Build Sheet Please

[Burns]

Hi Everyone,

Just bought my first OT canoe from a man in Lewiston. He said it was his grandfathers canoe, 1931, spent most of its life on a 1 acre pond in Westbrook (where I work currently), and I am looking to keep her floating for years to come. It has had a few ribs replaced but I plan to strip it, tear off of the canvas, oil her up, varnish her then re-canvas. I will start a thread so I can keep track/document everything (and ask lots of questions), but for now am just looking for the Build Sheet.

S/N: 103811 (I originally thought T103817 but the grain of the wood was playing tricks on my)

Thanks for the help!

 

[Benson Gray]

Welcome to the WCHA. The Old Town canoe with serial number 103811 is a 17 foot long, AA (or top) grade, HW (Heavy Water) model with red western cedar planking, open mahogany gunwales, a keel, and a floor rack. It was built between November, 1929 and May, 1930. The original exterior paint color was similar to the one shown at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/designs/design10.gif which was known as the design number 10. It shipped on May 8th, 1930 to Boston, Mass. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link at the attached thumbnail image below.

This scan and several hundred thousand more were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others. A description of the project to preserve these records is available at http://www.wcha.org/ot_records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/about-the-wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://store.wcha.org/WCHA-New-Membership.html to join.

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. The Old Town with number 103817 is a seven and a half foot long dinghy. Some of the tricks at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?791 may help with serial numbers that are hard to read. Another option is to just post some pictures of the numbers here. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions. Thanks,

Benson