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older Chestnut Bobs

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Location
Appleton, Maine
I saw an ad for a 15' wood canvas Chestnut canoe on Facebook Marketplace recently, the canoe was located 15 minutes from my house. I sent a message and set up a meeting with the nice lady selling it.
She claimed it was a 1915 Chestnut, I was hoping it was a Chum, but when I saw it I wasn't sure it was even a Chestnut. Maybe an Old Town 50 lb'er. It had a cracked rib and some iffy plank, but the canvas and wood was solid, the paint old and peeling. Turns out it was an old Chestnut Bobs

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What threw me off was the screws used to hold on the gunnels, they where slotted round heads rather than the Robertsons type that Chestnut always used. Turns out Robertsons weren't invented till sometime in the 30's and Chestnut used these slotted round heads before then, so that put the canoe around 1930.

I sanded the hull and interior, removed the gunnels and sanded them, cleaned up the screw heads and replaced the gunnels. I used some Sikaflex caulking under the gunnels against the canvas to help give the canvas a few more years. Varnish and paint, she came out good. I was going to keep her but I just don't have the room, she sold in a day on Marketplace.

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Aha! I couldn't get the "upload attachments" to work, and forgot about using the "toggle advanced editor (the big capital A above right) I can'rt edit my original post, so I'll just ad some pictures rather than start over.

Sanding the hull
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Some peeled paint sanded and primed the canvas there, showed the buyer before and after pictures and told him it will need a canvas down the road.

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I applied a small bead of Sikalex 291 to area where the canvas meets the gunnel and painted over it. This helps prolong the canvas top where it tends to rot prematurely.
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Sikaflex sealant, also those cleaned up slotted round head screws (brass?), probably 90 years old.

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My favorite paint, Sea Green Brightside,

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She cleaned up well for an old but still good canvas,

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Dunno how I missed this post back in June. Perhaps it was during that dark time when I was unable to access the site along with others... which prompted the great migration to our current server!

That's a nice looking finished job, and with lots of character in the interior and gunwale patina. What's your impression of the Bob's Special shape? I know they're somewhat wide and perhaps more stable for families, fishing, etc. I'm going to look at a Chestnut soon which the seller lists simply as "old canoe", so they don't know what they have. May be a Bob's or a Chum, I'm not sure. I'm hoping to join the Chestnut club and learn the secret handshake...
 
I like the Bobs and would have kept the one in this thread but I have a Chum and a lightweight Fox (14'), no room for a 3rd small canoe.
I have restored and sold a couple before this one, they are lightweight and good paddling canoes. While they are wider than the Chum, when leaned over a bit they are as fast if not faster than the Chum IMHO. I was in my Chum with Fitz in his very old Bobs one day and I had all I could do to keep up with him. Of course, he's a better paddler than me, but he could make the Bobs fly.
I'm not positive, but most Chums have 1 & 1/2" ribs with the same space between ribs, most, if not all Bobs have wider ribs, 2 & 3/8ths inch, with 1 & 1/2" between ribs. Bobs also have thinner ribs, 1/4" thick vs. the 3/8ths" thick ribs of the Chum.
Both the Chum and Bobs have one center thwart, 2 seats.
Bobs should be about 36-37" wide, weigh about 58 lbs.
Chum is around 31" wide and about 63-65 lbs.

Bobs on the left with a sailing thwart upfront, Chum in the center with a higher shear line, and a 16' Pal on the right (both Chum and Pal have narrow ribs)
3 chestnuts.jpg
 
Thanks Robin. Great to see all three side by side! Still no word from the owner of the " old canoe". It has one center thwart, no seats, and I haven't seen the bottom so I don't know if it has a shoe keel or a standard keel. I can see the keel screws on the interior picture, so I know there's one there.
 
Thanks, Loon and Snapper,

I really enjoy working on these old Chestnut canoes and then paddling them, almost like twice the fun of ownership.
 
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