We just bought an old 16 ft cedar and canvas canoe and would like to know a bit about it. We were told by the previous owner that he thinks it is a Kannebec but the serial number doesn't seem to match other Kennebec numbers. We would be very interested in finding out how old it is and any other information. It paddles beutifully and we are really enjoying it so we wouldn't sell it but we'd be inerested in how much you think it's worth too. The serial number is either 080801 91 or it's 16 108080 depending on which way you look at it. Thanks in advance for the help.
Old canvas canoe
- Thread starter Adam
- Start date
Kathryn Klos
squirrel whisperer
Old Town?
Hello Adam,
There is a 16 foot Old Town canoe with the serial number 108080-- but please compare the details of the build record with your canoe to be certain they match. If they don't, we may be able to figure out what you have. It helps to see a picture.
Old Town 108080 is a 16 foot CS grade ("common sense", or not with mahogany trim) HW model ("heavy water", or a boat built for lake paddling), built between November of 1930 and March of 1931. It has Western red cedar planking and open spruce gunwales. The decks, seats, and thwarts are oak. It has a keel and outside stems and was painted light green before shipment to William H. Hoeger Co. in Los Angeles, CA. I don't see an exact shipping date, but assume 1931.
Look at your boat for details such as oak trim, open wales (can you see little slots on the edge of the canoe, formed by the ribs with trim on either side?), outside stems (a strip of hardwood on the outside ends of the canoe-- may be painted-over or covered with canvas or fiberglass after all these years). If you can post a picture, we can say, "yup" or "nope".
Pictures can be easily uploaded by scrolling down to the "manage attachments" box below this one. Clicking on that will give you a browse bar so you can find a picture in your computer. You might also check the canoe identification webside here:
http://dragonflycanoe.com/id/index.html
Scroll to Old Town on the left, and see if the deck in the picture looks like the deck on your canoe.
I'll attach the scan of this canoe's build record below. Scans of approximately 210,000 records were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others. Additional information about the project to preserve these records is available at http://www.wcha.org/ot_records/ if you want more details.
Please join WCHA or make a tax deductible contribution so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA, http://www.wcha.org/wcha_video.php to watch a 10 minute video about WCHA and our programs and http://www.wcha.org/join.php to join. If you are already a WCHA member, THANK YOU!
Hello Adam,
There is a 16 foot Old Town canoe with the serial number 108080-- but please compare the details of the build record with your canoe to be certain they match. If they don't, we may be able to figure out what you have. It helps to see a picture.
Old Town 108080 is a 16 foot CS grade ("common sense", or not with mahogany trim) HW model ("heavy water", or a boat built for lake paddling), built between November of 1930 and March of 1931. It has Western red cedar planking and open spruce gunwales. The decks, seats, and thwarts are oak. It has a keel and outside stems and was painted light green before shipment to William H. Hoeger Co. in Los Angeles, CA. I don't see an exact shipping date, but assume 1931.
Look at your boat for details such as oak trim, open wales (can you see little slots on the edge of the canoe, formed by the ribs with trim on either side?), outside stems (a strip of hardwood on the outside ends of the canoe-- may be painted-over or covered with canvas or fiberglass after all these years). If you can post a picture, we can say, "yup" or "nope".
Pictures can be easily uploaded by scrolling down to the "manage attachments" box below this one. Clicking on that will give you a browse bar so you can find a picture in your computer. You might also check the canoe identification webside here:
http://dragonflycanoe.com/id/index.html
Scroll to Old Town on the left, and see if the deck in the picture looks like the deck on your canoe.
I'll attach the scan of this canoe's build record below. Scans of approximately 210,000 records were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others. Additional information about the project to preserve these records is available at http://www.wcha.org/ot_records/ if you want more details.
Please join WCHA or make a tax deductible contribution so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA, http://www.wcha.org/wcha_video.php to watch a 10 minute video about WCHA and our programs and http://www.wcha.org/join.php to join. If you are already a WCHA member, THANK YOU!
Attachments
Hi guys, Jeff (previous owner) here.
I had found the serial # quite hard to make out, but I think one or more of those 8s might be a 9 or a 3. I wrote it down but then I put it somewhere safe...!
I sent in the number (as I was able to read it) to this site, back in '02 or '03. Benson (I think) wrote back with the Kennebec build record and catalogue page. The catalogue illustration and description were a good match for the 1931 Kennebec Kineo, which is also what the serial number indicated.
If the archives have the posts from that far back, we may find the info we're looking for. I may have posted as "Jeff".
Hope this helps.
I had found the serial # quite hard to make out, but I think one or more of those 8s might be a 9 or a 3. I wrote it down but then I put it somewhere safe...!
I sent in the number (as I was able to read it) to this site, back in '02 or '03. Benson (I think) wrote back with the Kennebec build record and catalogue page. The catalogue illustration and description were a good match for the 1931 Kennebec Kineo, which is also what the serial number indicated.
If the archives have the posts from that far back, we may find the info we're looking for. I may have posted as "Jeff".
Hope this helps.
Kathryn Klos
squirrel whisperer
Not sure how to get that far back in the archives... maybe someone else here does.
It would help if we knew what the canoe looks like. Does it have a heart-shaped deck?
I'll attach a picture from the 1931 Kennebec catalog...
Image courtesy of The Historic Wood Canoe and Boat Catalog Collection, version 2, edited by Dan Miller and Benson Gray, published by Dragonfly Canoe Works and available at www.dragonflycanoe.com.
It would help if we knew what the canoe looks like. Does it have a heart-shaped deck?
I'll attach a picture from the 1931 Kennebec catalog...
Image courtesy of The Historic Wood Canoe and Boat Catalog Collection, version 2, edited by Dan Miller and Benson Gray, published by Dragonfly Canoe Works and available at www.dragonflycanoe.com.
Attachments
So, yes, heart-shaped decks, and the dimensions correspond to the catalogue description. I believe the decks are original, and the foredeck has a faded oval where the ID plate once was.
It's interesting that whether it is a Kennebec or an OT, the serial numbers correspond to a 1931 boat.
Does the 1931 Old Town with Adam's reading of the serial number have similar dimensions, or is there a difference there that might be a good clue? The canoe is quite narrow, about 30" at the beam. It has the high ends I associate with Kennebec, but maybe the OT has that too.
It's interesting that whether it is a Kennebec or an OT, the serial numbers correspond to a 1931 boat.
Does the 1931 Old Town with Adam's reading of the serial number have similar dimensions, or is there a difference there that might be a good clue? The canoe is quite narrow, about 30" at the beam. It has the high ends I associate with Kennebec, but maybe the OT has that too.
Kathryn Klos
squirrel whisperer
While there are some Old Town models with higher ends, Old Towns don't have heart-shaped decks... and if Benson already looked up the record and told you it was a Kineo, I'd hang my hat on that. Benson may remember the boat.
Sometimes serial numbers will look clearer if a picture is taken with a digital camera.
Sometimes serial numbers will look clearer if a picture is taken with a digital camera.
