87236-17 Old Town Octa?

[Andrew]

Hi All,

I just bought what I suspect is an Old Town Octa with serial # 87236-17.

This canoe was originally found abandoned in a New Jersey canal and eventually landed in the hands of a man named Hap who restored it in 1982. After Hap passed in 1999 at the age of 98, his son Biff received the canoe and eventually worked on restoring it as well. Unfortunately, Biff passed away before finishing it and it was purchased and hung in a barn by the couple that I bought it from. It has been hanging in the barn for over 10 years. I've attached some pictures.

 

[Benson Gray]

Congratulations, the Old Town canoe with serial number 87236 is a 17 foot long, AA (or top) grade, Otca model with red Western cedar planking, open mahogany gunwales, mahogany decks, mahogany thwarts, mahogany seats, a keel, outside stems, and floor rack. It was built between February, 1925 and January, 1926. The original exterior paint design was similar to the one shown at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/designs/design29.gif which was know as the design number 29. It shipped on February, 15th, 1926 to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The back side of the record indicates that there was a previous request for this information in November, 1982 from Blawenburg in Montgomery, New Jersey. Scans showing both sides of this build record are shown below.

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

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match the canoe. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson