Old Town Blue needs help

[Sue]

I inherited a 16’ Old Town #28319 (1913/14?) from my dad (age 87) who got it from his first wife’s mother in the Pacific North West in the 60’s. It has been unused for decades and needs a new home. It’s just too big & heavy for me to try to use on our rivers. I’d love yo know it’s history and help with pricing in its current condition. It does hold water & it absolutely amazing piece of craftsmanship I'd really love it to go benefit education in some way.
Many Thanks! Sue

 

[Benson Gray]

Welcome and congratulations, the Old Town canoe with serial number 28319 is a 16 foot long, CS (Common Sense or middle) grade, Otca model with red Western cedar planking, open spruce gunwales, ash decks, ash thwarts, ash seats, and a keel. It was built between August, 1913 and February, 1914. The original exterior paint color was N. H. (New Haven Railroad) green. It shipped on March 27th, 1914 to Portland, Oregon. A scan of this build record is attached 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 donate, join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See https://www.woodencanoe.org/about to learn more about the WCHA and https://www.woodencanoe.org/shop to donate or join.

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match the canoe. The information at the link below has a good summary about how to value a canoe like this and the classifieds at https://www.woodencanoe.org/classifieds have some similar ones for comparison. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Benson

Thread 'How much is my old wooden canoe worth?'

Nov 14, 2004

How much is my old canoe worth?

One of the most common questions that gets sent to the WCHA webmasters is "how much is my old canoe worth?" Tim Hewitt's responses over the years have included the following comments:

Any wooden or wood/canvas canoe in usable condition is worth $1000 - $1500. A canoe that is documentable will go on the high end, one that is particularly rare will bring more, up to $3000 for a wood canvas canoe, and as high as $5000 for an all-wood canoe. These high end canoes must be in showroom condition and you must have evidence or documentation of their age and...

• Benson Gray
• Replies: 5
• Forum: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• 

 

[Todd F]

Sue, good on you to come to the right organization. Folks will reach out and help talk about its worth, I hope there are family stories you can share with anyone interested in the canoe. Look like someone could bring it back to be enjoyed for another 100 years.

 

[AntiqueOverland]

Well this Canoe has changed owners, My wife and I purchased this canoe. We are currently looking to patch it up for summer, and dig into a more extensive restoration and recanvas over the winter. My question is it appears the canoe is a sailing canoe or at least capable of being one. What does a 1913 sailing canoe look like. Thanks

 

[Benson Gray]

What does a 1913 sailing canoe look like.

Congratulations, The sailing canoe page from the 1913 catalog at https://forums.wcha.org/attachments/6725/ may answer your question. Your sailing rig wasn't mentioned on the build record so may have been added after it left the factory. The sail rig evolution at the first link below may help. The second link has more details about how these were typically rigged. Let me know if this doesn't answer your question. Good luck with the project and please keep us posted on your progress,

Benson

Thread 'Old Town canoe sailing rig evolution'

Jan 2, 2009

The Old Town Canoe Company catalogs show an interesting progression of the standard sailing rigs over the years as shown in the catalog pages attached below. The first sailing canoe was shown in 1907 with tear drop shaped leeboards and no rudder. The next major change was to a more square leeboard with a handle on top in 1913. A larger leg-o-mutton rig was also introduced this year as shown at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?t=3994 and http://forums.wcha.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=5094&d=1213546981 in use. A square rudder was first offered in 1917 and shown in a...

• Benson Gray
• Replies: 4
• Forum: Canoe Sailing

Thread 'Lines recomended for Old town rig'

Apr 10, 2013

Does anyone know if there was a standard set, or recomendation for rigging the lines on an Old town sailer?

• Canoeal
• Replies: 6
• Forum: Canoe Sailing

 

[AntiqueOverland]

Thank you Benson

 

[AntiqueOverland]

We will most definitely keep you posted on progress of the canoe, we intend to also post videos on our YouTube channel Antique Overland, for those who would like to watch me learn as we go. I have currently been down the rabbit hole. Learning how to patch a wood and canvas canoe. It has some minor failures in the canvas. But as we intend to use the canoe after we restore it. I thought it would be good to learn with The old canvas. Wish me luck

 

[AntiqueOverland]

Ok so I found an original patch kit with instructions. Now I am working on rounding up modern equivalent supplies. Then I will see if I can make the instructions work to patch up the canvas.

 

[JClearwater]

The Old Town repair kit is a nice old accessory to keep with the canoe but I doubt that after all this time that the glue or paint will be any good. Unless there is an obvious hole through the canvas giving the canoe a coat or two of enamel paint may get you through another season. Leaks are common along the keel when the bedding compound fails with age. The metal stem band visible in a couple pictures does not look original to the canoe and it looks like there may have been a floor rack in the bottom originally. The brass turnbuckles (photo 8169) would have been used to hold it inplace. Restoration supplies are available in a number of places listed here https://www.woodencanoe.org/builders-suppliers. There is also restoration books available in the WCHA store. You might check in the Chapter listing for a local WCHA chapter in your area.

Have fun and good luck with the restoration.

Jim

 

[AntiqueOverland]

I think the glue is a hide glue as the can instructions read to heat the glue with a candle until soft. I was suprised to see the paint and filler were still soft, they could be brought back, I really bought them for color matching what New Haven Green really was. I agree it is neat to have with the canoe. it was an opprotunity to see how it was packaged, to assemble a work replica kit to take out and use with our canoe with modern supplies ready to use in case the worst happens.

 

[MGC]

It's been a while since the Old Town color charts were last a topic, but the different colors of green have been discussed. It's tricky to pin down an exact match since the colors changed over the years and available charts are often very faded.
Here you can get up to speed with what has previously been shared.

Post in thread 'Old Town color chart circa 1920'

Mar 8, 2012

Have you given any consideration to approaching Kirby about computer matching the colors. They could be the source for "Original Old Town Colors" for build record appropriate paints....

Not really since Old Town used many different paint vendors over the years and there is not much consistency of colors originally as MGC demonstrated. I'm also not convinced that these paint chips haven't faded since they appear quite dull as R.C. pointed out. My usual advice is to encourage people to pick colors that they like rather than worrying about originality in this...

• Benson Gray

The age of your repair kit sample, even if it is soft enough to extract some paint, is probably not going to 100% correctly represent NH Green applied in 1914. But wrt paint, you learn that close enough is generally good.
For a travel repair kit, ambroid cement no longer available, I carry a few feet of duck tape with me. Any serious repairs are done when we get home.

 

[Benson Gray]

I really bought them for color matching what New Haven Green really was.

The railroad people can help you match New Haven green. The page at the link below lists
Name # New Haven Hunter Green
Product # 16-177
HTML # 0B1A16
CMYK # 83, 67, 73, 77
RGB # 11, 26, 22

Good luck,

Benson

New Haven Hunter Green ModelFlex Railroad Airbrush Spray Paints - 16-177 - New Haven Hunter Green Paint, New Haven Hunter Green Color, Badger ModelFlex Railroad Spray Paint, 0B1A16 - Art-Paints.com

New Haven Hunter Green ModelFlex Railroad Airbrush Spray Paints - 16-177 - New Haven Hunter Green Paint, New Haven Hunter Green Color, New Haven Hunter Green ModelFlex Railroad Airbrush, New Haven Hunter Green, Badger Spray Paint, 0B1A16, HTML Color Chart, HTML Color Code. - Art-Paints.com!

www.art-paints.com