Project

[Robin]

I admire your choice, something different. I like green, lots of green canoes around. For me, taking a big step is going from Interlux Green to Epifanes Green. When I saw my friend David’s (aka coldfeet) Chestnut Chum in Epifanes green next to my Fox in Interlux green, I knew it was time for a change.
Epifanes on the left,


When I paint my JR Robinson I might go with dark blue, I’ve seen it on a canoe and thought it looked nice.

 

[Ruttrowe]

Quite a finish difference between the Interlux and Epifanes! I’m not afraid of color if you don’t like it you can always change.

Any experience with George Kirby paints?

 

[Cheeseandbeans]

I’ve had good luck with Kirby. Nice folks and good service too.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Biased. Yale Blue for me.

Yale Blue catches my eye as well

You guys are killing me. Someone at Old Town went to the wrong school before the 1920's.

Signed, a grad of: Columbia (light blue), FSU (garnet and gold), Harvard (crimson), and NYU (violet)

 

[Benson Gray]

Someone at Old Town went to the wrong school before the 1920's.

Samuel Braley Gray graduated from Bowdoin College in 1903 and ran the Old Town Canoe Company from 1905 to 1961. The Bowdoin colors are black and white. College colors were always a popular choice for canoes. New York was one of the biggest markets for Old Town canoes which may better explain the inclusion of Yale Blue in the color charts.

Benson

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Samuel Braley Gray graduated from Bowdoin College in 1903 and ran the Old Town Canoe Company from 1905 to 1961.

It's so informative having a scion of the Old Town Grays here and surely the leading expert on the history of Old Town canoes.

Is this the Gray who went to Bowdoin with his daughter?



I think I know the answer because I read this interesting and sentimental article about the Grays and the history of that particular canoe:

An Heirloom Canoe—An Old Town family boat finds its way home​

College colors were always a popular choice for canoes.

Here is a 1937 Old Town HW in Princeton orange before it was restored in 2013, followed by a three part article about the restoration.

Re-Canvassing a 1937 Old Town Canoe, Part 1

On January 20th, 1937, my 17′ Old Town HW-model canoe was canvassed at the factory in Old Town, ME. On April 28th, 2013, I decided that at 76 years and 14 weeks I had probably gotten my money…

authenticboats.com

Re-Canvassing a 1937 Old Town Canoe, Part 2

With three good coats of varnish built up on the outside of the hull, it was time to stretch the canvas. On final precaution against the epoxy filler adhering was to spray the varnished hull exteri…

authenticboats.com

Re-Canvassing a 1937 Old Town Canoe, Part 3

Once the canvas has been stretched on to the canoe hull, it needs to be filled. This fills the weave and waterproofs the exterior, making a smooth surface for the final coats of paint. To say that …

authenticboats.com

 

[Gamma1214]

For me, taking a big step is going from Interlux Green to Epifanes Green

Interesting... Honestly, your light green (your Chum?) is so distinctive that I recognize it as yours every time I see it on the 'net and that was a big factor in me planning lilac for my restoration before the deal fell through last year... perhaps some day...

 

[Benson Gray]

Is this the Gray who went to Bowdoin with his daughter?

Yes, the picture below shows my father as a teenager with the same canoe and dog.

Benson

 

[Cheeseandbeans]

Interesting... Honestly, your light green (your Chum?) is so distinctive that I recognize it as yours every time I see it on the 'net

That is interesting. Robin- I wouldn’t have thought of a shade or type of paint so distinctive, but you may want to reconsider. That color/shade may be part of a legacy… just a thought.

Bob

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Ruttrowe, in my thread about painting a canoe @Robin and @Cheeseandbeans began discussing a fast drying filler recipe including Gluvit and a fairing compound used by restorer Schuyler Thomson. That discussion begins at the following point in the thread:

Video: Painting a Canvas Canoe, and Some Questions

He puts on "several" white primer coats, sanding in between them, before putting on several top coats of red paint. Inexperienced me, I didn't realize primer paint was put on over the filler before the outside paint. Is this the standard practice? Since I have some brown paint chipped off the...

www.canoetripping.net

I just noticed that in Part 1 of the three Princeton orange canoe articles I linked above, the author says he used a fast drying, epoxy-based filler from Dick Persson of Buckhorn Canoe Company. Note that he takes the extra step of first coating the planks with three coats of varnish and a silicone "mould-release". (I suspect he means "mold release", the stuff that's sprayed on a composite canoe mold before the gel coat and fabric layups.) Anyway, here is what he says with accompanying pictures:

"I sanded the exterior of the hull with 80-grit to take out the re-saw marks and then built up three coats of varnish, topped with a healthy spray of silicone mould-release. In the event that any of the epoxy penetrated all the way through the canvas, this would prevent the canvas from becoming glued to the hull."

