Looking to identify a UFO

yeolwoodsman

Rolf Warncke
This post was not getting a lot of traffic in another section of the forums so I thought I'd put it up here as well. I realize it's not a canoe. Please let me know if I should move or remove it. Thanks for your help.

Just picked up an old rowboat that could use "some work". Not exactly sure what I have here but I'm confident that some one out there will know. The boat is about 11'2" long and about 49" wide at its widest point. It could be a little out of shape considering the condition of the gunwales. The boat has been glassed but it seems quite easily removed judging by the section I tested. It's had some work done on it. It appears that it might have had additional supports going from the gunwale to the seat frames. There are telltale screw holes that have nothing in them. The ribs are 1" wide and approximately 1/4" thick.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. I'm also interested in knowing if I have something desirable here. Not sure that I need to add another project to the list but I could not let this get destroyed or lost. I look forward to hearing what everyone has to say!
 

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Hi Rolf,

I had just replied to your first thread, sorry no one else replied sooner. All posts from all categories show up under the listing for "new posts" so most will find it.

As I mentioned; it appears you have a Penn Yan Cartopper and you can google that to find a great deal of information about the boat and ones like it for sale.

It is a worthwhile project.

Good luck,

Paul
 
Hi Paul,

Thanks so much for the reply. I was actually leaning towards a Penn Yan. I am however seeing some differences between this one and some of the others I have found on line. The seat supports on most of the Penn Yans that I am seeing are short and only slightly longer than the seat. This one has a full length support which I realize could be a replacement for the originals when it was repaired and glassed. I'm also not finding any that were 11' long. The ones I'm seeing were 12' Did they make shorter ones or is it possible this was shortened when it was glasses.

I do agree that it is a worthwhile project! Just not sure it will be my project. I'm considering listing it in the classifieds once I've learned a little more about it and more accurately determined its condition. That being said I could see myself talking me into it :D

Thanks again!
Rolf
 
Many characteristics of your boat are not consistent with a Penn Yan cartop model,but They might have been altered in a previous restoration. The seats do not appear original, but if they are, the plywood has been added on TOP of the seats and not rabbeted into them. There are no sand cast brass seat braces nor evidence of such. I'm not aware of any cartops without the seat braces. The transom/ rail braces are not the steam bent PY style. The wood around the exterior of the transom was not a PY style,but more like Thompson Bros. PY did use plywood for the transom in the 1950's. The full length seat cleat nor the middle seat support to the bottom of the boat are not Py style either. The oar straps don't appear to be like a Py. PY had their own sand cast .
If your boat were in the midwest, I would guess that it was a Wolverine Wagemaker. Since it is in NJ, I'm not sure who made it.
 
Gil,

Thanks so much for the response. I've added another picture of the seat frame sitting on the support. If you look closely there are holes that indicate there may have been braces. One in the seat frame and one in the inwhale. Nothing conclusive but something. The wood on the outside of the transom is clearly not original. It's just pieces cut out of plywood and applied on the outside of the fiberglass. After removing one of the pieces of plywood on the seat frames I found that there is no rabbet on the frame and the plywood on he different seats are also different thicknesses. The frames are made of oak as are the inwhales and outwhales along with the braces at the transom. The seat support rail is also oak. I'm in the process of stripping the top piece of the transom on the inside as it appears to have something stamped there. Actually says C-321 and its upside down. The other odd feature is that there are a few steel channel pieces that have been added to the ribs they are equally spaced at every six ribs. the center photo shows one of them. Are there other things that I can be looking for that might help identify the maker?

Thanks again for the input!!
 

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Not sure what it is, but agree with Gil... Probably not PY unless it had work done to it.... Something just doesn't scream out Thompson either.
Wagemaker is a great guess. I have one in storage. Could be a while, but Can compare some characteristics next time I see it.
Dave
 
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