Design
Caladesi Carolina Dory
Designed by Jeff Spira
A 20 ft (6.1 m) Carolina dory by Jeff Spira of Spira International, drawn to fill the gap between his 18 ft Carolina dory and the 24 ft Key Largo and named after a fishing island on Florida's Gulf coast. The Carolina dory is the planing descendant of the Grand Banks dory, with the bottom rocker straightened out for power. Spira describes the type as light, fast on modest power, economical on fuel, able to cope with rough water and still fish the shallows.
Spira marketed his boats as easy to build and said most finished examples were first builds. No build time was published; for a simple 20 ft plywood outboard boat, budget 400 to 700 hours. Measured medians from build logs appear below.
What building a Caladesi Carolina Dory actually takes
Medians from the build logs kept on this site, not the designer’s estimate.
Those medians firm up as more people log this boat.
Where the time goes
Hours summed per builder, then the median taken across builders, so someone who logs a step in fourteen short entries doesn’t outweigh someone who logged it in one. Example logs are excluded.
| Step | Median hours | Median spend | Builders |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planning & Research | 6.0 | n/a | 1 |
Builds of this boat
Boats like this one
Same type, closest in length.
| Design | Plans from | LOA | Logs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jersey Girl | Jim Norman | 20′ 0″ (6.1 m) | 1 |
| 20 ft Cat Joy or Tug Yacht | Benford Design Group | 20′ 0″ (6.1 m) | 0 |
| 20 ft False Creek Ferry or Friday Harbor Ferry | Benford Design Group | 20′ 0″ (6.1 m) | 0 |
| 20 ft Supply Boat Båten or Lake Union Cruiser | Benford Design Group | 20′ 0″ (6.1 m) | 0 |
| 20 ft V Hull 559 | Response Marine | 20′ 0″ (6.1 m) | 0 |
| Banjo 20 Outboard | Devlin | 20′ 0″ (6.1 m) | 0 |