The 34 foot Old Town war canoe form is available

[Benson Gray]

Rollin Thurlow just called me to say that the 34 foot long Old Town war canoe form is available but neither of us has a place to store it. The factory has decided to cut it up if no one else can collect it within the next two weeks. I have contacted the Penobscot Marine Museum and the Old Town Museum to see if they might want it. Is there anyone here with an interest and the ability to remove it from the Old Town, Maine area that soon? Let me know if you want more details. Thanks,

Benson

 

[JClearwater]

There are two 34' war canoes for sale in Maine. One is an Old Town the other is a Kennebec. My wife told me I'm not interested myself but someone else might be.

http://maine.craigslist.org/atq/5722793302.html

 

[Benson Gray]

There are two 34' war canoes for sale in Maine. One is an Old Town the other is a Kennebec.

I have traded messages with the seller and he isn't sure who made them. He said "I had a look and will have to scrape a little paint to find the number if it is on the bow stem of the one canoe. The other will take a little time to get to. I will let you know if I can find anything. The canoes were owned and likely bought new by Camp Kennebec in North Belgrade, just a few miles from Waterville." My guess is that he will find serial number 132890 in one of them as shown in the attached build record from Old Town.

Two members of this forum have offered a home for this form and one is actively working with the company now to sort out the details. There were two of these forms shown in the factory inventories at http://forums.wcha.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=24296&d=1360243338 and the message at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?5421&p=29339#post29339 has several pictures of these canoes over the years. An early build record for one is shown at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?4722&p=29416#post29416 with notes on the back about how many hours were involved. This may have a happy ending after all,

Benson

 

[Dave Osborn]

Benson,
Maybe too late.... Check your email....
I have an interested party.
Contact me.
715 892 7391
Dave Osborn

 

[Benson Gray]

Has anyone looked at the inside of a 34 foot Old Town war canoe closely enough to be able to report the serial number and if the tacks were hand clenched (and all aligned in the same direction) or if they were clenched by iron bands on a form (with no obvious pattern)? I looked at the surviving 34 foot Old Town form recently and was surprised to see that it isn't banded and has no sign of ever having had them. The 1905 inventory identifies the 34 foot war canoe form as a “Skeleton” which was worth only $6 as compared to the more common forms that were identified as “Ironed” and worth $25 each. The 1918 inventory only shows one 34 foot form but the 1919 one shows two with a note that the second one was from 1918. I'm curious if the second 34 foot form may have been banded. This might help date this form if the newer one wore out first and the older one survived. Thanks,

Benson

 

[Benson Gray]

My brother has volunteered to drive the war canoe form to Massachusetts with the truck shown in the attached image below. The plan is to pick it up early next week and deliver it a week or two after that. This should be a lot safer than trying to move it with a passenger vehicle.

Benson

 

[Benson Gray]

The war canoe form was looking a bit forlorn when we arrived at the factory to pick it up yesterday morning. Jeremy Smith, Jeremy Shepard, Drew Pierce, Adam Bishop, Billy Taylor, Kevin Gerrish, Justin Neal, Andrew White, from the Old Town Canoe Company store and distribution center cleared off the snow along with a cubic foot of water that had inadvertently collected and frozen inside one portion of the form. We easily lifted it on to the truck. It seemed ironic to have a Gerrish, a White, a Neal, and two Grays involved in this effort. The form is now waiting in a warm and dry warehouse for a good day next week to deliver it to Massachusetts. Thanks to Seth Gray, Alex Gray, and Production Services of Maine for the help with the truck and storage. Progress,

Benson

 

[Andy Hutyera]

Wow! Looks like a great group project.

 

[Douglas Ingram]

Excellent save! It does not look like I expected it to look. That pattern of sheathing looks very random.

 

[thompsonboatboy]

WOW - great that she was saved. That's a lot of truck for a little load!

Andreas

 

[Benson Gray]

That pattern of sheathing looks very random.

Yes, it doesn't look much like a traditional form.

That's a lot of truck for a little load!

Agreed, but it was much easier to load, secure, support during the trip, and unload than any other alternative that I had available. My next best option was a trailer for a 24 foot long pontoon boat which would have left a lot of form hanging out in the wind on each end. This form was much more flexible than I expected.

The form headed out well before sunrise yesterday morning. Dylan and Emily of Salmon Falls Canoe in Shelburne, Massachusetts were able to unload it before noon. It is now tucked in for the winter as shown below. They have kindly offered to build a new canoe on this form if anyone is interested.

Benson

 

[Benson Gray]

This saga is even getting some good press at http://www.oldtowncanoe.com/community/blog/A_War_Canoe_Story/ in the Old Town Canoe Company blog.

Benson

 

[Dave Osborn]

This saga is even getting some good press at http://www.oldtowncanoe.com/community/blog/A_War_Canoe_Story/ in the Old Town Canoe Company blog.

Benson

Benson,
Do you have any idea how many 34' war canoes were built over the years??

 

[Benson Gray]

Do you have any idea how many 34' war canoes were built over the years??

Only three have shown up in the database research described at http://www.wcha.org/ot_records/ which is too small a sample size for an accurate estimate. However, the approach used for the other estimates at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/models.html yields a guess of about 51 between 1906 and 1927 which is an average of around two per year. There are several known to have been built after 1927 but these aren't likely to change an estimate like this by much.

Benson

 

[Benson Gray]

It appears that this form may be available again as shown at https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10159266556555489&id=65099295488 and https://www.ebay.com/itm/284326418360 if anyone is interested.

Benson

 

[Todd F]

Any idea what happened to this form?

 

[Benson Gray]

Any idea what happened to this form?

I believe that it went to Florida as a public display piece but haven't gotten a confirmation yet.

Benson

 

[Todd F]

Thanks Benson. Interested in anything you can pass on.

 

[Robert P. Ross]

Form has been retired to sunny Florida, it will reside in a restaurant there. For public enjoyment. More information to follow when available. The restaurant is not up and running yet.

 

[Todd F]

Well at least it did not end up in a burn pile