Rick, Dovekies are an amazing boat and they have always been high on my list.
I have been on 3 or 4 cruises with the Shallow Water Sailors and continue to be impressed with the boats and the people who use them. It is definitely a different boat that is well suited to it's intent. Sailing in protected waters is it's forte. They do literally sail on a heavy dew. The first cruise I went on with them I towed my Bolger Dory in anticipation of their ability to anchor in shallow water. It turned out to be a good thing as the fleet of 10 boats (not all Dovekies but all flat bottom sharpies of one sort or another) anchored in about 8" of water at low tide. This entire group used to sail without motors. Towards night fall two of the Dovekies, split off, put out thier 12 foot oars and with thier heads above the deck, rowed off into the sunset to an even shallower cove.. The wind that weekend was rather strong, 18 -20 with gusts to 25 and I was at least 10% faster, even towing the dory, than all of the boats thier with the exception of the 28 ft Shearwater. This speed differntial is closer with lighter winds but I have always sailed circles around them. On the other hand they scrape me off on shallow sand bars and low bridges. I once watched a Dovekie sail full steam at a bridge with only 10 ft clearance, drop the mast 20 yards from the bridge while sailing, coast under the bridge, raise the mast while still moving and continue on. An amazing boat. On the other hand they are not self bailing and hold an enormouse amount of water. All of the SWS cruises avoid a lot of open water and I would be reluctant to cross the Chesapeak Bay in one without a very reliable forecast. The interior is truely camping on a boat. The center part of the deck is covered by canvass for the night or they the use a boom tent. The interior is just a flat bottom hollow cave with little to no built in storage. Good floor based siting head room but you have to crawl around the boat on your knees. From this aspect it is a young man's ( or older and still quite limber) boat. At my age they are no longer on the list. If you are familar with the comforting sound of the Montgomery chuckle while at anchor with little wavelets you may not appreacitate the drum beat of a flat bottom boat with a section of the bow above the actual water. Booom Booom Boom unless you move enough weight to bow. The new boats added a centerboard well forward in the bow in order to be able to tack better in stronger winds. Without that the forward hull windage will push the bow off the wind and the boat will miss stays. But still, sailing on a heavy dew is a unique experience. eone cruise with very light winds I anchored the Montogomery and went for a ride in a Sea Pearl. We sailed 1/2 mile into a marsh that only forced us to turn around at when the water was down to about 6 ". Saw wildlife galore. But I ramble. The M15 sure is a fabulous boat for my needs :-) Thanks Doug Kelch --- On Tue, 10/28/08, Rick Langer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: From: Rick Langer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: M_Boats: What do you think of Dovekies? To: [email protected] Cc: "Frank Durant" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Tuesday, October 28, 2008, 1:19 PM While researching the Dovekie I saw that Doug Kelch attended a SWS cruise on the Chesapeake with them sometime ago. I was planning to ask him what his impression of the boat was, so let me do that and ask y'all to chime in too. I'm currently tempted by a very nice 24 year old Dovekie. It's said to row much better than an M15, has more open space (not clear it has more storage), draws 4 inches and sits flat on tidal flats and I kind of like sharpies. So, what do you folks think and what might be a good value for 24 year old Dovekie in good shape? Thanks, Rick _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
