Old Town Sailing Canoe

[cherylbarden]

I have inherited an 18' Old Town Sailing Canoe that my father restored. It appears to have all the parts. Is anyone familiar with this type of Old Town canoe? Cheryl Barden

 

[Benson Gray]

Yes, there is a whole section of this forum at http://forums.wcha.org/forumdisplay.php?10 dedicated to sailing canoes. The Maine Canoe Symposium at http://www.mainecanoesymposium.org/ offers several instructional sessions if you want to learn how to use it. The WCHA store has a great book on the topic at http://store.wcha.org/Canoe-Rig-The-Essence-and-the-Art.html if you would prefer to read first. The other option is to just go start sailing it and figure it out as you go. Do you have any specific questions?

Benson

 

[cherylbarden]

Thank you for your information. I am not sure if I will use it or sell it because I already have a couple of canoes. Is there a resource for finding a good home for such a canoe?

 

[Benson Gray]

The classifieds at http://classifieds.wcha.org/ are often one of the fastest ways to find a good new home for a canoe like this. There is a similar one there now at http://wcha.org/pp-classifieds/showproduct.php?product=342&title=sailing-canoe-1939-otca&cat=3 for example. The messages at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?57 may also be helpful. Good luck,

Benson

 

[cherylbarden]

Thank you again. I will give it some thought and if I decide to sell it, the WCHA classifieds looks like the perfect place. Cheryl

 

[cherylbarden]

parts

Where would I look for parts. After looking over the information links you gave me, I see that the tiller (?) needs to be mounted to the rear of the canoe with brackets to receive it. These seem to be missing on the canoe. Thanks again. Cheryl

 

[Benson Gray]

Where would I look for parts. After looking over the information links you gave me, I see that the tiller (?) needs to be mounted to the rear of the canoe with brackets to receive it. These seem to be missing on the canoe.

Sailing canoe parts are usually custom made today. One of the local restorers listed at http://www.wcha.org/buildsupply/me.php may be able to help you with this. Another option is to buy another old sailing canoe to salvage the parts you need for yours. The page at http://dragonflycanoe.com/otacc/index.html has a good summary of these parts so you can see what you might need. Most sailing canoes used a line to control the rudder instead of a tiller. Some of the pictures at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?10672 show this. The rudder in your picture looks like it may be from a boat and won't easily mount on your canoe. The images at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?4107 show how the shapes of the standard Old Town rudders changed over time. It also appears that your canoe doesn't have any gudgeons to mount the rudder. These are available from the Springfield Fan Centerboard Company as described at http://www.wcha.org/buildsupply/ma.php and other sources. Good luck,

Benson

 

[Andy Hutyera]

It's possible your canoe never had a rudder. You can sail quite nicely just using a paddle as a rudder.

 

[cherylbarden]

That is really good information. Thank you.