Some Broken Ribs
New Member
I feel very fortunate to have been given a wood and canvas sailing canoe by an older neighbor whose grandparents bought it new and sailed it many summers in the lakes of Wisconsin-Michigan. She felt reasonably confident that it was a 1930s Old Town, but didn't have any documentation.
This is my first canoe restoration and I was thrilled to get underway that I jumped right in, only to realize that I hadn't yet confirmed what exactly I had started tearing apart. So I found WCHA and have read through many threads in recent weeks trying to identify this thing, and it's reached the point where I have to join the forum or else never know for sure.
The canoe is 15' long. The planks are 3" wide. The sailing rig wood seems to be mahogany maybe, the mast is metal and the sail is blue and white (though mostly destroyed). The bow deck has a heart shape and shows signs of maybe a missing sticker. The seat and thwart carriage bolts have round heads and square bolts beneath. The sailing rig mast step has a round hole.
Any guesses? Other places I should look for a serial number or better pics I can provide?
Profile and bottom(ish):
Interior:
Bow deck (stern deck identical):
Bow seat:
Seat hardware:
Bow stem (partially stripped, stern identical -- neither has serial number I can see even after first pass with stripper)
Here it is once I got the canvas off and started stripping:
Leeboard (other identical):
Rudder:
Center Thwart:
Rudder pins:
Stern stem and rudder mount:
This is my first canoe restoration and I was thrilled to get underway that I jumped right in, only to realize that I hadn't yet confirmed what exactly I had started tearing apart. So I found WCHA and have read through many threads in recent weeks trying to identify this thing, and it's reached the point where I have to join the forum or else never know for sure.
The canoe is 15' long. The planks are 3" wide. The sailing rig wood seems to be mahogany maybe, the mast is metal and the sail is blue and white (though mostly destroyed). The bow deck has a heart shape and shows signs of maybe a missing sticker. The seat and thwart carriage bolts have round heads and square bolts beneath. The sailing rig mast step has a round hole.
Any guesses? Other places I should look for a serial number or better pics I can provide?
Profile and bottom(ish):
Interior:
Bow deck (stern deck identical):
Bow seat:
Seat hardware:
Bow stem (partially stripped, stern identical -- neither has serial number I can see even after first pass with stripper)
Here it is once I got the canvas off and started stripping:
Leeboard (other identical):
Rudder:
Center Thwart:
Rudder pins:
Stern stem and rudder mount: