16' Old Town Guide

[Robin]

Robin, weren't the Guide and the OTCA different boats. I thought the OTCA was built on the Yankee forms after the 50's. If it is a Guide I'd like to know how it compares to your Chestnuts to paddle.

The previous owner told me it was a Guide but when we pulled the stem bands off it's has 16 OTCA written in pencil on the canvas so I guess it's an OCTA. I'm not to knowledgable about Old Towns though, and I probably will sell this canoe so I'll never paddle it (fear of scratching the paint syndrome)

I had an 18' OT Guide that I took last fall deer hunting, it was a nice paddling canoe when solo with a load and solo with out a load after camp was set up, but other than that I can't say much about how they compare to Chestnuts. I liked the looks of that 18' I had, (sold it), nice curve on the stems, well built and looked like it could take a beatin'.

My 15' Chestnut Chum is like the OT 50 lb'er but I have never paddled a 50 lb'er so I can't compare, I have seen them and they look really nice, you know, sittin' on the lawn at Paul Smith's WCHA, not sure if I ever saw one used for tripping though. I bet they would be a pretty good solo canoe with some canvas packs up front. I think it's illegal to put a blue barrel in one, I read that somewhere.

 

[Fitz]

Nice find Robin. It is a shame about the "halos" in it. I recently found a really nice EM White with a slight case of halos. Turns out it was used in brackish water, so the damage was not as extreme.

The dreaded tack "halos" are from dezincification of the brass tacks. I haven't found anything to reduce the appearance of the halos. My guess is the stain permeates the rib and plank thickness so that removal is next to impossible.

My son has a project canoe now with an extreme case of halos. We will try as many techniques as we can think of to reduce/remove the appearance. If we find a magic bullet, I will report back. The brass tacks when pulled have a copper red color as a result of the loss of the zinc.

 

[Robin]

Now for the big wait. It take 4-5 weeks for the filler to dry, so the canoes sit on the racks and other projects get my attention