Careful consideration must not just be given to the size of motor you mount on a drift but there are very specific ways to mount the motor to avoid damaging the boat. You can put a motor on a drift boat so that you can move upstream but not all motors are suitable and mounting the motor is not as easy a task as it is with other boats. Although it is easy to navigate in whitewater when moving downstream, it would prove to be a very difficult task to try to row the boat upstream in the same water simply because it would require so much physical effort. The only drawback is that a drift boat is a downstream vessel. Having evolved from the dory the drift boat is better able to deal with choppy water than other flat bottom boats and it can drift quite happily in whitewater all day long. The flat bottom hull means the boat can be used to navigate shallow water areas but its uniquely curved shape and high sides allows it to tackle some very turbulent water. Drift boats are incredibly responsive to the oarsman. The drift boat is designed to be a truly excellent downstream rowboat that is easy to maneuver even in the most turbulent of whitewater. This gave rise to several different variations of inland waterway dories such as the McKenzie Dory and the Rogue River Dory.ĭrift boats were a further evolution of the river dory and, although there are also some different variations in this boat type, most drift boats share similar characteristics, perform in a similar way and look very similar. However, with different rivers and rapids came different challenges and so over time the dories were modified so they were better suited to the specific environments they were being used in. The reason the ocean dory was first used in the turbulent rivers of Oregon was because it could, unlike other flat bottom boats, handle rough waters, at least to a certain degree. But, a drift boat is not your average type of rowboat! A drift can do things that a normal rowboat could not even attempt (see our article drift boat vs rowboat for more information). River running involves recreational vessels navigating rivers that have areas of unsettled water which includes turbulent whitewater and tumultuous rapids.Īs many drift boats are made from wood you may think that this is a strange activity for a wooden rowboat to be involved in and normally you’d be right.
These boats are designed to take on some seriously turbulent river waters. River runningĪ drift boat is first-and-foremost a river runner. Let’s take a look at some of those activities now. Though the two boats are similar, a drift boat is uniquely suitable for activities that are usually reserved for river rafts, whitewater kayaks and some specially modified canoes. The drift boat is a much more versatile vessel than a traditional dory. There are many reasons to use a drift boat rather than a dory. But its unique capabilities don’t stop there. With a few minor design modifications, such as the uniquely curved nature of the hull that gives the boat more rocker (read more about that here), the dory soon evolved into what we now call the drift boat and became by far the best river running rowboat in existence. Of course there were other types of shallow draft river boats available but the dory’s ability to handle rough water gave it an advantage over other flat bottom boats in the turbulent rivers of Oregon were it was first used inland.īoaters who had access to the dory, as it was used in nearby ocean waters, and the need for a unique vessel that could be used to navigate the turbulent McKenzie and Rogue rivers found that the boat was an almost perfect fit for their needs. The dory boat proved valuable to these river users because the flat bottom hull gave the dory a shallow draft that allowed it to access areas of shallow water while its hull design allowed it to ride turbulent water better than other types of flat bottom boat (like a Jon boat or flat-bottomed skiff, for example). The flat bottom design of the dory meant this boat has a shallow draft and thus this made it a perfect choice for boaters who frequented inland bodies of water where shallows are prevalent. It did, though, lead the way to the development of the drift boat.
Unfortunately though, a boat with a flat bottom is not a good choice for ocean waters and this boat design lead to many accidents and deaths. These boats were designed with flat bottoms so they were easy to to stack on the schooner that carried them. The dory is a rowboat that was traditionally used as a fishing vessel in bays and along ocean shorelines.ĭory boats were launched from a large schooner to fish in ocean waters.
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