Part 3 of the article goes into detail about the epoxy-based filler.

So, maybe that formula, or that extra step, would be something you could try if you go the "fast filler" route, so as to take a few days for filler to dry instead of a month+.

 

[Ruttrowe]

Process is essentially like fiberglassing only the cloth is canvas. I’m thinking I’m going to try the mastic filler route. I noticed that Island Falls Canoe has a mastic filler available as well as the traditional filler.

 

[Ruttrowe]

Yes, the picture below shows my father as a teenager with the same canoe and dog.

Benson



View attachment 134068

Is this also the canoe you are sailing in your profile picture?

 

[Benson Gray]

Is this also the canoe you are sailing in your profile picture?

Yes, a larger version is shown below.

Benson

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Is this also the canoe you are sailing in your profile picture?

Yes, a larger version is shown below.

Three generations of Gray men in the same canoe. Wow! How many times has it been recanvassed and/or repainted with the same design?

 

[Ruttrowe]

Very cool! A challenge to sail as well I bet.

 

[Benson Gray]

How many times has it been recanvassed and/or repainted with the same design?

The build records below show that it was first canvassed in December, 1934 and the design was added in 1936. It returned to the factory for repairs in 1939. These included burning the old paint off and repainting the design in December, 1939. It returned again in 1942 and was sold to Joseph Deschane. I have spoken with his grandson Henry about this canoe but don't recall how long it was in their family or how many times it was recanvassed or repainted when they owned it. Canoe canvas commonly lasts about 25 years in normal use. It had no canvas when I first saw it in the late 1990s with another owner. I eventually purchased it and the restoration process started in 2002. The most recent design was painted in 2007. It is great fun to sail but takes my full attention in a good breeze.

Benson

 

[Ruttrowe]

Was the design done by hand or is there some type of template or stencil used that the paint can be sprayed on? And the sail rigging was that a one off or a production rigging available?

 

[Benson Gray]

Was the design done by hand or is there some type of template or stencil used that the paint can be sprayed on? And the sail rigging was that a one off or a production rigging available?

All of the Old Town paint designs were done by hand including this one. There were a group of cardboard triangle templates that were sized for the different lengths of the gunwales on various models. I worked with a local sign painter who proposed using vinyl but that didn't work around the compound curves of the sponsons. This is a deceptively simple pattern which is devilishly difficult to lay out. It took many pencil lines, a big eraser, and a lot of patience before the basic outline started to look good enough even to think about painting it. I tried valiantly to find a geometric way to align the center the star on the bow but never found one. My final solution was to just cut out a template, move it around until it looked like it was in the right place, and then simply trace around it. The link below and my article in Wooden Canoe can help if anyone wants to reproduce this.

Another Old Town Canoe Design number four question

My ongoing research about the Old Town Canoe Design number four has uncovered another interesting wrinkle. It appears that the entire design may have been scaled to match the length of the canoe. For example, I have a 16 foot long Yankee with what appears to be an original design number four...

www.wcha.org

Old Town offered production canoe sailing rigs in various sizes for many years so those are standard. The lines and fittings to mount a pair of them on one canoe had to be customized. The link below has more details about the evolution of Old Town's sailing rigs over the years.

Old Town canoe sailing rig evolution

The Old Town Canoe Company catalogs show an interesting progression of the standard sailing rigs over the years as shown in the catalog pages attached below. The first sailing canoe was shown in 1907 with tear drop shaped leeboards and no rudder. The next major change was to a more square...

www.wcha.org

Let me know if this doesn't answer your questions.

Benson

 

[Ruttrowe]

Great thanks!

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

my article in Wooden Canoe can help

What issue of Wooden Canoe, Benson? Is the issue or just the article accessible electronically?