CL: Two 1932 canoes. Run to them or run away?

[Ted K]

http://southjersey.craigslist.org/boa/1387890374.html

I don't have the space.
I don't have the time.
I don't have the money.
They might be huge projects to restore.

But I want a canoe . . .

(leaning against)

[2MeterTroll]

you want canoe, there are two canoe, not much work in a canoe. you got folks here would probable like one to work on as well.

me I like boats, means i got no money but i got a few boats. i would go for it. if nothing else you could shine em up a little and sell them again for more then you paid.

[Todd Bradshaw]

uuuuuhhhh, I don't think so Troll. It's a lot of tedious work to re-float them and ruin them in the process. It's a lot more tedious work to actually restore them properly and preserve them or give them any sort of decent cash value. If you just want a canoe, that's not a very straightforward or quick way to go about getting one. They are certainly wothwhile and interesting projects if you're seriously looking for one and they can be restored, but don't kid yourself about the amount of time and work required to do a decent job of it.

BTW, contrary to the seller's statement, there ain't no teak on Old Towns. Ribs and planking will be cedar and trim-out woods include mahogany, spruce and ash. Do a good job and they will eventually look kind of like this.

[2MeterTroll]

I'll not quibble about the restoration process since its not my cup of tea. I bow to you greater experiance in this matter.

building them on occasion i dont see them as much work. the parts are small and most of the work can be done indoors sitting before a warm fire with a glass of wine close to hand. This i do on lots of little projects, I do not class as work but rather a nice way to relax.

each to there own.

[ripley699]

If you buy them,I would be interested in the shorter one ...price right?

[Todd Bradshaw]

Are we looking at the same photos?....because I see a couple of canoes which look like the tops of the stems have rotted away, the gunwales need to be removed and replaced with new ones, which means steam bending long, expensive chunks of wood, there are bound to be some rotten or broken rib tops along with the gunwale damage, meaning either scarphing new chunks on or removing ribs, steam-bending new ones and tacking them in place, the decks are most likely rotten at the stems and need replacement, the seats need work and the entire inside needs to be stripped and refinished, which is a pretty long and tedious job and a lot of work to clean up, even if you can find a pro to do the stripping. Once that's all done and refinished, the canvas needs to be replaced, followed by filler, primer, paint and eventually repair, refinishing or replacement of the keel. You had better pour yourself an awfully big glass of wine for your little fireside refurbishing session and don't get the stripper too close to the fire or the room will blow up. Ain't it a bitch when reality rears it's ugly head and just stomps the crap out of a nice, quaint little scenario? As I said, this is a do-able project and there is actually a certain sense of enjoyment, and even fun, in watching a nice canoe come back to life, but don't kid yourself for a minute into thinking that a few evenings drinking wine while sitting by the fire will take care of what needs to be done to these boats. You may get warm and drunk, but your canoe will still be a wreck.

[2MeterTroll]

Mr Bradshaw do you ever actually read what is written before you take off on self righteous arguments?

Again: YOU HAVE AND DO RESTORE CANOES! I DO NOT! YOU HAVE MORE EXPERIENCE THAN I DO IN THAT ARENA!
I BUILD CANOES AND KAYAKS AND DON'T SEE THE NEW CONSTRUCTION AS WORK BUT AS SOMETHING TO DO WITH MY HANDS OF AN EVE!
Did i make that clear enough? Now can the conversation get along to what the fella needs? Or are you going to continue to beat a dead horse to Compost?

[Fitz]

I don't have the space.
I don't have the time.
I don't have the money.
They might be huge projects to restore.

These are serious issues.

If you really want a canoe, take the one with no paint on the interior. Paint is a major pain to get off of the cedar. Time is an issue. If you have some weekends to yourself, you could rehab one of the canoes in a year.

Also, if you have no experience be prepared to learn some woodworking and steam bending. Both are fun, but there is time spent learning and getting up to speed.

