OT serial 161729 16 info

[Denis-Marc Nault]

Hello all WCHA members, I have just joined and have found this forum to be very informative. Since the sun has decided to poke out and warm the face my mind starts to wander to soon for times to wet the paddles. Ok enough babble. Back in 1991 I rescued what I believed to be an 16 foot Old Town Guide from a dump on Cape Cod. A letter from Old Town confirmed the serial number was a one of theirs however the card was missing. Any information would be very helpful. The number is 161729 16. I will attempt to attached a few photos. I is what I feel is good shape with no broken ribs and minimal split laps. I hope to start restoration of this canoe this fall...have to finish of my 1969 Military Land Rover to free up the garage. Thanks

 

[Benson Gray]

It appears that the record for your canoe is either mis-filed or lost as the factory reported previously. The Old Town canoe with serial number 161731 appears to be similar so it may give you some general idea about how and when yours was made. This is a 16 foot long, AA grade, low end HW (Heavy Water) or Guide's model with seats, half ribs, and a keel. It was built between February and May, 1954. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It shipped on May 24th, 1954 to Wilmington, Delaware. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link at the attached thumbnail image below.

This scan was created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others. A description of the project to preserve these records is available at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will join or contribute to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/join.html to join.

Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions. Good luck with your restoration projects.

Benson

 

[Denis-Marc Nault]

Thank-you

Thank-you Benson, I finally joined WCHA yesterday but have been reading and viewing this forum since last November. I am sure I will have more questions and or comments down the road. I got a couple of books for Christmas by Jerry Stelmock and Rollin Thurlow on restoration of wood/canvas canoes. It is now just trying to finnish the other projects and honey-do-list then start on the canoe hopefully this fall. Again thank-you for all have done...and doing... for a timeless piece of history.
Denis