Old Town canoe information request

Griswald

New Member
Hello forum members,

My name is M. Grunwald and I live in the PNW. I just purchased an Old Town 17' wood canoe, which I believe to be a Molitor? I bought it from the original owner on Bainbridge Island, who purchased it new in 1979.

I would love to know if someone might be so kind as to perhaps look up the number for a build record? The number is: 232813

A bit about me: I spent 20 summers in the BWCA and mostly the Quetico. My father had a cabin on Fall Lake outside of Ely. In college, I worked for Tom and Wood's outfitters on Moose Lake. I grew up in Grumman aluminum canoes, but loved to paddle wood canvas (just not carry them far)

After I moved out to the PNW, the canoe time dropped off my radar. Now with 2 boys (12 and 14) I am ready to come back to it.

Here are some pictures for you.

Very best,
Matthew

PS I think there is some salt damage to several clinch nails, and that the canoe has been refinished at some point, but I do not plan on ever using it in the salt, and it will be stored in a dry climate controlled (indoors) place.
 

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Here are a couple more pictures.
 

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The Old Town canoe with serial number 232813 is a 17 foot long Molitor model with a keel. It was built between May and August, 1980. The original exterior fiberglass was left clear to show the natural wood. It shipped on October 31st, 1980 to Seattle, Washington. The back side of this record indicates that there were some knots in the outside rail. Scans showing both sides of this build record can be found by following the links at the attached thumbnail images below.

These scans and several hundred thousand more 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 will join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/about-the-wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://store.wcha.org/WCHA-New-Membership.html to join.

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. The 'blooms' around the tacks are common on a canoe that has been used in salt water. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson
 

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Thank you Benson. I will be joining/making a donation shortly. Should I be concerned about the blooms?

Very best,
Matthew
 
Should I be concerned about the blooms?

Well, yes and no. They indicate a premature failure of the tacks which is bad. However, you can't easily remove the fiberglass to check and replace any broken ones like you could if this canoe was covered in canvas. I would just treat it gently and ignore the blooms. Others here may have some better ideas,

Benson
 
Hello all,
I would like to spar varnish the inside of my canoe, but would like to know if I should apply something like a "salt-a-way" product to neutralize the white blooms and corrosion on the clinch nails? Any feedback is appreciated!

Best,
Matthew
 
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