Cost, if you do all the work yourself, you could have a canoe that looks like Todd's for about $400 additional dollars in materials (plus what you pay for it).

What do they want for these? ($100 or $200 ??)

Unfortunately, the one with no paint is the smaller canoe. I would guess it is actually 16 ft. and is more of a courting canoe (OT Charles River or Yankee). It has no center thwart and is a pain to carry. What do you want to use the canoe for? The painted one would make a better trip canoe.

You should probably define what your paddling interests are first and then find the project canoe.

Fitz

[Ted K]

SWMBO reminded me that there is a firm limit on the number of boat projects allowed in the house at one time.

While I would not mind one day having a wood-and-canvas or solid wood canoe, it won't be this project at this time.

Fritz asked me to define my paddling interests. I am certain that these are vague:

I want a canoe because they are pretty and I like to paddle.

I don't want a canoe because I have any specific uses, waters, trips, or other purposes for a canoe.

If and when I get one I will probably pick a solo, round-bottomed, wood or wood-and-canvas canoe for river paddling, lake paddling, general messing about, and no-portage weekend camping. It will be a homebuild or a restoration. But it won't be soon.

Thanks for humoring my whimsy.

[Todd Bradshaw]

Oh well, another day, another canoe. There will be more opportunities. Have you tried convincing her that it might make sense to have a few more boats around to help transport her stuff to safety in case of a flood?.....

Mr Troll (or whatever your name actually is), I read your posts. Your first one suggested that Ted buy the boat(s), stated that there wasn't much work involved in a canoe and that if nothing else, he could "shine them up a little and resell them for more than he paid". This simply isn't true. You have obviously never done one of these projects and are not aware of how much hard, tedious work is involved in doing a decent job of it. The "information" you offered was misleading, not doing Ted any favors and possibly going to end up with a couple of restoratable old canoes in the dumpster or rotting out in the back yard when he actually found out how much time, work and money was really involved.

Your second post was mostly a romantic bit about sitting in front of the fire with your glass of wine, enjoying the building process. That may be fine with whatever it is that you build, or if one wants to sit there with a chunk of hardwood and whittle a bow chock, but it's simply not the reality of this situation. Just cleaning up the inside of one of these old canoes is dirty, dusty, stinky, sloppy work, often in very uncomfortable positions and anybody who doesn't believe it hasn't tried it. Your fireside scenario simply doesn't have anything to do with the project at hand. It may make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but it isn't going to help Ted.

There isn't much that's better than sitting in a lovely old wooden canoe that's been carefully restored, as Fitz will testify, but they don't restore themselves. It isn't technically a particularly difficult job, it's mostly just a lot of work and in the long run, every back ache, stripper burn and skinned knuckle from sanding between ribs is worth it. But anyone contemplating such a task has a right to an accurate account of what's involved before they write that check and take home a project boat.

[RFNK]

Ted wants a canoe but SWMBO says `no canoe - no more boat projects!'. Fitz says the canoe that Ted wants is a `courting canoe'. Solution's obvious. Rick

[Fitz]

Actually, I just took a look at the picture again. The shorter one is not a OT Charles River courting canoe. It does have a center thwart and may be a 14 footer as reported. It may make a decent solo canoe. If it is a 14 footer, it might not be an Old Town. 14 ft is not a common length for Old Town models. It may be a 15 ft OT Trapper/lightweight though.

Ted - I hope the thread doesn't discourage you, but you can probably find an easier project canoe.

[johngsandusky]

Restoring small boats is easier than big ones. But you need space and time. Without those, don't take on a project. No space or time means the boats will continue to decay in your custody until you have to find a new owner. I've done that.

[Todd Bradshaw]

The ends look a bit too high to me for it to have come off of the Lightweight/Trapper/Featherweight molds. Maybe it is a different brand. The other one is also a bit suspect since three thwarts tend to be rare on 16' Old Towns.