Battered, bruised, and looking downright pitiful, Wesley had seen better days. By 2015, near the end of Wesley’s storied career at AzRA (Arizona Raft Adventures), this once-gleaming white-and-blue aluminum dory, standing 18 feet long and 6 feet wide, looked less like a sleek river vessel and more like a crumpled soda can after a rough night out.
The Early Years: The First Aluminum Dory at AzRA
Back in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, AzRA had a fleet of hand-painted wooden dories— gorgeous, no doubt—but about as durable as a papier-mâché piñata in a hailstorm. Rocks showed no mercy, and one by one, the dories met their dramatic ends. After enough heartbreak (and busted boats), AzRA pulled the plug on dories altogether, deciding they just weren’t worth the investment.
Rocks showed no mercy, and after enough heartbreak (and busted boats), AzRA pulled the plug on dories altogether. However, in 2010, they decided to give dories another shot, introducing Wesley—the first in a fleet of aluminum dories.
Built in Grants Pass, OR Wesley was a custom order from AzRA, based on the Briggs dory design. In many ways, Wesley was a “training dory,” an experiment to see how a dory would perform alongside rubber rafts. Unlike the other aluminum dories that followed, Wesley was the only one given a name, quickly earning a reputation for adventure. Many AzRA guides fondly remember rowing Wesley and the unforgettable journeys they had.
By 2013, Kevin Fedarko’s bestselling book The Emerald Mile reignited public fascination with dories. Wesley, leading the way, helped AzRA meet the growing demand, paving the way for a fleet of new aluminum dories for Grand Canyon river rafting on our Classic Adventures.
A Rough Ride: Wesley’s Legendary Rapids and Repairs
No boat, aluminum or not, gets an easy pass on the Colorado River. On its first trips, Wesley took a beating, proving that resilience only gets you so far when the rapids have other plans.
Then came the haunting.
The moment AzRA announced Wesley’s name, longtime guide Kevin Johnson protested:
“WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING OF NAMING IT WESLEY? THE ONLY THING WESLEY HATED MORE THAN DORIES WAS DORY BOATMEN! HE’S GONNA COME BACK AND HAUNT THAT THING!”
He wasn’t wrong. Fellow guide Brad Dimock later confirmed:
“Wesley haunted that dory. I don’t think it ever had a clean run. Even when rowed by experienced guides! It went left at Bedrock at least once and flipped in the Lava hole twice! I had to hammer out the gunwales in my driveway after one of its many, many mishaps. I even crashed it rowing out of Havasu!”
There was the time Wesley almost sank after a rough run at Lava Falls rapid, and the numerous times it had to be repaired. Wesley spent countless hours in welding shops in Flagstaff and Moab, sometimes missing trips entirely. But somehow, it always returned—beaten, battered, but still floating.
Who Was Wesley? The Guide Behind the Name
Wesley Smith (1946–2000) was a legendary AzRA guide. Beloved by both passengers and fellow guides, he had an uncanny ability to make everyone feel welcome—even the most difficult guests, whom he could somehow charm and transform with his warmth and humor. But while his patience for people was endless, his tolerance for dories was not. To Wesley, dories were high-maintenance divas—constantly sinking, smashing into rocks, demanding endless repairs, and stealing attention from the rafts, the true workhorses of the canyon. He had watched AzRA’s first round of dories come and go, and let’s just say, he wasn’t sad to see them go. If any boat was bound to have a rough ride in his name, it was this one.
Wesley’s Recent Return to the Canyon: At VERY Low Water
Last fall (2024), I was invited on a private 18-day Grand Canyon rafting trip in October, and there was some concern about the extremely low water levels—ranging from just 4,000 CFS to 9,000 CFS. What made this even more worrisome was that one of the boats on our trip would be the Wesley, now being rowed by its latest owner. An AzRA trip running parallel to ours had already decided to leave their dory behind as a precaution, and one of our own very experienced rowers had opted against bringing his wooden dory altogether. When I voiced my concerns to AzRA management, questioning whether Wesley was even seaworthy at this point based on my last time seeing the boat, the response was classic:
“Don’t worry—like its namesake, Wesley has hit every rock in the river. It’ll probably make it down just fine.”
When I met Josh Hallenbeck, Wesley’s new owner, and seeing Wesley again after four years retired from AzRA at the Lees Ferry put-in for the private trip, it was clear Josh had poured countless hours of care and effort into restoring Wesley. Though the boat still bore a few battle scars and dents—a testament to its storied past—it also gleamed with a fresh coat of paint, crisp wooden gunwales, and tight, sprightly hatches. Wesley was clearly Josh’s pride and joy, and he spoke about it with the kind of affection usually reserved for an old friend. He had rowed Wesley not just through the Grand Canyon but on numerous other rivers as well, proving that despite its rough history, the dory still had plenty of adventure left in it.
Wesley and Josh navigated the very low water of that Grand Canyon private Oct/Nov 2024 trip successfully and cleanly! Maybe guide Wesley had quit haunting the dory once it left AzRA?
Wesley’s New Chapter: Josh Hallenbeck and the Grand Canyon
By 2019, Wesley had left AzRA and was sitting, half-full of water, in a Washington backyard. Enter Josh Hallenbeck, who made a whirlwind two-day drive to pick it up.
“Wesley and I first met in December 2019 after a whirlwind drive to Washington. Sitting half-filled with water, every dent as deep as advertised, it wasn’t pristine—but it was solid.”
Wesley needed love—a new bilge pump, hatch seals, and serious TLC. Then COVID hit, canceling Josh’s planned Grand Canyon river rafting trip. Instead, he spent the downtime fixing up the boat, finally launching it on Ruby Horsethief and Westwater in late 2020.
“Wesley rode the river like a rollercoaster, but its quirks quickly surfaced. Rocks weren’t just obstacles—they were real threats. That lesson hit hard—literally—on Skull Rapid. I botched my line, missed the eddy, and Wesley slammed into the right-side wall. The gunnel crumpled, and we squeezed through the ‘birthing canal,’ snapping an oar for good measure. Wesley was bruised but still floating.” Watch the carnage here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfS3VM1C-wo
By November 2020, Josh finally secured another Grand Canyon river trip—his first time rowing Wesley there. It handled the Colorado River dories’ challenges like a champ, even when he took a questionable line through Hance Rapid and went sideways through the Land of Giants.
“Since then, Wesley has been my go-to big-water boat—five Grand Canyon trips (out of my nine), plus runs on the Yampa River, Desolation Canyon, and Gates of Lodore. Whenever I pass an AzRA trip, there’s a good chance a guide will shout ‘Wesley!!!’ and share a story. It’s incredible how many people have rowed this boat, and I’m honored to be its current steward.”
The Future of Wesley: An Iconic Dory’s Next Adventure
One day, Josh plans to strip it down, repaint it, and add some upgrades—but for now, he embraces Wesley in all its beat-up, tin-can glory.
“Wesley was a ‘training dory’ for AzRA, and it’s been one for me too. I’ve never rowed another dory, but I don’t need to—Wesley has been a teacher, a challenge, and one hell of an adventure.”
Much like its namesake, Wesley Smith.
Have You Ridden in or Rowed a Dory Through the Grand Canyon?
If you’ve ever navigated the rapids in a dory, we’d love to hear your stories! Share your experiences in the comments below!
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Post by Sharon Hester