unknown manufacturer

[Worth Gretter]

Jill, I restored a fiberglass canoe what was stored on the ground until all the wood rotted away. I bent the gunwales to fit, then sized the center thwart and new seats accordingly. It came out fine. So if you don't get the dimensions you are looking for, you can probably go ahead anyway and get a pretty good result. Good luck!

 

[Jill Laidlaw.]

This is a very small forum and most participants read all new messages, regardless if they are new threads or replies to old ones. Multiple postings with the same question don't seem to get much additional response. This group is focused on wooden canoes so a better option might be to search for a forum focused on old plastic canoes and post the question there.

Benson

 

[Jill Laidlaw.]

Thank you Benson! Good Thought!

 

[Jill Laidlaw.]

Thank you, everyone! I do have a wood source and someone to work the wood for me. I am sure that anything I make will get me down the river. It would be nice to restore it to its original. They advertised these boats to summer camps, and that is where mine came from. It is very interesting that there were so few made, and it would be fun to find others with the same boat. I saw a video on YouTube of a presentation at a boat restoration club's meeting where a family member of the Thompson company presented about the history of the company. He had a slide of this canoe and talked a bit about it, and that they really hadn't worked out. If anyone has seen it I would love to get the link. So thank you again for your posts!

 

[Worth Gretter]

One more thing to be aware of: most Royalex canoes came with aluminum or plastic gunwales. Wood can be a problem if the canoe is exposed to a hard freeze, i.e close to zero degrees F. The Royalex shrinks more than the wood, and you get cracks starting at each outwale fastener and heading downward several inches. Here is an example from the epoxy company West Systems:
https://www.epoxyworks.com/royalex-canoe-repair-gflex-epoxy/
I'm not saying to skip the wooden gunwales, just that it will affect your storage plans.

 

[Jill Laidlaw.]

Just wanted to let you know I found the presentation about the history of Thompson Boats by Bruce Thompson at an event in the Finger Lakes! Thank you all.

 

[Jill Laidlaw.]

Thank you all! I also found the video of a historical presentation that Bruce Thompson did for the Finger Lakes Museum that mentions the rubber boats they built if you would like to see it : )
https://www.youtube.com/@fingerlakesboatingmuseum