update on Elmer's Ucanoe OT 20147

[mccloud]

This is one of the decrepit canoes auctioned off at Assembly last month, a 16' Old Town CS grade. It was covered with old canvas painted blue with Elmers Ucanoe painted on it. If you happen to know any of the history of this canoe, I'd like to know it. Who was Elmer and where did he use this canoe? If you happened to take a picture of this canoe while it was lying on the grass at Assembly, I'd like a copy of that photo. Rot to both stem tips, inwale tips and decks was obvious. One surprise was the line of tacks thru the canvas, hidden underneath the keel. I assume these were not factory. Though there are no halos around any of the tacks, the screws holding the keel on were about half-length, corroded away, with almost nothing left of the cone washers. With the canvas off and on closer examination, the planking, white cedar I believe, is in remarkably good condition. There is an obvious quality of workmanship in the tightness of the planks and tacking. I wish I could say as much for the ribs. With some stripper revealing hidden cracks, it now appears 10-12 new ribs will be needed. After some work, this will be a nice canoe again. Tom McCloud

 

[Benson Gray]

The Old Town canoe with serial number 20147 is a 16 foot long, CS (Common Sense or middle) grade, HW (heavy water) model with red Western cedar planking, closed spruce gunwales, birch decks, birch thwarts, birch seats, spruce outside finish rails, and a keel. It was built between 1911 and May, 1912. The original exterior paint color was dark green. The shipping information is not clear. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link at the attached thumbnail image below.



This scan and several hundred thousand more were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others as you probably know well. 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 renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/about-wcha to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/store/membership to renew.

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match the canoe. The tacks under the keel were probably not installed at the factory. Good luck with the restoration,

Benson

 

[Benson Gray]

The color version below is more clear.

Benson

 

[mccloud]

Thanks, Benson. This is a big improvement over the previous. And here is what that canoe looks like now, nearly ready for canvas. TM...