Old Town Identification

After all of this information would any of you have a fair comment on what should be offered for this canoe in its current state.

In the quick 15 minutes I spent with the canoe, I would say most of the wood is in great shape and that it would not likely need any new ribs, decks, seats, gunwales. It did look like it would need a new keel/bilge keels.

The sponsons did look kind of rough where they attached to the canoe itself, (probably due to a poor "refinishing" job the last time around) as did the oar lock brackets.

It has been stored outside for the past 6-10 years. The first 5 years I heard it was wrapped in a tarp until someone realized cut it off 4-5 years ago.

Anyway, i'm very keen on obtaining this to go along with my Chestnut Prospector, Chestnut Bob's Special and Pop Moore Grand Laker... (I might need a boat house...)

It would be used at a lake side cabin, so I think the rowing capability would be a VERY cool addition to the collection.

Thanks for all your work guys. I LOVE the passion!

MITCH
 
Hi Mitch,

Some would call it a Passion, most us now admit it's a mental disorder.

Watch out or you might end up with a large collection of them.

Paul
 
Mitch,
I have found that it is better to let the seller determine what he wants for a canoe or boat and either negotiate from that amount, or if it is too high, simply say "no thanks". At a boat show last Saturday I saw a " for sale " sign on a restored old Town. Out of curiosity, I asked what the owner wanted. I was somewhat surprised when he said $6000. I thought it was probably worth considerably less than half that amount.
The canoe that you are looking at needs the interior stripped and varnished, new floor rack, likely 6 ribs replaced,likely 10' of planking,probably stem tips spliced,new canvas filling and painting, sponsons recanvassed filled and painted, new keels, and re-assembled.
Old Town canoes in NB are probably rare, but rarity doesn't always translate into value. I don't know what the canoe is worth in NB, but in NW Ohio or Southern Michigan ,$200- $400 is probably the range as a canoe. As a decorator, probably double that.
Gil
 
Question to throw out there. Would the fact that the canoe was fitted with "Design #37" potentially mean that the sponson's were not original?

I've done some google image searches on both the design #37 and the OT HW model, and I've never seen a sponson canoe with such a design.

I know the build records show "Design #37" being applied on a couple of its trips back into the factory, but since never seeing such a design on a sponson canoe, I guess it begs the question, were the sponson's original issue?

Thanks guys.

MITCH
 
Mitch --

The build record shows that the hull was canvassed on May 10, 1932. The sponsons were installed on May 11, 1932, the day after, and the canvas was filled on May 11. My understanding of the installation process is that sponsons were installed over the canvas with the filler on the hull still fresh, so the filler on the sponson’s canvas could be blended in. So the build record does reflect what I understand to be usual building practice for factory installation of sponsons, and suggests pretty clearly that the sponsons were original to the canoe. See -- http://www.oldtowncanoe.com/pdfs/Recanvas_a_Sponson_Canoe.pdf.

Something I earlier missed on the build record is that the canoe had the name “Its us” painted on it originally. If there is any indication of what happened to that name on the build record, it is in the illegible area of the card. Because the canoe presumably got a new canvas when refinished 10 years ago, there is probably no way to determine just what went on.

I imagine that the name was painted over when design 37 was done; I would guess that the long stripe of design 37 ran the length of the sponson, with the “Greek” square spiral painted on the hull proper, between the stem and the beginning of the sponson.

On the issue of pricing a sponson canoe, there are at least three advertised in the WCHA classified ads (I only went back a couple of pages): one posted today for an 18’ OT HW, one from 8/9/12 for a 17’ Kennebec, and one from 7/23/12 for an OT AA HW.

Greg
 
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As always, thanks so much!

Wouldn't it be great to see how "its us" looked on the original canoe. That would be a very cool story to bring back to the old girl.
 

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Soooo, five years later I'm going to own this canoe for $100.... Definitely worse for wear as its been outside and upside down on sawhorses since this post.

Question to the forum. If I wanted to bring this canoe back to original form from an old town authorized builder, who would I call in Maine?

I would love to have this canoe brought back to as close to original specs as a rowing canoe with sponsons.

Who us the #1 person in Maine to help me on this quest? This is not for a re-sale situation? I'd love an heirloom rower for our cottage.

Thanks so much.

Mitch
 
Mitch,
Interesting to read this old thread... it's an interesting canoe.
Your question about who the number one restorer in Maine is...boy, that's a tough call to make. There are several of the countries best builder/ restorers working in Maine and many shops that could do a perfect job of working on that boat.
You asked about an Old Town authorized builder...Island Falls Canoe is the shop that currently is contracted to build the Old Town wooden canoes.
http://www.islandfallscanoe.com/old-town-parts-and-materials.aspx
Jerry is known for his quality of workmanship and has authored/co-authored books that many of us use as guides. As an Old Town builder, he has the parts on hand to restore your boat.
Not far from Island Falls is Northwoods Canoe... Rollin once partnered with Jerry and is equally regarded for his skills, recognized for his contributions to the wood and canvas junkies "bible" The Wood & Canvas Canoe: A Complete Guide to its History, Construction, Restoration and Maintenance and for the outstanding canoes his shop produces and restores....
https://www.wooden-canoes.com/restorations/
Rollin also has what is required on hand and also works in cooperation with Island Falls.
Jerry and Rollin are a couple of the well known guys but there are far more builder/restorers in the state of Maine. Most of them could do a very good job of restoring your canoe. If you check the Builder and Suppliers Directory on the site you will find several other shops to consider. Old Town canoes are the bread and butter for many small shops...

As noted, it's an interesting thread to read...the boat looks like it made quite a few visits back to the factory and it also appears to have received a few custom tweaks along the way. I'm inclined to think that the seats are original. I also think that it may have been set up for rowing quite early on. The blocks appear to be a later repair of addition. The shop that restores the boat will have an opportunity to figure this out for once and for all.
 
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