ID and questions about a Rangeley boat restore.

[trouts2]

Did a lot of rowing this summer in my Penn Yan 14'er but it not really a rowing boat so I started looking around for a row boat. My camp is in Oquossoc Maine so a good candidate would be a Rangeley boat. I tried one out and it was quite nice so I started looking around for one and found a few but one was very interesting.

It seems like an early Rangeley in some aspects and later in others. The rear end is "square" but I don't think it's that way for a motor given the light construction. Picture 3 has the front deck and beside it either a small back seat or the transom. If it's a back seat then the transom is missing. Many of the earlier conversions from double enders to transom had the transoms rip off as makers were getting familiar with the newly introduced motors and added stress.
Most of the early conversions from double enders to transoms were wine glass shape and this one is much different than the usual wine class shape. Possibly the make just did not cut far enough up into the back. ??

The seats have edges for holding gear which was a later feature but hard to say if they are original.

The rib count is very unusual at least from the standard run of Rangeley boats. The count is usually 40 to 80 ribs depending on the model and length. This one has 102 so way above the expected.

It can probably be ID'ed from the seat to gunwale braces but I'm not that familiar with various makers to tell.

If anyone has any info or knows the maker please let me know.

The second question is could it be restored? It's been resting on it's gunwales for 10-15 years buried in pine needles and heavy snowloads. All of the ribs are cracked and the boat out of shape especially the bottom. Most of the ribs would hold nails though. The strakes are mostly punky but many ok or at least hold a nail.
I was thinking that the boat may be able to be restored by putting in new ribs into the old strakes enough to get it's shape back. At that point attach and temporary inwale and strakes. Maybe do that for a while getting shape back then put in the inwale and perminant strakes. It would certainly require many hours and I'm not sure if it's over the top. Is this one too far gone?

Also, anyone know anything about the reputation of a Collins 14' 7" Rangeley? It's a wine glass with 42 ribs and a very nice shape.

 

[Mark Adams]

I'm gonna be the first to say it. Toast. I'm not even sure it is worth the cost of a match. I had a early Peterborough sailboat that was in much similar condition and it went to the dump. Some boats just aren't worth the time, efort, and money it would take ti fix them. This is one of those.

Andre will chime in eventually with his neat little GIF.

 

[Fitz]

Trouts2:

I grew up in Rangeley, and made a little money in high school painting Rangeley boats for "people from away". I don't know much about them beyond some of the more prolific builders. I have rowed them on occasion. Collins I believe was one of the later builders.

That is probably the roughest Rangeley boat I have ever seen. As kids, we would occasionally hike into remote ponds to fish and we would find similar hulls rotting on the shoreline, but I have to say, even those neglected boats were in better shape.

I have seen a few decent Rangeley's for sale next to the road in town when visiting the last couple of summers. I bet you could find one in much better shape.

Hal Ellis still lives in town. Look him up when you are up north and he could fill you in on much of the history of Rangeley's and what to look for.

Kevin Martin and Bob Bassett are good sources of info too.

Fitz

Fitz

 

[NedL]

Ouch! That's a tough one. Possible? sure, but you need to decide if it's what you want to do. I think I'd start with trying to get her on a strongback then develop some station molds & work her shape back in before doing anything else (maybe make a final evaluation at that point. You'll have a better vision of what you really have then as well.

 

[trouts2]

View attachment 22746

NedL, thank you for the picture post.

Fitz, thanks for the references. Collins is alive and I'm told still sharp so I'll try to meet him.

Made another trip to Upper Dam to checkout the boat better. Buried under a few inches of pine needles was the rest of the deck. The broken parts in the first post I thought were transom and seat as the planking was splayed but now realize it's a double ender. The stem section has nail holes matching the planking.

Stopped by the Guides Assocciation, Sporting Heritage Museum and Historical Society but no luck on finding anything further about the boat.

If your around up here stop by. I'm up the street from Mrs Koob on corner at the Guides end. I've seen a few of your posts of events for Oquossoc Day which was a few days ago. Bob Malone was there. He used to have a camp at Upper Dam and parked his boat on the Mooselook side at the Stevens camp . brought his boat which is the last one Ellis built.

 

[NedL]

I suppose bing a double ender would make it a bit easier to figure out what her shape should be. You can reference one end against the other.

 

[smallboatshop]

Sebago Boat as another option

Hi Trouts2,

We were given a 16' Sebago double ended rowboat, probably ca. 1910 which need restoration with a capital R but not as much as the one you've found. We offered it to the Sebago Historical Society as it predates the on that they have on display, but they have no place to store it. We had to pay a fella $30 to help lug it here to it's for sale for $30.
You might want to checkout the one that Norm Sims had redone http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?8692-E-M-White-catalogs&highlight=sebago
We're putting out for sale on the grass tomorrow - maybe an ad in the local paper(but then we'll have to increase the price to cover the ad).

Dan
smallboat shop
Daniel Eaton & Linda Whiting
394 Hio Ridge Rd.
Denmark, ME 04022
207-452-2687
www.smallboat-shop.com

 

[trouts2]

Interesting. Can you send picts, trouts2@gmail.com? What's broken or need fixing? How many ribs are broken and how many strakes?
Seems like 16 is a small boat for what I would imagine rolling waves on a big lake like Sebago but I don't know the lake and it's winds. The linked boat seems to be less wide than the Rangeley. What's the distance form oarlock center to oarlock center not the outwales. Looks like less than 42.
Was it stored outside, wood rotted?

 

[trouts2]

It has occurred to me that the 102 ribs may not be original. The boat has 8 single ribs at one end. It may be that the original was all spaced as the 8 are and it seems that could be the case looking at the pictures. I cannot get access to the boat easily as it requires a 10 mile drive and 4 mile walk to get to but I'll verify that on the next hike out there.

With the spacing like the 8 ribs it would make a rib count 47 ribs. The boat is 17' 2" and that does not seem like enough ribs. They are the thin type. There is a 17' 1/2" Barrett made wineglass stern boat and its rib count is 67.

It might have been that the boat was an early build and the spacing not enough and later doubled. That makes more sense than the strange spacing especially with the 8 at a different spacing.

I found another double ender a half mile away that is approximately the same length and also had many ribs doubled but in a different way. They are somewhat sistered in that the doubled rib is place right next to another rib and the ones doubled seem to be at the spacing for the non doubled ribs. Possibly both of these boats are by the same builder and built too lightly. I could not get a long access time with the second double ribbed boat but will try. I could then get pictures and measurements to compare with the 102 ribbed boat.

 

[trouts2]

Went back to Upper Dam to check the boat and found the ribs in the suspected added slots all of a similar shape and different to the all the other ribs spaced as the 8 mentioned above. The boat had 55 original ribs.