First -- don't be in any rush -- Do what little may be needed to use the canoe this season or even two or three seasons, while considering what you might want to do in the longer run. Repair the bang strips, and touch up the varnish -- don't put any more on than necessary, because it will just have to come off when the canoe is restored. If you don't like the current color and the paint is sound and not flaking off, a new coat of exterior paint is quick and easy.
After that, before making any decision about how to repair or restore your canoe, you would do well also to get, or at least look at -- "The Wood and Canvas Canoe: A Complete Guide to its History, Construction, Restoration, and Maintenance" by Rollin Thurlow and Jerry Stelmok, and/or "Building the Maine Guide Canoe" by Jerry Stelmok, and you might want to look at "The Old Town Canoe Company" by Susan Audette and David Baker. The first is often called the "bible" of canoe repair, restoration, and maintenance; the second is an excellent study of the wooden/canvas canoe and its construction, and the third is a great history of the company and its canoes.
I believe that the Otca model was introduced in 1908, so there are a lot of them out there, but not so many as old as this. The question of whether to restore it to its original lies is not an easy one. From what you have said about the condition of the wood, restoring it with its current sheer and stem lines is probably pretty easy (after the fiberglass is off). Restoring it to its original lines would be quite a bit more work and present some problems -- splicing new wood onto the gunwales is not too hard, but matching the color of old stained wood can be problematic -- restoring the original lines may not be worth the trouble. One reason to use the canoe for at least a season is to see if its current shape causes any difficulties. I would not expect it to, so whether to restore the original lines is largely a matter of esthetics and personal taste. The canoe is not so rare that it would be some sort of sacrilege to leave the shape as it is -- if you like it as it is.
Also, in addition to asking question here on the forums,
Wooden Canoe, our journal, has a wealth of information in its back issues. There is an index to the back issues --
http://www.wcha.org/journal/Index to Wooden Canoe.pdf -- and back issues are available for $4 through the online store, or the collection is available on a USB flash drive through the store --
http://store.wcha.org/Wooden-Canoe-Journal-Archive-on-CD-ROM.html
Don’t be bashful about asking questions here – we all do it, and those with knowledge are generous with their suggestions.
As to what I would do -- see
http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?t=5790 for what I did for five years with a canoe that I just took the canvas off to start a complete restoration. And I would remove the glass and recover with canvas, though not immediately.
And don’t forget pictures as you go along – indeed, I'm now curious to see profile shots showing the current sheer line and stem/deck curves -- and in any event, we all love pictures.
Greg
