Old Town Scooner

Did Old Town make a two masted canoe? The canoe is listed on Craigs list.

http://spokane.craigslist.org/boa/927187283.html

Daniel Day said:

Did Old Town make a two masted canoe?

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Yes, as shown at http://forums.wcha.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=1665&d=1151334414 with a 45 and a 55 square foot sail from a late 1940s catalog and at http://forums.wcha.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=1066&d=1136757320 from some earlier company notes. The ones attached below are from the catalogs in the 1960s and a partially restored one. The one you listed may have the rear seat mounted backwards though. Is anyone headed from Idaho to Maine who could help transport this one?

Benson

Thanks Benson,
It would be sitting in my garage right now, but I just don't have the money.

Technically it's a ketch, not a schooner, but I still want one. That photo of the twin-rigged Otca on the left is probably my all-time favorite canoe sailing picture and always has been.

Hey Guys,

I could conceivably pick it up in ID and bring it to assembly next year. That is kind of a ways off, but anything for the brethren!

Mark

"Schooner" listed in Idaho

Update regarding the "Schooner"

I have been seriously considering buying the double masted canoe listed on Craigslist up in Idaho and have been doing a little research before driving 1,900 miles round trip to get it.

I spoke with a CA wooden boat restorer yesterday. That fellow did the restoration on that particular canoe. Apparently he prefers fiberglass over canvas on old wooden canoes. His own sailing canoe, which is pictured on his web site, was restored that way - with clear fiberglass on the exterior. It has won some awards.

According to the restorer, the boat listed in Idaho has a similar glass treatment under the exterior paint. I'm not sure if I want to proceed with the purchase since my initial attraction was to buy my first w/c canoe. Hadn't even considered a sailing canoe before, but the boat pictured in the ad looked really good to me. Price seemed reasonable, and it is not as far away as the east coast. I do have some bay and offshore sailing experience, but I have never sailed in a canoe. Sounds & looks interesting.

Anyway, I've requested a photo of the serial number and hope to learn more about the canoe from the build record. The boat builder mentioned above seemed to think that the boat predates 1953.

Best regards to all members - especially the many people who have freely shared with me a wealth of information about the canoes.

Rick Fehr
San Francisco area

Bummer

For years, I subscribed to "The Old House Journal", which uses the term "remuddling" for home-remodeling jobs that violate the history and character of the house. It would be nice to come up with a similar term for the canoes that aren't, in fact, "restored"... which have, perhaps, been made usable again but which face all the potential problems involved with fiberglass... something catchier than "glassed".

I take issue with the term "restoration" if the canoe is not, in fact, put back to a reasonable semblance of its original condition. Using fiberglass, to my mind, would not be a "restoration" even if it didn't have the potential of creating problems.

A sponson canoe is heavier than one without sponsons, and when fiberglass is added... well, it probably wouldn't be a canoe your car could wear like a hat.

Kathy

Hello All,
Since I could not afford to get it, I posted the link for anyone else to view. I did not ask if it was canvas or glass.
Rick, I am glad you did some footwork to find out the details. That is what it is all about.
To everyone, I do know how to spell "schooner". I would have edited it but, I can not edit a title, only the message box.
Happy Holidays.

Hi Daniel-- Thanks for pointing out this interesting canoe. Your posting on this canoe has lead to discussion and learning. The assumption, when reading the ad, is that it's wood and canvas-- and finding out that it was "restored" with fiberglass is somewhat of a shock... but this doesn't detract from what was learned about this particular type of canoe... it just means some who might otherwise have been interested in buying it will steer clear. In fact, without your drawing attention to the canoe, none here would have learned it was fiberglassed! Thanks go to you as well as to Rick!

Nobody should ever feel they shouldn't have drawn the attention of the group to a particular canoe. The discussions are often quite valuable.

Kathy

All other issues aside, there is no reason that a well done fiberglassing job should weigh any more than a canvasing job. In fact, it will probably weigh slightly less. The trick, of course, is that it's neither an easy project or one for a glassing beginner. The good news for the restoration crowd is that the average wooden canoe glassing job is lousy - which makes it a lot easier to remove.

Hoping it's not Epoxy-glassed.
Still;is a canoe,and a sailing one at that.
I also take issue with the term;"Restored".
Made functional would(not wood) apply.
John

Schooner

Daniel:

Please don't take offense. I quoted your schooner in another thread so folks would know which canoe I was referring to, not to point out the spelling error.

Thanks for bringing this interesting canoe to our collective attention.

I'm still a bit fuzzy on how to drive one though .

Fitz

PS: fixed.

Fitz said:

I'm still a bit fuzzy on how to drive one though

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I will have one at the Maine Canoe Symposium as described at http://www.mainecanoesymposium.org/ and the WCHA Assembly this year if you want to see one in use, go for a ride, or take it out yourself. Let me know if you would like to arrange another time. This might even be a good excuse for another Norumbega or Northeast chapter event if you want to suggest a good site.

Benson

Benson:
Don't foget to bring the wind.

I guess you will get some scooner or later:

Brad Chamberlin