1973 Old Town Featherweight 15'

[AndyLee]

I'm looking for a wood canvas canoe about this length that I can rig to solo for wilderness tripping. Does anyone have the specifications on this model, such as shear, weight, beam, etc., and do you think it would be a good solo tripper for lakes and rivers? Are there other similar 15' canoes I should be looking at as well?

If you would prefer you can reach me off-list at andylee@ntelos.net, or call me at 540-784-0016.

Thank you,
Andy Lee
Buena Vista, Virginia

 

[Benson Gray]

You can find most of the specifications you seek at http://www.oldtowncanoe.com/canoes_wood.php on the Old Town Canoe site. This form is now being used to build the Trapper 15 model. The Featherweight simply used Dacron in place of canvas and they may be willing to make you a new one today as a custom order. More information is also available at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/dimens-1.gif and http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/hull-x-s.gif when this form was being used to make the 50 Lb. model.

Benson

 

[AndyLee]

Thank you

Thanks for the quick response and the links. There's also a nice description of the 50-pounder on Page 142 of the OT book. Do you know how much weight difference between Dacron and light weight canvas? The canoe that I'm looking at needs to be re-canvased.

Thank you,
Andy Lee
Buena Vista, Virginia

 

[Benson Gray]

The Old Town Canoe Company catalogs between 1966 and 1974 listed the weight of the 15 foot Featherweight model canoe covered with dacron as 46 pounds while the identical lightweight model with a light canvas covering was 58 pounds. Old Town Canoe company catalog reproductions are available from http://merchandise.wcha.org/ and http://www.dragonflycanoe.com/cdrom.htm if you want to research this topic further. There is also a forum discussion at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?t=704 which offers some other ideas on this topic.

Benson