Any interest in creating a data base to help date Penn Yan canoes?

[Howie]

At the moment I own two Penn Yan canoes and have owned two others in the past. I've had little luck in accurately dating these canoes as I understand Penn Yan records were lost years ago. But I'm wondering if WCHA members collectively have enough information to allow us to piece together a mostly accurate serial # / dating system. Perhaps there are members who have Penn Yan canoes that they purchased new themselves and can provide serial #s and accurate purchase dates. And I'm sure there are many more who inherited canoes from family or friends where the canoe can be dated more or less accurately by all sorts of different methods; such as by remembering when they were first seen, or by looking at pictures, etc.

If we get enough serial #s and dates we should be able to piece together an accurate picture - as long as Penn Yan's numbering system was incremental.

I'll volunteer to collect the data and will make it available to anyone who's interested. So if you have info to share please email me with: canoe model/name; serial #, length, and date (indicate whether the date is known or estimated). It'd also be interesting to include some canoe history, like where the canoe was bought, where used, etc.

hjehan@rochester.rr.com

 

[Benson Gray]

I've never owned a Penn Yan but am willing to help in any other way that I can. We all benefit when someone 'adopts' a manufacturer like this. There was an effort in the early 1990s to create a database of the WCHA members' canoes and I have sent you a copy of the 17 Penn Yan canoes listed there to get you started. The Wooden Canoe Journal issue number 42, page 14 has more information about that database. Dan Miller and I took on Kennebec many years ago in a similar way but would be happy to pass it on if anyone else is interested. Thanks,

Benson

 

[mccloud]

A couple months back I talked with Ed Wightman at the Finger Lakes Boating Museum -- which is not yet open. The group has been given what was formerly the Taylor Winery property near Hammondsport, south end of Keuka Lake, and are working hard to convert a portion of it into a boat museum in time for the next tourist season. When the WCHA Assembly was at Keuka you may have visited the Glen Curtis museum? This place will be only a couple miles from it. They will be focusing on boats and boating in the Finger Lakes region, and they have several Penn Yans and Dundees in their warehouse. It might be worth your time to pay Ed a visit sometime, get the serial numbers from their boats and determine if he knows anything about Penn Yan records. Tom McCloud