Old Town Serial number 114353
- Thread starter abhraxas
- Start date
See http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?2787-Build-Records-Please-2-OT-Canoes&p=12964#post12964 but it appears to have started out as a 16 foot long canoe.
Benson
Benson
OP
OP
abhraxas
LOVES Wooden Canoes
Hi Benson, this is a curious case indeed. The only number that we were not sure of was the middle "3". It could have been a "2". The other numbers were certain. The number stamped in the stem could have been a "16" that they modified to 11.6 (we're guessing here). Too bad we didn't take a picture of the number to see if anything was different. We didn't verify if the bow stem was the same number. We couldn't see it. You can see from the attached pictures- this canoe is stuffed into an antique mall. It didn't appear to have been split in the middle but again the crowded surroundings made it difficult to tell. The combing on a CS would be the same shape just not in mahogany which would be for an AA. Did OT ever make an 11.6 foot canoe? The thwarts certainly did not look like an OT canoe but everything else did. Maybe it was a chop job. Some photos are attached. Thanks, John and DorothyView attachment 20083View attachment 20084View attachment 20085View attachment 20086View attachment 20087
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Yes, the only difference between a CS and AA grade would be the type of woods and not the shape of the combing or anything else. They never listed an 11.6 foot canoe in their catalogs but would custom build almost anything for someone who was willing to pay for it. (I qualify this statement because I know that they once refused to modify some of their big motor boats for a South American country in the 1960s that wanted to use them for patrol boats. The request even included detailed instructions for where they wanted steel plates placed so they could mount the machine guns.)
Several of the other likely 114x53 build records are attached below but none of them show a short canoe. Your pictures are not attached so you may want to try that again.
Benson
Attachments
These photos work fine. It appears to have been cut in the middle since the keel screws usually alternate ribs and there are two next to each other in the center. My guess is that the rails were painted to hide the splices and the thwarts were replaced since the original ones were too long and oddly located after the middle section was removed. It would take some effort to replace the missing four feet.
Benson
Benson
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OP
OP
abhraxas
LOVES Wooden Canoes
Benson, thank goodness your eyes are sharper than ours. We didn't have a lot of time to spend examining the canoe so we took the quick pictures. I'm glad you solved the mystery. We only wanted to explore the canoe's history since it was such an odd size. The asking price is $2500 so we had no plans to adopt or restore it. If anyone on the forum is interested in purchasing it, we will be glad to provide the exact location. If it it still there next time we visit that way, we will look more closely at the way in which it was cut down. Thanks!
The inflation in this country must be more serious than I had realized. The message at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?2787-Build-Records-Please-2-OT-Canoes&p=12966#post12966 indicates that the asking price was $895 in 2007 which seemed expensive then.
Benson
