17' Old Town wood/canvas derelict (well maybe)

[BillC]

Terrific Response. Thank you so much! Is the planking also white cedar?

 

[Benson Gray]

Is the planking also white cedar?

No, white cedar planking is identified as Maine Cedar or MC on the planking line. The default was western red cedar planking as shown on your build record.

Benson

 

[BillC]

Thank you.

 

[BillC]

Well I'm back on the job at least until it's too cold to work in the garage and we shut the house. Started stripping the varnish from the inside using a heat gun and an old sharp putty knife. Technique works pretty well but hard to deal with intense curves with a flat blade. I bought both Total Boat Total Strip and a citric stripper but am hesitant to use either-so far. Getting too cold for either. Stripped about a third of the interior, then couldn't wait to see what was under the canvas, so I gleefully ripped it off. Not too bad by my estimation as to planking. There are two broken planks plus the sheer line will need a bit of planking. I'm told using white cedar is best as not as brittle as western red cedar and you can stain it to match the red planking. Looking at the bare bottom, one could see that 6 ribs had been replaced and several planks, thus a repair had been done at some juncture (1965 build). What is the filler in pink (last picture)? Also, looks like we have 15 broken or cracked ribs. Should I build a steam box, use PVC, or food grade plastic bagging from UNI? I will continue to work on the interior and the rest will wait until Spring. Happy Holidays Trippers.

 

[Robin]

To answer a couple of your questions , I think that pink stuff is “Bondo”, pretty common fix back when. It actually looks like it held up well.
I attached a picture of the bags I use when I steam. Steaming in a bag works really well, and you’re not stuck with the big box afterwards. Steaming those inwales can be done right on the canoe with a bag,
I liked stripping with Total Boat stripper, Just seemed to work better than anything else I tried.
Now, don’t get me wrong, to each his own I guess, but 15 ribs is a lot of ribs to replace unless the canoe had some sentimental value or was unique I would pass on this project.
WC canoes have really dropped down in “asking” prices lately from what I see on Marketplace. Right now there are two canoes, a 16’ Old Town and a 16’ Chestnut for less than $800 in my viewing area here in Maine, both in great condition maybe only needing some paint and varnish. You will be spending a lot more than $800 on your canoe imho.
But, I’m old and done with big projects. Good luck.

.

 

[BillC]

Thank you all for your thumbs up and Robin for the sage advise. I too have scanned the OT's for sale and see lots for sale and little movement. As we discussed earlier, while I have no practical use for this behemoth, it does hopefully teach me woodworking skills and primarily keeps me out of the bar. I'm 81 and a Vietnam vet who somehow was lucky enough to land on Wall Street and learn to keep my head down. The other choice I considered was being a boat rat in a marina or wooden boat building shop. That choice would likely have led to scraping by and maybe not having the woman I love. Whether I recoup the $1,000 to $1,500 I'm likely to have in her is really irrelevant. The family that gave me the boat agreed I could throw it on the burn pile, or restore it and sell it, keep it, or sell back to them for what I had in it. Fifteen ribs look like a good challenge, as is the whole project. If I get too frustrated I'll just light a match.

Robin- do you know of a good YouTube on using the poly bag method. I haven't seen one.
Glen- If your reading or not, I'm sending in a donation.

Cheers,

Bill

 

[Benson Gray]

I too have scanned the OT's for sale and see lots for sale and little movement.

There are two things about old canoes that you may want to keep in mind. The first is that the prices are highly seasonal and this time of year is when the prices are lowest because storage space over the winter is at a premium. The second is that there are many more people selling wooden canoes than buyers so the prices have stayed low over the past few decades. This is good news for those of us who like old canoes. However, the old adage of 'what is cheap is wasted' remains true so nice old canoes are frequently cut up for book shelves, used as flower pots in the yard, and other things that make them much harder to restore. Tim Hewitt once wrote "If your goal is to make money on a canoe, go into another hobby, you'll not likely make any here. If you enjoy working on old canoes and eventually need to sell them to make space for new projects, this is a great hobby." The link below has more on that topic. Good luck with the project,

Benson

How much is my old wooden canoe worth?

How much is my old canoe worth? One of the most common questions that gets sent to the WCHA webmasters is "how much is my old canoe worth?" Tim Hewitt's responses over the years have included the following comments: Any wooden or wood/canvas canoe in usable condition is worth $1000 - $1500. A...

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