Oldtown serial number?

[Shane Wyman]

16942 serial number of what I believe to be a 16' Oldtown lapstrake.
Please let me know what you can. I brought this boat home a week ago. I was told it was owned by a WW2 pilot from Down East Maine.
Many Thanks.

 

[Benson Gray]

Old Town serial numbers are usually stamped into the wood not written in pencil. The information at http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/791/ should help you locate it. This will probably be on the edge of the transom at the cut out for the motor as shown at http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?attachments/33202/ from a similar boat. The Old Town serial number 16942 went on a 17 foot long canoe that shipped in 1911 so that isn't a good match. These boats were popular in the 1950s and 1960s so the serial number chart at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/oldtown_chart.html indicates that a serial number in the 16942x range is a likely candidate. All of the build records in this range show white, 16 foot long lapstrake boats and many of them shipped to Maine. However, none of them went Down East to Washington or Hancock county and there is no obvious mention of any WW2 pilots. Let us know if you find any more numbers and we can take it from there. Good luck,

Benson

 

[Shane Wyman]

Thank you Benson. I'll keep searching. I figured I hit paydirt with the #'s up in the bow. I'll see what I can find on the transom.

 

[Shane Wyman]

No luck finding anything on the transom. I called Maine Inland Fisheries today with the registration number. They had same serial number preceded with zeros. They asked if it could be missing a leading zero?
They have the boat listed as 16' 1969 Oldtown wooden boat.

 

[Benson Gray]

Old Town used a leading zero in the serial numbers of their skiffs and flat bottom row boats but your boat is clearly not one of those. The Old Town serial number chart at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/oldtown_chart.html indicates that a serial number from 1969 should be closer to the 180xxx range. Old Town last listed wooden lapstrake boats in their 1966 catalog. Another place to look for a serial number is on the edge of the center transom brace. Does it have an Old Town nameplate or anything else to confirm that it is an Old Town? Many other manufacturers made similar boats during that period.

Benson

 

[Shane Wyman]

I have not found any identification other than the Maine Registration # and the penciled number in the bow.
The center transom brace appears to have been replaced/repaired -
I'll post a picture... and keep looking for identification { I did see identification on the glass for what it's worth I'll take a photo }

 

[Shane Wyman]

Frustrating that no nameplates remain. Here's some pictures of the only items with any identification.

 

[Shane Wyman]

Benson - if the number had a missing zero at the end could it match any of the 1950's models? Just a thought after looking at the graph.

 

[Benson Gray]

I've not been able to find any indication that Clark Marine in Augusta, Maine or Moose Island Marine in Eastport, Maine were ever an Old Town boat dealer. You may want to contact them at https://www.clarkmarinemaine.com/ or http://www.mooseislandmarine.com/ to see if they might have any more information. The Guardian Safety Glass, the cleat from Wilcox, Crittenden & Co., and the key from Chicago Lock were all suppliers to Old Town and many other manufacturers so that doesn't narrow it down much. If your boat is an Old Town then it is most likely to be the one with serial number 169421 that shipped to the Belgrade Lakes on May 19th, 1961. The Evinrude motor may be from Clark Marine since the page at https://www.clarkmarinemaine.com/our-history indicates that they started selling these in 1958.

The Old Town build record for serial number 169421 shows a 16 foot long Lapstrake 16 Fisherman model boat in AA (or top) grade with a keel, outside stems, and a floor rack. It was built in December, 1959. The original exterior color was white with a red copperpac (i.e. Woolsey Paint) bottom. The back side of the record indicates that it may have been in Mount Vernon, Maine during October of 1982 when there was a previous request for a copy of the build record. Scans of this build record and the others in the 16942x range that shipped to Maine and New York are attached at the links below.



These scans 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. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson

 

[Shane Wyman]

Thank You Benson. I appreciate the thorough research.
Belgrade lakes are just 10 miles
From Augusta- I've reached out to Clarke Marine to see what records they may have.
I'll be sure to sign up for the membership and will thank you again for the research.

 

[Benson Gray]

One Old Town identification option would be to sand down to bare wood on the second strake below the rail amidships and check to see if there are any screw holes from where the plastic name plate was originally attached. See http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/covers/large-60.gif and http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/covers/large-61.gif for the location. Most other builders like White attached their external name plates closer to the transom. Let us know if you do this and find something. Thanks,

Benson

 

[Shane Wyman]

I'll start sanding first chance I get...
I'll keep you posted.

 

[Benson Gray]

The image linked below should give you some idea of the alignment of screw holes that you may find. Good luck,

Benson