UFO - is it a Peterborough?

[mccloud]

This all-wood canoe was found in a shed in southeast Virginia on a property that changed hands 25 years ago, so there is no family history to go with it. It is 16’ long, 31” wide (outside of gunwales), and 12” deep. Planking is 3/16” thick, 1 3/8” wide, possibly white cedar, one small brass nail thru each joint into the ribs. In places where there is some damage, I have not been able to detect shiplapping. One deck plate is gone, the other is 21” long, held in with Robertson screws. The stembands are steel, near the top nailed into the stem, but further down, attached with small steel screws. The fore and aft thwarts are very broad, 3¼”, and relatively thin, possibly oak. The center thwart is probably a replacement. The thwarts sit on a block and are attached from the outside thru the hull with a variety of Robertson and slot head screws going thru cone washers, but no evidence of an exterior plate. There are floorboards held in place with brass tabs. The exterior has suffered from many paints, but the base coat may be deep red, perhaps over varnish which is now nearly black. The interior seems to have only the medium green paint, badly alligated, perhaps over varnish. No decals, stamped-in numbers or ID plates have been found, but there is a lot of paint.

In looking at the specifications for the Peterboroughs in the reprint of the 1929 catalog, I see many similarities. The Peterborough longitudinal strip was offered as in a ‘painted grade’, so I am wondering whether the red I am seeing is its original paint. Most of the wood is solid, so the biggest restoration headache will be paint removal.

So is she a Peterborough? Any guesstimates on age? Tom McCloud