Old Town Tripper with Orange Groovy Letters

[sambrooks09]

Hello WCHA,

Recently, I acquired an Old Town Tripper Canoe. Being my first canoe, I know very little information about it and its history, which brings me here. The serial number reads 222630. Another thing I have noticed is the orange "groovy" letters that spell out Tripper and the Old Town logo in blue, characteristics that I have not noticed on any other OT Tripper throughout my research. Thanks in advance for any information that you can provide and I hope to learn more about this OT Tripper!

Additionally, I have attached pictures! Also, is this the original color or has it faded that much? Every other Tripper I have seen has been a darker green, this one appears a lot lighter? Also the seat are white and flat and the trim is also white.

Thanks for the all the help guys,

Sam

 

[pklonowski]

Unfortunately, the scanned records that folks here have end right around 210,000, so yours is not likely to be in those records. A call to the Old Town factory may be more helpful.

I've seen similar lettering on an Old Town fiberglass canoe, which I sold for someone else. I have no idea how old that canoe was, though.

 

[Benson Gray]

The chart at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/oldtown_chart.html indicates that your canoe was probably built around 1979. You will need to contact the factory to confirm this as Paul mentioned. It should also have a hull identification number on the starboard stern with an encoded date at the end. The information at http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/hin.htm can help you interpret these numbers. These were available in various colors including dark green and avocado. Yours appears to be the latter which hasn't faded too much. The exterior coating is vinyl so some "Armor All" or a similar cleaner can make it look better. The catalogs available from http://store.wcha.org/The-Complete-Old-Town-Canoe-Company-Catalog-Collection-CD-ROM.html have more details. Good luck,

Benson

 

[mccloud]

In 1990 John Lentz organized a paddling trip to the Maymecha River in northern Siberia. The Old Town company provided them with three plastic 17 foot Tripper canoes, including picking up the costs of transport for these canoes to Russia. At the put-in the Americans were puzzled by the Russian paddlers snickering until they were told that when read in the Cyrillic alphabet, Tripper translates into Russian slang for gonorrhea. John Lentz's book of river stories, 'Tales from the Paddle', ISBN978-0-9784368-6-5, was published last year in association with the Canadian Canoe Museum. Enjoy your canoe! Tom McCloud

 

[sambrooks09]

Thanks for all the info and help guys. I will try calling Old Town to get additional information on it. Ready to get this thing out in the water! Also I tried using some 303 aerospace on the canoe to try and restore its shine a little however, I'm still getting the same chalky look when it dries. My guess is that it may need a couple more coats as this canoe was stored outside on a rack untouched for some years and years. What are your guys thoughts? Again thanks for all your help guys!

 

[Benson Gray]

I'm still getting the same chalky look when it dries.

This canoe originally had a flat vinyl finish so it will never get a really glossy shine like a fiberglass or metal surface can. The description at http://www.goldeagle.com/product/303-aerospace-protectant doesn't sound like it will help much in this situation. I've had good luck with "Armor All" on canoes like this as I mentioned before. The page at http://www.armorall.com/product-types/protectants/ has more details.

Benson