The dory, a symbol of 19th-century French cod ports, has its roots in America and is an important part of our nautical heritage.
The Eldorado of the Newfoundland Banks
For centuries, cod fishing has been an essential pillar of the maritime economy of Europe's coastal countries. As soon as Basque, Breton and Norman sailors set sail for the rich banks of Newfoundland, the French coast was buzzing with activity, with dozens of ports dedicated to the cod industry, including Dunkirk, Fécamp, Granville, Cancale, Saint-Malo, Dahouet and Binic.
Before the advent of steam trawlers, which began to appear around 1900, sailing boats were the only fishing boats in the world. At that time, dories had provided a welcome innovation, replacing longline fishing from a rowboat with the use of 3 km long bottom lines, with hooks spaced 1.5 meters apart. This made cod fishing more efficient. As early as 1870, Saint-Pierre's shipowners, Terre-neuviers from Normandy and Saint-Malo, were already using these boats. Modest but sturdy, they were the faithful companions of these courageous sailors, accompanying them on their distant fishing campaigns for several months at a time, when the threat of death was constant in these cold, dangerous seas. Sailors regularly faced illness, injury, shipwreck and loss in the fog. A sail from France to the banks of Newfoundland took an average of 20 days in calm seas, and up to 50 days in violent storms.
A revolution in cod fishing
Despite the harshness of these trials, the sailors would set sail again for Newfoundland every February, returning only at the end of the summer. An act that raises a few questions, and prompts us to wonder what motivated them to act in this way? Yves Roussel, member of the Association Doris Emeraude Rance (ADER), answers: " They had everything to gain with dories. Indeed, for the French, the idea of switching to dories was seen as advantageous, as the Americans had already been using this type of craft to good effect for a long time." He continues: "Until then, the French had used heavy longboats carrying 5 or 6 sailors, while the Americans' longboats were much lighter, carrying only 2 sailors. The French thought it was a good idea."
Whereas in the past, only two longboats were taken on board each mortuary boat, dories could now be taken on board schooners at a rate of a dozen, thanks to their ease of stacking.
This increased capacity has considerably boosted the boats' productivity, as Yves points out: " As cod used to be fished with longlines, you obviously have much more capacity to spread them out with as many dories as with a limited number of longboats. So, firstly, fishing efficiency is much improved ". From a safety point of view, the dories were also a major asset. If a boat was lost at sea, only two sailors were involved," he explains which is, of course, regrettable" as Yves points out, " but the loss of a longboat would have had more serious human consequences, with 6 to 8 men on board. Fishing was compromised, as was the safety of the carrier ship: with all these sailors gone, we could no longer ensure safety in bad weather on board" .
Last but not least, Yves insists on the economic aspect. Here again, the integration of dories was beneficial, as it enabled shipyards to smooth out their activity. Around 1870, the Bureau Veritas required dory builders to use dories for only two seasons, which represented a challenge for the shipyards on the banks of the Rance, which had to build 200 of these boats every year. This constraint stimulated the ingenuity and know-how of local craftsmen, contributing to the vitality and nautical renown of the region.
Must be replaced every 2 years
Once widely used, the dory was intended for just 2 or 3 campaigns on the Newfoundland banks, before being resold at low cost to crew members. They were then used to lay ropes, trammel nets and traps, and to transport seaweed along the French coast. In 1914, Saint-Malo was still fitting out 146 three-masted schooners for the Newfoundland banks, and in the 1950s, fishermen continued to use them in the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel.
