tips on purchase this week - Old Town 1962 Otca 18 ft

[jbirdsall]

Hello, Considering purchase of an old town 1962 Otca 18 ft (serial number 172620 - has original bill of sale too) out in the northwest and looking for any tips or thoughts from this community? - price is $700 - it has been garage kept most, if not all, of it's life. I do not know when the last canvas job was done (current owner is selling as part of a canoe club fundraiser and doesn't know either). It looks to be in great shape to me.....but also know this can get pricey if there are underlying issues.... I led trips in Boundary waters a long long time ago and excited about the possibility of this canoe.

Especially curious about the bulges you can see along stem band in "canoe bottom" photo and also in the canoe "inside " pic if you zoom along stem band where it meets gunwale you see some white filler or something. everything seems solid to me (one seat need to be repaired and paint job was amateur and ended up on stem bands etc....). Any of you see anything i should examine more closely before purchase this week? I have some more pictures if helpful. thank you!

 

[Michael Grace]

Certainly seems well worth the price. It appears to be a canoe in excellent original condition - no significant repairs are obvious and there don't appear to be any breaks or areas of rot. The bumps along the stems are probably fateners that hold the planking to the stems. They seem to have worked a bit loose and maybe weren't properly re-set during a previous re-canvassing. They don't pose any immediate problems but could be points of wear during use, and enough abrasion could wear through the canvas. Even so, this looks like a great value, and an Old Town in such nice condition is probably uncommon in the Pacific Northwest.

You might try gently tapping those lumps using a hammer and a block of wood between the hammer and canvas. This might reasonably re-seat the fasteners. Worst case, you re-canvas some years from now. This can be done, even by yourself.

 

[jbirdsall]

Thanks Michael - much appreciated!