Dorjun Sailing at the 2012 WBF

Dorjun

1905 Beebe-McClellan Surfboat Conversion

Explorer Amos Burg converted this 26 foot rowing rescue craft for use in his 1933-34 National Geographic-sponsored expedition to Cape Horn ("Inside Cape Horn", National Geographic 1937: 743-784. By Amos Burg) with crewmember Roy Pepper. Lovingly restored in the 1990s by Bruce Garman, Ed Louchard, and Steve Chapin of Point Hudson Shipwrights, she has been residing with Port Townsend's Wooden Boat Foundation and has been a favorite choice of young people for their youth sail training programs. Dorjun is now under the capable guidance of Emilia Ramsey. Follow along with Dorjun's latest restoration and care below.

Dorjun is setting sail for new adventures!

When Emilia Ramsey first met Dorjun as a new student in the Northwest Maritime Center's programs, neither of them knew that seven years later, they'd be embarking together on a new grand adventure. With remarkable determination, Emilia has been a regular fixture in the Northwest Maritime Center Boatshop over the past year working with a devoted community of mentors and student volunteers to bring the boat back to adventuring condition. Follow along on Emilia and Dorjun's latest adventures!

Dorjun Timeline

1905   Built for US Life-Saving Service (later the US Coast Guard) as a Surf Rescue Boat. Served at Coos Bay, Oregon, until 1931

1932   Amos Burg buys at auction for $40 and rebuilds, naming her Dorjun (after sponsors Dorette and Junior Fleischmann)

1933   Amos Burg and Roy Pepper's Cape Horn Expedition for National Geographic, a perilous and epic voyage of cultural and historical significance

1936   Burg and Pepper voyage to Alaska, also for National Geographic

1937   Burg's Cape Horn expedition published in National Geographic.

1948   Vanport flood in Portland, Oregon, damages Dorjun

1950   Burg and Andrew Yunker rescue Dorjun from mudflat. Carefully stored at Yunker home for almost 40 years.

1988   Bruce Garman buys Dorjun for $1 from Yunker (his father-in-law) and begins extensive rebuild and restoration with shipwrights Steve Chapin and Ed Louchard of Point Hudson Boatyard.

1992   Restoration completed; Dorjun re-launched, a highlight of the Wooden Boat Festival; re-christening by Burgs widow Carolyn.

1996   Bruce Garman donates Dorjun to the Wooden Boat Foundation/Northwest Maritime Center.

2007   Historic Vessel Sustainability Endowment Fund at the Wooden Boat Foundation is established, seeded with a $10,000 donation from Bruce and Virginia Garman to ensure annual maintenance for historic vessels Dorjun and Martha J. Dorjun continued to serve as a training boat has been a favorite of sailing students in the Northwest Maritime Centers education programs.

2023   One of those former students, Emilia Ramsey, has now assumed command of Dorjun and guides her on restoration and future adventures.

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Links and More Information About Amos Burg and the Dorjun