Ser # look-up request

[jmann652401]

Hi all ,
Could I please get information and (if available) the build sheet for Old Town

33694 17.

Thanks
Joe

 

[Kathryn Klos]

Hi Joe,

Except for the very early years of Old Town, we have all the build records through part of 1975. And I am working hard to get yours, but my computer isn't cooperating. I can give you the information now and will add the scan when the irritating little twirly-thing stops doing circles and lets me copy the scan so I can upload it. (I think this is a Vista problem, because I never had this happen with my older computer.)

Old Town 33694 is a 17 foot CS (common sense, or middle) grade Charles River model canoe that was completed from March 1915 to June 1916. It has red Western cedar planking, closed spruce gunwales, birch decks, thwarts, and seat frames, and a keel. Original color was dark green. It was shipped to Bethlehem, PA, on July 19, 1916.

If details of this scan don't match your canoe, we can look further. A canoe of this age may have undergone some work in the past, but details such as the closed gunwales are less likely to have been modified.

The scan is number 20315 on disk 2, if anyone else with the records wants to beat me to it. If my computer gets a rest, it may behave.

Kathy

 

[Kathryn Klos]

here it is...

The scan of this record is attached below-- click on it to get a larger image. This scan and several hundred thousand others 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/ot_records/ if you want more details. I hope that you and anyone else reading this will join or renew membership in the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/join.php to renew.

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Kathy

 

[jmann652401]

Kathy,
Thanks for the info. The details match as far as I can tell. The interior has been painted so until I strip it off I can't verify the wood species. I suspect the decks and thwarts are the original birch. Unfortunately the seats are long gone. There is a keel and there are half ribs, so all looks like a match.

Now it's time to start stripping the exterior fiberglass and removing the interior paint.

Regards
Joe

 

[Kathryn Klos]

Hi Joe-- If you want to replicate the seats for your canoe, there are probably a number of folks with Old Towns of similar age and length who could provide you with a template for re-creating seats like the originals. Simply buying new seats will work as far as using them, but wouldn't look like the original seats. How far you wish to take your restoration is up to you.

You may be near an active local WCHA chapter, and if so this would be a great way to share information and maybe get some help with your project... and an appreciative audience when you launch it.

Kathy