After looking through some of the offices, we walked over to another office building where Old Town keeps all of their records from all the canoes and kayaks they have built over the years. These brown wooden boxes go back all the way to the beginning of the company’s inception and provide detailed information on who bought the watercraft, where it was shipped to, and what kind of modifications were made to it. Ryan told me that it’s not uncommon for a family to contact them about an old canoe that has been in the family for generations, and want to know where and when it was exactly acquired.
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This is Part 2 of the Maine Factory Tour. If you would like to read Part 1, click HERE.
Moving onward and we made it into the factory where all the magic happens. I have to be honest, I had no idea how much work went into making some of these watercraft. Some of the more complicated watercraft can require many man-hours to complete, from parts assembly to custom equipment fittings. Rotational Molding or Rotomolding is the name of the game here and helps the canoes and kayaks keep their even thickness throughout the entire watercraft.
This method is used for many of Old Town’s canoes and kayaks, including the Discovery and Penobscot models. The process involves loading the mold where polyethylene powder is placed into a hollow aluminum mold. Then the mold is heated in an oven while rotating on multiple axes, causing the plastic to melt and evenly coat the interior. After heating, the mold is cooled, solidifying the plastic into a rigid, seamless hull. The finished hull is then removed, and excess material is trimmed. While this may sound like a lot of work, it’s nothing compared to the 500 man-hours that can be spent on a traditional wooden Canoe.
The three-layer construction is what gives the Penobscot and Discovery Canoes their inherent rigidity and overall toughness while still being light enough for a one-man carry. This three-layer construction includes the outer layer, durable and UV-resistant, and the foam core inner layer for buoyancy and rigidity. Finally, there is the Inner layer, a smooth surface for comfort and aesthetics.
Old Town also utilizes Thermomolding for many of their kayaks and Canoes, where weight is a primary consideration for the user. You can find this process on their Saranac and Rogue River fishing kayaks. The process is similar to Rotomolding but may only consist of one layer vs multiple.
Once the watercraft has been cooled and trimmed, it’s time for the accessories to be installed. This can include seats, thwarts, gunwales, and other fittings that are added. Old Town seems to be making many of their newer fishing kayaks with modularity in mind, allowing their users to create whatever kind of watercraft they can dream of. After installing, all the watercraft are put through a Quality control screening and tested to live up to the Old Town Legacy.
After a watercraft passes the quality control process, it gets wrapped up and awaits shipping to the nearest outdoor sporting goods store near you. Ryan was excited to tell me that the Old Town is now offering direct sales to consumers. This helps cut out the middleman but also means that you can get many of their products delivered directly to your front door if you so choose. For those of us living in rural locations, this is very exciting to hear, in my opinion.
Finally, at the end of the tour was a green Discovery 158 Canoe waiting for me! The guys in the shipping facility were more than happy to help me load this nearly 16-foot beast onto the back of my SUV and strap it down. The Discovery 158 canoe has long been celebrated as one of the most popular and enduring recreational canoes on the market. Introduced in the 1980s, it quickly gained a loyal following for its exceptional durability, stability, and versatility. The Discovery 158 offers a nearly indestructible hull that resists abrasions and impacts, making it ideal for families, anglers, and casual paddlers.
I plan on using this canoe on many trips this spring/summer, and I will be documenting them and sharing them along with a long-term review of the Discovery 158 so please stay tuned for more paddling content in the following months from myself here at AllOutdoor. I also want to thank Ryan and all the great guys at Old Town Canoe for making this visit happen!
The post Old Town Kayaks & Canoes: Maine Factory Tour – Part 2 appeared first on AllOutdoor.com.
