Pieced gunwales

[Fritz Koenig]

I have my Grandfathers canoe which I believe to be a 191? OT Charles River Ideal. It has been worked on and has no identifying numbers. The stems appear to be replaced. The outwales are made up of four pieces. Tow pieces put together in a woven fashion (not scarfed - sorry don't know the term) and then the two ends by the top of the deck are cut at a 45 degree splice. When I got it the Gunwales were painted although the wood appears to be mahogany. I would like to restore the canoe as close to original as possable and am looking for a little OT building history.

 

[Dan Miller]

Old Town occasional scarfed gunwales to length using a funky tapered finger-joint sort of scarf. I see them more often on war canoes, but occasionally on standard models as well. If this is what you have, it may very well be original. It may also be a more recent replacement using factory parts - Old Town would sometimes ship gunwales in two pieces to fit on delivery trucks.

The ends of the gunwales with the 45 degree splices are almost certainly repairs.

Cheers,
Dan