old canoe shaped kayak canvas on wood

[thenatureguy]

I have a lovely and in really quite exceptional condition canvas over wood canoe shaped kayak. It is clearly a fully decked kayak without thwarts or seats. It has been stored indoors for over 45 years with very infrequent ventures into fresh water, with the last being over 25 years ago. It is 11 feet long (11'2" to be exact) and my grandfather always said it was an old town. The serial number is 19682 11. I am guessing it was made in the 1960's because I remember it being or seeming fairly new as a little kid paddling Barkers Pond in Maine in the early 1970's. Does anyone have a list of serial numbers that can confirm or deny that it is an old town and also perhaps the year built. I am considering patching the one bad spot in the deck and would like a little history prior to doing so.

recent water test showed no leaking in a 10 minute immersion through the hull and minimal leaking through a single tear in the canvas deck after a heavy soaking with a hose. The deck paint is cracked but otherwise quite intact.

Cheers

 

[Kathryn Klos]

Old Town 19682 is a 17 foot Charles River model canoe, not a kayak. It was shipped in 1912. My guess is you have something either by another builder, or some hidden digits.

Kathy

 

[thenatureguy]

thank you

Old Town 19682 is a 17 foot Charles River model canoe, not a kayak. It was shipped in 1912. My guess is you have something either by another builder, or some hidden digits.

Kathy

Thank you Kathy My primary reason for thinking this is an Old Town is my grand father always said it was...perhaps it is not... I will carefully look to see if there is a hidden digit. The serial number with a space to "11" (the length) seems to match the Old Town set up of serial numbers. so I will climb in there with a hand lens and see if something is hiding. Thanks again and cheers. Matt

 

[Benson Gray]

I agree with Kathy that this one is probably not an Old Town. My guess is that you have a Kennebec. Their number 19682 is an 11 foot long Kyak model as shown on page 102 of volume three and pages 162 and 163 in volume four of the Kennebec ledgers. It was planked by Roy on January 28th, 1928. The canvas covering and first filler coat were applied by Roy on February 4th, 1928. He applied the second filler coat on February 11th, 1928. It was railed by Curie on April 1st, 1929. The "F 22" (Function number 22?) was completed by J. Thib. on April 4th, 1929. The "F24" (Function number 24?) was completed by Thib. on April 16th, 1929. The "F25" (Function number 25?) was completed by Thib. on April 17th, 1929. The "F28" (Function number 28?) was completed by Thib. on April 18th, 1929. The "F35" (Function number 35?) was completed by Thib. on April 19th, 1929.The original color was not specified. It was packed by Murray on April 17th, 1929 (which is probably an error since it is out of sequence). It shipped on May 31st, 1929 to location 29-432. This location is probably an order number but we don't currently have enough information to identify it.

The scans of these build records can be found by following the links at the attached thumbnail images below. These original Kennebec records are reproduced through the courtesy of the Maine State Museum.

The microfilms and scans of these records were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA). I hope that you will join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/about-the-wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://store.wcha.org/WCHA-New-Membership.html to join.

These are fun little boats. I had a chance to paddle one many years ago. The Old Town version was offered in the 1940s and had a smaller cockpit as shown in the catalog image below. Rollin offers a modern version of this as shown at http://www.wooden-canoes.com/canoes/skimmer.htm and called the Skimmer. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson

 

[Kathryn Klos]

I used to have a Kennebec double-bladed paddle, which possibly went with their Kyak.

 

[thenatureguy]

wow and thank you....

I agree with Kathy that this one is probably not an Old Town. My guess is that you have a Kennebec. Their number 19682 is an 11 foot long Kyak model as shown on page 102 of volume three and pages 162 and 163 in volume four of the Kennebec ledgers. It was planked by Roy on January 28th, 1928. The canvas covering and first filler coat were applied by Roy on February 4th, 1928. He applied the second filler coat on February 11th, 1928. It was railed by Curie on April 1st, 1929. The "F 22" (Function number 22?) was completed by J. Thib. on April 4th, 1929. The "F24" (Function number 24?) was completed by Thib. on April 16th, 1929. The "F25" (Function number 25?) was completed by Thib. on April 17th, 1929. The "F28" (Function number 28?) was completed by Thib. on April 18th, 1929. The "F35" (Function number 35?) was completed by Thib. on April 19th, 1929.The original color was not specified. It was packed by Murray on April 17th, 1929 (which is probably an error since it is out of sequence). It shipped on May 31st, 1929 to location 29-432. This location is probably an order number but we don't currently have enough information to identify it.

The scans of these build records can be found by following the links at the attached thumbnail images below. These original Kennebec records are reproduced through the courtesy of the Maine State Museum.

The microfilms and scans of these records were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA). I hope that you will join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/about-the-wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://store.wcha.org/WCHA-New-Membership.html to join.

These are fun little boats. I had a chance to paddle one many years ago. The Old Town version was offered in the 1940s and had a smaller cockpit as shown in the catalog image below. Rollin offers a modern version of this as shown at http://www.wooden-canoes.com/canoes/skimmer.htm and called the Skimmer. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson

I am so amazed that you have such great access to this information. I believed it to be newer than that ... but just by my early child hood memories. Perhaps it had been re-canvased around that time. I don't imagine that this is the original canvas judging by its overall very good condition. I am going to take her for a spin tomorrow... Thank you
Cheers Matt

 

[thenatureguy]

wow! how beautiful was that paddle? I have two (2 piece) spruce paddles. Totally unsure of where they came from but very pretty. a little heavy though and one has been spliced back together after a rather nasty fracture in the marshes of Georgia several years ago.