Need help to ID WC canoe

bantrygig

New Member
Greetings all,

I am in need of help to ID this WC canoe. I bought it some 25 years ago in Maine and it was advertised as a "Charles River" canoe. Someone had in the past added a sail rig to it but is no longer with the canoe. The dimensions are 17' length, 12" depth, and 34" beam. The actual beam measurement would be less (31-31"?) as the canoe has been stored without the thwarts installed for 25 years. The serial number on both stems is 3050 17. Planked in cedar, the frames are straight not tapered. The long decks, thwarts, seats, coamings, rub stips, and wale caps are mahogany. The decks are 30" long. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated, I've been told it may be an early Old Town, maybe a Crandell, ???? I have attached photos to help out.

Thanks WCHA!

Brad
 

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I'll vote HB Arnold,

I have attached a few picks showing the short deck the fit the inwales together at the tips. I have 2 Arnolds' and both have that step in that short deck. The thin decking fits there and the top rail cap fits flush over it along with the king plank.

I do have a round stem Arnold like the one you have and another with a torpedo stem. Notice the planking pattern is similar.

Your deck support system is very similar but my decks are 48" plus.

I have also attached a known Arnold serial number close to yours and the font looks very similar. (not sure who posted this pic but I found it here on the site).

Add to this the comment that many of the Charles River builders did similar things.

Nice canoe,

Paul
 

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Hi Brad,

Yes, it's a nice canoe! You might use the "search" function to get more information on the Charles River builders, although the Old Town Charles River posts will come up too-- and this canoe isn't an Old Town. I strongly recommend that you get a copy of the issues of our journal Wooden Canoe which were devoted to the Charles River builders. Look up the index (home page of this web site) and find the topic. One of the issues has some great color pictures. There are several folks here with extensive knowledge of the Charles River builders who'll chime in too.

I like this Edison film of the Charles River in its canoeing heyday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG6Cribdkao

Kathy
 
Hi Brad,

I just noticed that the inwales on your canoe were notched out for the last two cant ribs and I've not see that on any of the Charles River canoes I have, but I don't have one from every builder. Like most other builders the cant ribs were either feathered thin or cut short and fit under the inwale as in the picture of my canoe.

This may or may not be a characteristic of a given builder, hopefully someone else will recognize this feature.

Paul
 
Thank you Paul and Kathy, your information sheds new light on this canoe. I understand from searching other posts on the Arnold canoes that the records are long gone and there is no way to accurately determine the age/building date of any of them despite having a serial number to work with. Is there anyone who can guesstimate the age of an Arnold?

Also, I am looking to sell this canoe as I have way to many projects going on, I haven't touched this in 25 years. Would anyone chance to guess a fair asking price? I'd like to pass it on to someone who will finish the restoration it and get on to enjoying it. It will be up for sale in the WCHA classifieds soon.

Thanks again,

Brad
 
Is there anyone who can guesstimate the age of an Arnold?

Arnold began building canoes 1897, and continued at least until 1930, per Waltham city directories and US Census. I have second-hand notes that indicate he continued to build until is death in 1935, but that is not verified yet.
 
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