Drift Boats

McKenzie Drift Boat are specialized to run rapids on rivers, and first appeared on the McKenzie River in Oregon in the mid-20th century. They have a wide flat bottom for low draft, a narrow bow that is flat, often mistaken for the transom, which instead is pointed.

The reason for this is that the rower faces downstream, therefore the part of the boat which first hits the waves must be pointed or very narrow to throw the water to the side. The bow is then widened so that a small outboard motor and/or anchor bracket can be attached. Those unfamiliar with the Drift Boat would say that they are rowed backwards.

Unlike the McKenzie boats, the Rogue River drift boats are completely flat on the bottom with upward rakes under the prow and the stern. The McKenzie Drift Boat have a continuous rocker.

The Rogue River guides needed a boat with greater carrying capacity, and the ability to hold the current. They don't pivot like McKenzies but they require less effort for rowing. The classic Rogue River dory ( drift boat ) with a nearly full deck, is a favorite among guides on the Colorado River. The high prow, great carrying capacity, ease of rowing makes it the preferred dory.

River dories are mainly used by fishermen who wish for more control of their boat than that which a rubber raft provides. They are reasonably safe, yet river conditions must be kept in mind at all times.

Western novelist Zane Grey owned a fishing camp at Winkle Bar on the Rogue River. His cabins have been preserved, and one of the boats he used is displayed on the property. These boats were the forerunners of the modern-day drift boat.

The history of the McKenzie style drift boat is interwoven with the rich historical fabric of the rough, whitewater rivers in southern Oregon; the McKenzie and Rogue. The history of these river dories is largely oral, but can be traced back to the Banks Dories used by the North Atlantic cod fishermen.

The Banks Drift Boat design was brought to Oregon by the men who came west to carve a living from the rugged Oregon wilderness. With many rivers and the Pacific Ocean at their doorstep, their minds naturally turned towards fishing from the stable Banks Dories they used in New England.

There are many stories about the old double enders and the tombstone- transom drift boats that the old-timers rowed out through the breakers to the salmon runs.

Navigation of the shallow and treacherous whitewater rivers that cut through the Cascade and Coast ranges were especially perilous. Many a life was lost as the roaring whitewater slammed the frail craft into a protruding rock or capsized the boat. Over the years, West Coast drift boats were redesigned and modified from boats with deep, full displacement hulls to boats with wide, flat bottoms for shallow displacement on rocky whitewater rivers.

The rocker was increased along with the side flare, while the high sides and extreme forward sheer were maintained. The early, turn of the century river dories were built entirely of cedar planking. They had a wider, more squared off stern, but with much less freeboard than today's drift boat.

The true drift boat design was the result of two Eugene area boat builders; Woody Hindman and Tom Kaarhus during the 1930's. These two were prolific boat builders for many years.