The Book
$49.95 U.S.
for a personalized copy
Add shipping:
$6 via Media mail
$10 Priority Mail
$17 UPS
Send check or money order, along with shipping and inscription instructions to:
Roger Fletcher at the Rivers Touch
2353 East Ellendale
Dallas, OR 97338
Telephone inquiries: 503 559 0204 (10 - 5 PT)
The book is also available through bookstores and on line. This is the only place to obtain a signed copy.
Published by Stackpole Books, Inc, 9 x 12" hardcover, 284 pages, with boat building illustrations by Sam Manning. Sam's illustrations make drift boat building easily understood, and they bring the project to life.
The book chronicles the lives of the people behind the boats at each eddy of evolution. Detailed plans for 10 of the 13 boats Roger has recovered are in the book, including the stories of recovery, and the performance characteristics of each. The tome, coupled with Sam Manning's excellent building illustrations, is responsible in part for the resurgent interest in wood drift boats.
Sampling of Reviews
WoodenBoat, the magazine for wooden boat owners, builders and designers, (Issue197), pp 108 – 110, by senior editor Tom Jackson who concludes that this book“ will stand as the definitive statement on the subject. The author writes from the strength of a simple love for his subject. He leaves us wishing we could have been there to get in on the action. The book is a compelling invitation to join the camaraderie of the river…and …the only decision left is to commit and go.”
Boatman’s Quarterly Review, a periodical by and for Grand Canyon River guides, Fall 2007, by Brad Dimock, who reports that he and a friend “tried out the instructions in mid-July. A week later, at a cost of about $300 in construction grade material, we had a beautiful replica of Woodie Hindman’s original 16-foot Double Ender with Transom. We can vouch for the clarity and completeness of the methods and the drawings. With a few good tools, a pile of sticks from the lumberyard, and a healthy dollop of elbow grease, you too can have your own riverboat.”
Salmon – Trout – Steelheader a magazine for Northwest sports fishers by Amato Publications, October 2007. The review is by Jack W. Berryman who writes that the lines and stories of these “superb fishing boats” is recorded in “this magnificent one-of-a-kind collection. In all this a beautiful and well-researched book that has saved a slice of unique Northwest history for future generations of fishermen, river runners and craftsmen.”
California Fly Fisher, a magazine for west coast fly fishers, January-February 2008 issue with a review by Larry Kenney. He concludes by writing: “If the idea of a drift boat grabs you, if you want to know more about them, if you’re considering building one, or if you’re simply interested in the historical development of a uniquely Western craft whose ties to fly fishing are strong, Drift Boats and River Dories is a book you will want to read and own.”
Gray’s Sporting Journal, the national bi-monthly sportsman’s magazine, in the February – March 2008 issue, reviewer Chris Camuto writes: “Does anyone ever get between the oars of a drift boat – feel its cocky, shipshape, river-perfect design while plying those oars – and not fall in love with a craft so favored now by guides and sports east and west? I doubt it. Roger Fletcher has given us a book worthy of the boat… There are two books in one here: a superbly written and beautifully illustrated history of the evolution” of the boats “and a how to book on building the traditional drift boat. Fletcher’s purpose in this truly masterful book is as lyric as it is practical.”
Readers are saying . . .
"...A masterful piece of work. I just can't put it down."
"I'm building my third boat. . . I am bringing them back to life..."
"... The clarity of your accounts of the men and women of the McKenzie, Rogue and Colorado have each become a friend..."
"The book, the model and the boat - I can't take my eyes or my hands off of them..."
"Dear Roger, you annoy me. My husband has left me for the boat project -- and I have not seen him this enthused for years. . .Thank you, I think..."