#103406 -17

Please send a copy of the build record for #103406 -17 . Reputed to be a circa 20's Old Town. It is 17' and has 22" decks. I would add a picture of the bow and deck but not sure how to do that here..... I think I got it. It is next up for restoration.
Thanks

 

Hello,

Please re-check the serial number--- look at both stems and compare. The record for 103406 is for an 18 foot Otca. Your canoe appears to be an Otca, but not a 17 footer as you state in your request.

I'll upload the scan of the build record for 103406 so you can compare details to what you see. Also note if the place where the canoe was shipped makes sense. We can keep trying, if this record isn't the right one.

OT 103406 is an 18 foot CS (common sense, or middle) grade Otca model canoe that was completed between October 18, 1929 and January 1930 ("Black Tuesday" was October 29th). The canoe has red Western cedar planking, open spruce gunwales, a keel, and was originally painted maroon. The wood species of the trim isn't specified but is commonly birch or ash on the CS grade Otca. The canoe was shipped to Newburgh, New York, on February 17, 1930.The scan of this record is attached below-- click on it to get a larger image.

This scan and several hundred thousand others were 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/ot_records/ if you want more details. I hope that you and anyone else reading this will join or renew membership in 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.php to renew.

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Kathy

 

The number #103406 is clear, it is also stamped deeply with "17" but it is possible the 7 may have been restamped lighter with an 8. Actual measurment of the hull is 18' over all. The The decks appear from the grain pattern to be Ash or Oak so without digging into the wood I'm guessing Ash. I would have thought the record would have mentioned the deck length but it dosent. The inner rails are Spruce, the outer are Mahogany. There have been extensive patching and repair to the rails over the years so the outers may have been replaced. The owner says his Dad had it when they were in the Catskills. So maybe we have the right build record for this canoe.
Thanks

 

Glad this may be the correct record!

The length of the decks on the Otca model aren't always specified on the build record because the length (20" with coaming) was standard on pre-1957 Otcas.

I've seen that "restamping" of the length once before.

CS grade could also be oak, but oak trim was more commonly used on the CS grade Guide model, and ash or birch on the Otca... or so it seems to me from pulling up these records. Maple could also be used--- CS grade is any hardwood except mahogany, which was used in the AA grade.

Kathy