Are you getting in from a dock or shallow water?   

   Shallow water.  

  Gary, your question caught my interest because I could have written it myself!  Getting in my dory is like trying to mount a floating cork:  1) you need to step into the center of the boat so as to prevent it from dipping toward you, so move toward the narrower bow; 2) in my lug-rigged boat, I grab onto the center of the mast partner with one hand or the top of the dagger board trunk - something along the centerline; 3) as soon as you can, get your weight centered in the boat, with one hand on each gunnel.  I've decided that I can't count on sailing away from a beach, so I row away with the sail already raised and flapping, and sheet it in once I'm in open water.  Getting off, again move forward to where you can grab something which is along the center line.   (I also like to get off early in the day when I can minimize the chance of an audience!)  Good luck and have fun.

Frank

Frank,

I have the same issue, getting used to manuvering in my new dory and I like your explanation, dont recall seeing that level of detail before.  Could you answer something else re: daggerboard and rudder?

 I assume like me that you do not have a kick up rudder, so do you put the rudder on first, then position the boat bow to shore so the rudder doesnt drag and push/row away from shore backwards?

Also, do you keep the daggerboard out, or fully up, until deep enough to lower before sheeting in and stowing the oars?

Thanks, Curt

  Curt, I put the rudder on first with the bow on the beach (keeps things steady).  Then turn the boat around.  Never had a problem with the rudder dragging if I'm in 8 inches or so or water.  Dagger board is out, lying next to the trunk.  Dropping it in place is the first thing I do after rowing to deeper water.  Then stow the oars.  BTW, the bitter end of the main sheet is tied off in a handy place.  I have an overly long main sheet, so there's not much chance of the boat getting under way before I'm ready.  But these boats are so light that any wind will push it around anyway.  That's why I like to be out and away from shore.  Maybe the key is to find a launching place with the wind from the shore (onshore?).  I need more practice!   Frank

   Try the shallowest water possible (so that you can still push off). Get in the middle ( just aft of your oar locks) aft of the seat you roow from. Sit down as if you are sitting on your couch except AIM FURTHER. I am 6'1" so i can get my rear-end almost to the centerline. The tricky part is to just swing your legs into the boat. Some water may get in but not much. By this point you can just lift yourself onto the thwart using mostly your arms.

I hate to be a kill joy but what happens if you capsize? If you can't get in in 2 feet of water what about 20 feet?  You won't have any trouble getting out but you'll play hell getting in. If this is an issue for you then don't sail solo. SEEYA Jack

As one aging man to another believe me when I say I feel your pain. And the advice that's been posted seems sound, but I have to say I agree with Jacknlin's last post. Yes, as we age we lose strength, flexibility and balance, but there are tools we can use to fight our decline. I suggest you read the following article and consider following Dr. Sullivan's suggestions. It has worked miracles for me.

http://startingstrength.com/index.php/site/article/barbell_training_is_big_medicine#.U77I7ahNzWs

Don't know if this came through as functional link, but you can always copy and paste. Hope this is helpful for you!

" If you can't get in in 2 feet of water what about 20 feet?  You won't have any trouble getting out but you'll play hell getting in."

Getting into an undecked open boat following a capsize is actually easy. There will be so much water inside the hull that you can almost swim back in. The part that won't be so easy is getting all that water out before more sloshes in over the gunwales to replace it.

Old Yeller

   Yup, feel ya Gary D.

I’ve tried the methods above and settled on entering at stern. Grab both rails a little ways in front of the transom, this distributes your weight evenly side to side. Put one foot in center of stern seat, push off with the other foot. This pushes you off the ramp as your weight settles the boat. It's narrow back there so not much flexibility is required and pretty much everything is close enough to centerline to keep from dipping too much. I always carry a canoe paddle to quickly move the boat off then mount the rudder. To help with trim, put your cooler of adult beverages way up in the bow. However you decide, I think it helps to get in at one of the skinny ends where it's easier to stand on the center line.

Happy sailing,

ev

Eric, I tried the "board in the middle and grab the daggerboard trunk" idea from this thread getting in, but getting out, tried going out the stern...much easier, glad you mentioned that!  

