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When she was originally built in 1915, Dorian was a pinnace a 43 ft harbour launch with a Gardiner or Kelvin engine. And Mr Findlay bought her in 1937 from the admiralty. He lengthened and converted her to a cruising yacht for charter but when war started she was commandeered once more by the admiralty for the duration. The navy took her to Dunkirk and she spent the rest of the war at anchor in Chichester harbour.

After the war she had a single Scripps v8 petrol engine fitted (a conversion of the ford v8 engine), a type used for landing craft. The Findlay's felt safer with a second engine and both were converted to run on paraffin. Despite her 2 masts, the Dorian was never much of a sailing boat, but she was a handsome cruiser and towed a 9ft mahogany tender which could also be hoisted on to the stern cabin. Her old brass binnacle and oil navigation lamps still exist, although her compass had a massive 14-degree deviation and was therefore replaced after the war with a 30-shilling government surplus one. For many years the Dorian cruised extensively from the Thames as Far East as great Yarmouth in Norfolk and south through the Solent to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight. She frequently crossed to France and spent holidays on the French canals.

The Findlay's then had her on the Thames and lived on Dorian at Benson in Oxfordshire. They visited oxford with their infant son lashed into his playpen on the deck.

In the 1960's she was sold to Ted Cattle, an electrical contractor who reorganised her electrical system, recovered her decks and continued her modernisation. When he died, Dorian was next seen at Ash Island on the Thames. Lord Soper, the Methodist minister and president of the Methodist conference, once used her for a religious revival campaign based on the Dunkirk spirit, which was reported in the Sunday times. She carried a large banner lashed to her guardrails saying Jesus saves. Now Dorian's cruising days are over her engines, which seized up many years ago, have been removed and she has been retired to become a house boat, still with a brave face and a fresh coat of paint, but no longer likely to go to sea and leave a bright foaming wake crossing the channel.

From time to time the sons of previous owners see her lying on the Thames and are inspired to consider the idea of restoring her to her former state. Then the cost causes them to think again. But those who love boats are seldom motivated by mathematics; it is an affair of the heart, which sometimes makes us do foolish things. Since this article was written Dorian has also been damaged by fire as can clearly be seen in the gallery but as the previous statement said, her restoration has now become an affair of the heart.