13' 6" Old Town Runabout

JLCO John

New Member
I have just purchased a 13 1/2 foot Old Town Runabout from the Havre de Grace Maryland Maritime Museum. Serial number on the transom knee reads 13-6 which I assume is the boat length and then 160019. From the chart reviewed earlier it looks like 16000 series would be 1953. I then assume the 19 is the 19th built that year. Could someone provide additional information. The boat is natural- no paint on outer hull or bottom. Was there a stain used to darken the cedar or is the dark color ( sort of dark bear brown) a matter of age?
 
The Old Town build record for serial number 160019 shows a 13.5 foot long lapstrake outboard model boat in AA (or top) grade with a 48 inch bow deck, middle deck, a keel, outside stems, and a floor rack. It was built between April and May, 1953. The original exterior color was natural (clear varnish). It shipped on May 15th, 1953 to Port Kent, New York.

This scan and several hundred thousand others 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 boat. Old Town serial numbers were issued sequentially without regard to the model or year so this is not the 19th one built in 1953. Stain was typically not used on cedar at the factory and older cedar does get significantly darker with age in my experience. This boat was at the museum when I last visited there in September of 2007. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson
 

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Benson
Thank you for the valued information. I do and will have additional questions. I have built a number of boats including a Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff which I build lapstrack rather than strip planked. I was looking for a boat to restore and found the Old Town first on Antique Boats America and later on the Havre de Grace Maritime Museum website. I visited Bruce Russel of the museum and made the purchase.

questions:
1. what would be recommended HP ? what was max HP rating?
2. the seats appear to be a softer wood - pine? cedar?
3. the hull in natural- after sanding what was used to fill the screw holes?
4. I normally use Epifanes varnish- would this be used?
5. since there are a number of blemishes on the hull, I was considering sanding, fairing, priming, and top coating with a single part urethane- would this detract from the appearance, and reduce the value.\?

Thank you, again for your valued assistance.

Best regards,

John
 
The 1953 catalog page for your boat is attached below. More information like this is available from http://store.wcha.org/The-Complete-Old-Town-Canoe-Company-Catalog-Collection-CD-ROM.html in the Old Town Catalog collection. It is oddly inconsistent about the recommended horsepower range but had clearly been tested with a 25. The seats are probably spruce but mahogany and many other woods were used. Pine was only used rarely in a boat like this. I am not a restorer so there are many others here who can probably offer better advice about filling screw holes if you don't plan to use wooden plugs or varnish, as well as your other questions. My understanding is that Epifanes is a good varnish and that urethane is generally not recommended due to problems later. Please keep us posted on your progress,

Benson
 

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