 Question for you, and others that put the rudder on once in the boat on the water...how in the heck do you do that?!?  Cant figure out how you can see the bottom gudgeon to line up the pintle. 

Curt 

   I'm in the final phases of deciding whether to build the Northeaster Dory or the Skerry and was ver interested by this post. I didn't actually consider getting into the boat as an issue, at least not in shallow water. Most of my boating experience has been with larger, heavier production boats or my canoe. As for jacknlin's post about going over in deep water, a concern I did have with this boat, one builder, Neil Calore aka LeatherLungs, who used his dory to race in the Everglades Challenge and other Watertribe small boat endurance races made a self rescue system that consists of a nylon webbing strap with a step held open by a length of garden hose. He has a blog on the watertribe website with pics of it as well as excellent info on fitting out his boat and participating in the race at: http://watertribe.org/leatherlungs/author/LeatherLungs/ 

 Curt: Re how you see the bottom gudgeon to line up the pintle -- Instead of the traditional gudgeon-pintle arrangement, I used a rudder hanger on my Shellback Dinghy. Take a look at this link, and you can see how it slides from the easily accessible top of the rod until the upper gudgeon -- which is fastened to the rudder instead of the transom -- can slip over the top of the rod. Here's a link to this very nifty piece of hardware:   http://www.woodenboatstore.com/product/Rudder_Mounting_Hardware

It's a little on the pricey side, but I absolutely love it and would not go back to the more traditional arrangement of mounting the pintles on the rudder and trying to find the gudgeons to slip them into.

Jim

  Regarding a rope ladder for getting back into boat,  I made one of these, see link. havent had an opportunity to try it out yet since i am not yet done with my Dory, but it does store very small. I plan to loop it around the mast thwart and hang it there for use when needed. and it has 4 steps (I am 6' tall). It took about 15 minutes to do it all.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Rope-Ladder

David

When we used to sail larger boats and tow a dinghy, we put one of these on the dinghy.   I forgot to bring it with me on this trip, but once home I'll put it on the NE Dory

http://www.westmarine.com/buy/c-level--seasteps-one-step-webbing-ladder--500705

   Forgot to mention...they also have models with multiple "steps", not just one

Anytime I 've tried a rope ladder for actually reboarding, the ladder gets pushed under the boat and the boat tilts over me. Rope ladders work on docks and other large stable objects but not so well on boats. Basically it turned into the situation that Old Yeller describes above, where the boat was tilted over to the point that I could just swim back in.

If there's enough buoyancy in the boat that will keep the bailing manageable.

Laszlo

   I haven't tried this on the NE Dory but to re-enter a kayak there's a paddle float procedure you might try. Use an oar or possibly the tiller extension.

Jim

   I want to thank everybody that responded to this post originally.  I am glad that I am not alone in this issue.  After alot of thought I came up with a fix.  I fastened a piece of round stock to some srew eyes and mounted it across the boat just in back of the first seat.  One end is fixed, but the other can be undone easily and tored away after you are in the boat.  It gave me the balance point I needed.

   Hey Curt, sorry for the delay.

I mount rudder after away from the beach/ramp. Usually row away to clear the area for other boats.

The pintiles are different lengths, I mounted the long one at lower station. When mounting rudder I lie across the stern seat with my hand in the water on the lower guedgeon. Slip the point in just a bit they eyeball the upper connections. Takes a few seconds.

Really looking forward to this technique in November or March.

Interested in hearing about better cold weather techniques!

E

Thanks Eric....I see your method, and I agree, not looking forward to manuvering physically back there in cold water...plus removing the rudder means needing to store it in the boat along with the offset tiller and tiller extension...not easy.  I even  consdered making wood blocks to glue on the transom above the gudgeons with tapered slots so the pintle will slide directly into the gudgeon, but that's not perfect either,  so I'm leaning toward making my rudder into a kick up rudder....see other thread on this topic...looking for ideas on converting a fixed dory rudder to a kick up...dont want to start from scratch with the CLC kit because of all the work I did on the removable tiller..thanks!  Curt