Getting Started

I was surprised to see the variety of woods used to construct this canoe. The planing is of western red cedar and the ribs are of northern white cedar. The breast hooks, seat frames, thwart, and keel are made of white oak. The inwales are made up of Douglas fir, and the outwales are of African mahogany. Each wood was chosen because of its characteristics and ability to perform specific functions well. The cedars are very light and rot resistant and the white oak is very strong and fairly rot resistant and holds fasteners very well. Besides the mahogany's aesthetic appeal, it is a good all around boat building wood and the Douglas fir is very light and strong.

After John and Nancy had owned the canoe for a number of years, it was again damaged when blown away in a storm. I believe it was found under a neighbor's dock with the canvas torn and a puncture in one of the planks. The torn canvas was removed and the canoe was then stored. Over the years, the varnish deteriorated and a couple of the floor boards suffered some dry rot, but overall, the canoe remained structurally sound.

Our goal was to refurbish the canoe without losing the hard-earned patina that it had developed over the last 46 years. The hull of the canoe has its share of bumps and bruises and each one tells a story. The antique wooden canoe is beautiful in itself, but it is the patina that truly gives it character.

After doing a quick survey and cleaning (including removing the old mud hornet's nest) we were ready to start refinishing the interior. The first step was to remove the seats and the center thwart. This was more difficult than it sounds because the diamond headed bronze bolts were badly corroded. Several of the bolts were damaged beyond reuse.

In an effort to keep the canoe's appearance original, John opted to have the corroded diamond headed bolts replaced with after market replicas. We purchased 10 Old Town style diamond head brass bolts from Rollin Thurlow at Northwood's Canoe Company. As we continued through this project we found that most of the fasteners used in the gunnels and keel were almost completely depleted. All of the original fasteners were replaced with new silicon bronze screws from JamestownDistributors.com.

1964 "Fifty Pound" Old Town Canoe

When we delivered the Penobscot 14 Whitehall style boat to John and Nancy, John asked if Sawtooth Boat Works would be interested in rebuilding an old wood and canvas canoe that had been hanging in their garage for many years. Even though this was to be new territory for us, we gladly accepted the chance to work on one of these beautiful classic canoes.

John sent the serial number from his canoe to the Old Town Canoe Company and found out that it was a 1964 Fifty Pound model (15 foot). The link below will take you to an interesting chart that shows the quantities built of each model type over the years. There were about 6,805 of the Fifty Pound model built over a 55 year span between 1911 and 1966.

(Source: http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/models.html)

Construction of this particular canoe was completed on April 20, 1964, varnished on April 23rd, and canvassed on April 24th. According to the records, it was returned July 28, 1965 to L.L. Bean for repairs.