Old Town 42306 16

[Chet Machamer]

Hello!

Recently acquired an Old Town with serial number 42306. It is a 16 foot sailing canoe, but I'm not sure of the model or year. Looking to restore this canoe! Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks

 

[Benson Gray]

Welcome, the Old Town canoe with serial number 42306 is a 16 foot long, CS (Common Sense or middle) grade, HW (heavy water) model with red Western cedar planking, closed spruce gunwales, ash decks, ash thwarts, ash seats, and a keel. It was built between March and May, 1916. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It shipped on May 25th, 1916 to Eagle Mere, Penna. A scan showing this build record can be found by following the link at the attached thumbnail image below.



This scan and several hundred thousand more were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others. A description of the project to preserve these records is available at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/records/ if you want more details. 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-wcha to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/store/membership to join.

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. The sailing rig was probably added after it left the factory since this isn't mentioned on the build record. There is lots of good information here about canoe restoration and some of the books at http://www.wcha.org/store/books may also help. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions. Good luck with the project,

Benson

 

[Chet Machamer]

Thanks Benson! The information you provided sounds correct. It has closed gunwales and was picked up 5 miles or so from Eagles Mere! Thanks again for the help.

 

[Chet Machamer]

Benson,

Where could I find more information on details with a canoe of this model and year? The seats currently installed are not ash, so I would like to replace them with the correct ash seats. I will also need to replace gunwales, decks, and recanvas the canoe. What would the deck decal look like? And do you know of anywhere else that would show some of the other details from that year?

Thanks,
Chet

 

[Benson Gray]

It has closed gunwales and was picked up 5 miles or so from Eagles Mere!

Yes, canoes frequently don't travel far. I often find that an old canoe will have traveled more on the trip home with me than it has in the past century. The page at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/specific.gif will have most of the specifications for your canoe. More details like this are available from http://www.wcha.org/store/complete-old-town-canoe-company-catalog-collection in the scanned catalogs. The pictures of similar canoes at http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?forums/32/ and http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/3968/ can also be helpful. The best solution may be to find a similar canoe to use as a model. A local chapter from the list at http://www.wcha.org/local-area-chapters or a local restorer from the list at http://www.wcha.org/builders-and-suppliers-directory may be able to help. A correct replacement deck decal is available from http://www.wcha.org/store/old-town-deck-decal-1906-1954 in the WCHA store. Feel free to reply here if this doesn't answer your questions.

Benson