through the writings of contemporary experts who lived alongside the dorymen for at least part of their lives. John Gardner, Howard Chapelle, Phil Bolger and other designers who lived along the same shores.

The most common contemporary comment I find is along the lines that the shortcomings of the stability of the dory when not loaded were overcome by the skill of the users.

My respect for the dorymen is immense. But the boats were not chosen for their safety. Rather for cheapness and stackability.

However, lets have a little look at actual recorded history at the amazing site “Out of Gloucester” which reports the monthly deaths of seafarers and how they died. https://www.downtosea.com/1876-1900/1896.htm

Remember this is from just one port. Also the literature would tend to make one think that getting lost in fog and “going astray” was the biggest risk. Well … it wasn’t by a long chalk. It was capsizes.

1896
Feb
25th – William Lehay, 27 one of the crew of the sch. Mariner, drowned on Georges by the capsizing of a dory. Isaac Feener, his companion, pulled him back on the bottom of the dory twice by swimming after him at the risk of his own life, but he was finally swept away by the tide.

March
16th – Albert Babin capsized in a dory from sch. Agnes E. Downes on Georges, a native of Arichat, C. B

May
6th – Reinald Stevenson, 23, and Rastmus Peterson, 30, natives of Norway, two of the crew of sch. Eleanora, capsized in their dory on Georges and drowned.

16th – Stephen Hanlon and Kempton Larkin, lost on the Banks from sch. Edward S. Eveleth by the capsizing of their dory. Larkin was 34 and belonged in East Pubnico, N. S., and Hanlon was 30.

22nd – Albert Day 28, and James May, 29, natives of Newfoundland, belonging to sch. Edith M. Prior capsized in their dory while visiting their trawls on Grand Banks and drowned.

27th – Gerring Roberts, belonging to Argyle, N. S., and John Harnish, belonging in Liverpool, N. S., two of the crew of sch. Louise J. Kenney, capsized in their dory and were drowned on the Banks.

June
16th – Andrew Anderson, a native of Sweden, one of the crew of sch. Henry M. Stanley, was drowned on Baealieu Bank by the capsizing of his dory. His dorymate clung to a keg and was rescued.

November
3rd – William D. Munroe, one of the crew of the sch. Lewis H. Giles, drowned on Bacalieu bank, by the capsizing of a dory. His companions, John Mason and Albion Lund, were rescued. Munroe was 39 years, a native of Whitehead, N. S., and left a widow and four children in this city.

December
26th – John Wilson and Alex. Nickerson, two of the crew of sch. Lizzie Griffin, drowned on Banquereau by the capsizing of their dory. Wilson was 23 years, unmarried, and belonged in Portland. Nickerson was 25, a native of Russia and single.

1897 was a better year

February
10th – Harry Olsen and Norman Jeddrey, two of the crew of the sch. Edward A. Perkins, drowned on Banquereau by the capsizing of their dory. Olsen was 25, a native of Hamnerfest, Norway, and Jeddrey 25, a native of Yarmouth, N. S. Sch. Hattie N. Graham searched for smuggling liquors.

April
Dory went astray not found – can’t blame stability for that. Only one in these three years where most articles state the dangers of going adrift as being the dominant form of death in dory use. Not so.

August
18th – John Nelson and Charles Reno, two of the crew of sch. S. P. Willard, went astray form their vessel on Grand Bank and probably drowned by the capsizing of their dory. Nelson was a native of Norway and Reno was a native of Burette Island, N. F.

September
11th – George Muise, 21, native of Tusket Hill, N. S., one of the crew of sch. John L. Nicholson, drowned on Grand Banks, by the capsizing of his dory. John Muise, his dorymate, clung to the dory until rescued.

18th – One of the crew of sch. John L. Nicholson, name unknown, was drowned by the upsetting of his dory on the Brand Banks.

24th – James Doucette and Eugene Burke, two of the crew of sch. Elsie M. Devine, drowned by the capsizing of their dory. Both men were natives of Nova Scotia.

1898

January
29th – Sch. Tragabigzanda went ashore on Cedar Island ledge, near the Isles of Shoals in a thick fog, while engaged in the haddock fishery. Harry Kanute or Knute 35, native of Sweden, one of the crew of sch. Clara P. Sewall, drowned off Cape Cod by the capsizing of his dory.

February
16th – Augustus Rickhorn, 32, native of Sweden, and Charles Mallett, 27, native of Prince Edward Island, two of the crew of sch. Nourmahal frowned on Bank Quero by the capsizing of their dory. Rickhorn leaves a widow and one child residing in Boston

March
Maybe stability – maybe not. 13th – Amanchis Goodick, one of the crew of sch. Comet, drowned on Middle Bank by falling from his dory. He was 27, single, and a native of Shelburne, N. S.

April
19th – William Sunderman, 38, native of Germany, and Olaf Gunderson, 26, native of Norway, two of the crew of sch. Norma drowned on Georges by the capsizing of their dory. Sunderman leaves a widow and four children.

August
John Armstrong, 27, and Anthony Stone, 52, natives of Bay Bulls, N. F., two of the crew of sch. A. E. Whyland, capsized on the Banks in September, in their dory. Stone leaves a widow and one child.

October
25th – Frank Welch, 32, and Lawrence Drew, 25, natives of Bay Bulls, N. F., two of the crew of sch. Valkyria, drowned on Bacalieu Bank by the swamping of their dory. Welch leaves a widow.

September
John Campbell, one of the crew of sch. Annie Greenlaw, drowned off Georges by his dory being capsized by being hit by a sea; Campbell was 27, single and a native of North Mountain, C. B.
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And this goes on year after year, month after month, every port the schooners sailed out of – the biggest cause of death was capsize.

Not to underestimate the seas, but capsizing of a dory was far outnumbers people going astray (getting lost in a dory – fog etc) or being washed off the deck of a larger boat.

My hat is off to the skill dorymen. The history supports the statements of the contemporary boat designers and historians that it was the skill of the dorymen rather than stability of the dory that was responsible for the Dory myth.

The other types of boat derived from the dory, with more rounded sides have a much greater range of stability and are much better for us far less skilled boat users as stated in my article.

lets start with the following

“On the downside they are NOTORIOUSLY unstable until you get half a load of fish aboard..”

know a lot of ,way-old time cod fishermen , do you ? ..If the boats were “notoriously unstable” they wouldn’t have been used the way they were – for over 300 years ! – I do understand your point about modern cheap and quick construction merthods though . WTH is a “Bolger dory” for example…He (Mr. Bolger) was into light “post modern” designs and construction methods for the average person, and some of his boats are are a successful testament to that…But those old ocean fishing dories (the “unstable” ones that were thrown off the side of a cod schooner on the grand banks every day, in winter with two men aboard) were built like all boats were built then ..very heavilly with heavy building methods that the builders were used to all their lives ..