Well, 3 weeks later and I'm almost (or only depending on my mood) 3/8 of the way through stripping.  Slow going when only work about an hour a day...  Started skipping the ribs that are cracked out of shape.  May try to save ones that are cracked - perhaps try edge gluing with West Systems and a hair drier?

Last weekend Dave and I went to Parkerville lumber in Manchester.  Cool store - lots of different woods available.  Picked up 4 5/4x6x6' northern white cedar boards.  Dave took one to the Cape to make a few trial ribs.  The ribs are a bit more complex than I thought.  In addition to the width varying from 9/4" to 6/4", the thickness appears to vary from 3/8" on the floor to 5/16" at the gunnels.  Sides are tapered on both sides from full measured width.

Snapped a couple of pics I will post next time I download from the camera.

Got a reply from OldTown to my early e-mail.  They sent another copy of the build sheet, and offered some encouragement and to be a source of materials.  Nice reply.

Costs keep accumulating - another $60 for stripping supplies and $140 for rib stock last weekend.

I'll send Bob and Nancy an update on where I am with a Christmas card...

2:30 pm.  Did 6 more half ribs under the stern seat, another hour.  No good system yet.  6 is too many, the goo dried before I got it all scraped.  A flakey mess, and did not strip as well.  Next time, I'll try 1 or 2 at a time.

11:30 am. One layer of remover, 9 half ribs under the stern Deck.  1 hour.  Wipe with paper towels when done scraping.  Most gunk gone, will definitely need another coat. I think I'll  do the whole inside first.

Bought stripping equipment (gloves, brush, quart strypeez, 3M sanding pads: $40).

Tried one half rib near stern.  New plan, put canoe on side again, coat an area, scrape with pot plastic scraper, wipe with paint thinner.  Do 2nd time after do whole inside.  Then clean with TSP.  Step 1 teak cleaner (to remove stains near splits and nail rust?)  We'll see how that goes...

Tomorrow see how much of 1st remover coat I can get through...

Sunday, 22 nov 14

Found the folks at Wooden Canoe Heritage Association WCHA.  Created a profile and signed in.  They have a forum for serial number searches.  I posted and within a few hours they posted back with a copy of the original sales info for serial number 141110!

Cool.  All of the description seems to match this boat, except for the color.  I have not found any evidence of green, but only have the sponsons, and perhaps they were repainted?  But, it is 18 feet, and has all ash trim.  E-mail from the forum indicated that the aa (top) grade usually had mahogony trim, 1944 war shortages is likely why this one has ash. Overall interesting info to know... 1945, 18 ft Otca Old Town.

Talked with Dave and commiserated about the number of cracked ribs.  He floated the idea of edge epoxying some of them in place.  He also found a WCHA forum post that suggests ribs with cracks that do not distort the shape may be plenty strong with no fixing.  Re-inspection found about 15 with severe (distorted or completely broken in 2 places) problems.  Much better than 40.  Perhaps I'll try a post and see if anyone has opinions...

20 nov 2014 - Nothing much to report - still experimenting with the blog software...  Managed to download pics from camera to computer, and get some loaded into yesterday's post.  I note that I do not have any of the outside of the canoe, I'll need to get some pics to document the condition of the planking.  At this point, it looks like I'll need:

• stern seat
• stem bands
• keel
• outwales
• ~40 ribs
• some planking

The list seems to keep growing:(  On the bright side, with so many ribs that will be replaced, I do not need to strip the whole canoe - perhaps I can strip the bow and stern, and then around each rib as it is removed.  Current plan is to try to replace the ribs one or 2 at a time.  It will take a while, but I'm not in a hurry...

Tonight we did turn the canoe back right side up, only the starboard side remains to be wiped down and that should be easy enough right side up.

The Beginnings

Old Town Canoe Restoration - an attempt to restore Uncle Charlie's Old Town sponson canoe.

Saturday 15 nov 2014 - Drove to upstate NY to pick up canoe from cousin once removed Janet and Bob.  Canoe has been a barn for an indeterminate number of years waiting for restoration.  Somehow, I managed to volunteer for the assignment, and after a few phone calls and letters, here I am.

Nancy and Bob have sent some books and literature on canoe restoration - including a color guide from some time ago with the original color scheme.  The books are a trove of information, but not particularly encouraging in terms of getting my confidence up.

The canoe appears to be in relatively good shape, minus canvas, and after little inspection, and a delicious lunch, is loaded on the car for the trip back home.  Other than missing canvas, sponsons removed but tied inside the canoe, and some damage to the tips of the decks, the canoe appears relatively stable.  The sponsons have the original canvas - and paint job.  The canoe will be white, with an triangular 'indian' pattern around the gunwales and stem.

By the time I get home, and get the canoe into the basement the excitement has worn off a bit and the job ahead seems quite daunting.  I consciously avoid making any time or schedule commitments, this is going to be a project for quite a while I suspect.  The canoe is loaded on the rowing shell slings which seem to be sturdy enough (barely), and the canoe needs to be loaded at the ends as it is too wide to fit otherwise.

Sunday I do a bit more inspecting, and Dave comes by to reconnoiter.  I notice that several ribs are broken, but only a small part of one side seems to be distorted out of shape.  The job ahead seems a bit more daunting, but still doable.  In addition to the canoe, there are the 2 sponsons, and what appears to be the 2 outwales.  The canoe seems complete other than missing: stem bands, keel and the rear seat.

The planking is in remarkably good shape - one obvious hole toward the stern, some cracked, and all very dried out.

Monday to Wednesday 17-19 nov 14 - First job, wipe down the barn dust to get a better view of what is going to be needed.  To do this, I decide to put the canoe on one side in the slings so I can sit and wipe in relative comfort (well, not bending over the whole time anyway).  Tying a rope to the center thwart, and over to the wall seems to result in a fairly sturdy position.  (note the double wherry scull and Pocock teardrop single (covered) are on the ceiling for the winter already)

Washing the inside dampens the spirits a bit more.  It turns out the wood strips with the sponsons are the sponson trim, not the outwales - that's a bummer.

There are 57 ribs.  Either 4 or 5 at each end are pseudo ribs - in that they only span half the canoe - coming together at the stem (that forms the rounded end of the canoe).  I cannot tell if the 5th from the end goes under the stem or not - assume it does - that makes 49 full width ribs.  Upon washing, it looks like there are perhaps full width 10 ribs that are not cracked and may be salvageable - that leaves about 40 that will need to be replaced!  There are about 10 good ribs at the bow (plus the 4 pseudo ribs), but only about 3 at the stern.  All the rest have cracks to various degrees.  Most of the cracks in the stern half are on the flat bottom of the canoe, and the shape of the back half appears true.

By now the planking appears to be to be what is holding the whole thing together, not a good situation.  While the shape appears true, the bottom is quite flat and I wonder if it is the original shape, or if it has sagged over the years.  But, the bottom has both full ribs, and flat floor ribs - it is hard to imagine the floor ribs would have changed shape, so I am hopeful the shape is true.

With wiping down, what seem to be serial numbers appear on both the bow and stern stems.  The number is 141110 18.  Other than family lore, there is no indication that this is an Old Town canoe, or what model it might be.  Hopefully the folks at Island Falls Canoe can verify from number that is an Old Town, and what model, and perhaps even if the shape appears correct.

Tomorrow I'll try to download some pics and see if I can figure out how to post those... (looks like it worked...)