Kennebec

Dan-- the Kennebec that Dave Osborn is restoring is a sponson canoe. How might the 4-digit number tamped into the inwale under the top-cap relate to this?
Kennebec also assigned serial numbers to the sponsons, independent of the number given to the canoe. Perhaps the number under the rail is the number for the sponson.
 
It IS a sponson canoe...

I may be able to confirm the Kennebec sponson serial number from their records if you can provide both the canoe's serial number from the stem / tag along with the numbers from the inwale. Pictures would also be helpful. Thanks,

Benson
 
The canoe is 3365, which doesn't appear to have been built with sponsons-- at least, not according to the record (which is posted in an earlier thread). Inwale number appears to be 8287 or maybe 3287. It's the canoe I used to compare with a Morris in a YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU2iyygvr8I

I am no longer inclined to think these canoes originated at the Morris factory, but this is among the many things we can only speculate about unless a WayBack Machine can be built...

I should probably edit that video...
 

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Back again with another question. There is currently a Kennebec canoe listed on E-Bay stating it is in original condition. To me, it looks like the seats are fastened different and the seats are not caned. Would this be correct?
 
Yes, troubleshooter-- the seats on that Kennebec are strangely hung and should have been caned using the 7-step method. It's also unlikely that it's a 15 footer, as I am seeing two thwarts and I think 15ers have only one.
 
That tag is similar to the one on my 1916 Kennebec model, but has different text, and if that is the original location, answers my question about where it would fit other than a splayed stem. I can't imagine it would last long on a deck or be in such good condition after all these years.

Ron
 
it looks like the seats are fastened different and the seats are not caned. Would this be correct?

The seat drops, seat material, and seat bolts all appear to be replacements in the canoe at http://www.ebay.com/itm/251763994103 on eBay. The screws on the metal tag and keel do not appear to be original either. The pictures at http://s695.photobucket.com/user/DeepSeaToddMaci/media/canoe5.jpg.html and http://s695.photobucket.com/user/DeepSeaToddMaci/media/canoe3.jpg.html show the seats in a more original Kennebec. The ones at http://forums.wcha.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=6458&d=1188766934 and http://forums.wcha.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=6432&d=1226254804 show the nails used on the tags originally. The asking price of this one also seems to be very optimistic. The Kennebec records identify this as a 16 foot long canoe that shipped on March 25th, 1930. Good luck,

Benson
 
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Kennebec placed the serial number plate of my 1927 Katahdin model on the stern deck... and the serial number was also on the bow stem (tamped into the wood).
 
That is the canoe I was referring to. The pictures that all of you have referred me to are great and a big help. Does anyone have a picture of one from around 1911?
 
Thank you for the links to the pictures. I think I am seeing a partial cap on the gunnels on the bow of the canoe. I would like to be able to scale the picture so I can at least be close to what it should be.
 
Attached are images of the bow and stern of a 1927 Kennebec with open gunwales and short rail caps. The serial number plate is on the stern deck and the serial number is also tamped into the wood at the bow end. This canoe has a narrow, hardwood stem. Morris also used these short rail caps on open gunwale canoes.

Kathy
 

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