I am restoring a 1979 model Old Town Tripper made or royalex with wood trim. All the wood was rotten and but the royalex is excellent. I have stripped it down to the plastic hull and about to install the new vinyl gunwales and decks then the middle thwart and seats along with a second thwart. I have found some color pictures of early 70’s-80’s Old Town Trippers that appear to have white (or biege) colored vinyl gunwales and decks.?! Anybody seen this before,…sure wish they still made them like that,…alot cooler to the touch on hot days. Gonna make the bow seat a WEB type for the solo option.
yes, beige vinyl
My 1979 tripper has beige vinyl gunwales, decks, and seats. So does a friend’s tripper from the early 80s. The seats are flat unlike the later molded seats, so turning around on the bow seat is not a problem.
A picture?
I would LOVE it if you could send me a picture of your Tripper! I suppose its green,…its only available color I believe.
Me '78 Tripper has beige 'gunnels,
– Last Updated: Feb-28-11 6:10 PM EST –
Ah'll send yer a series o' detailed daguerreotypes on de weekend. Of course it be green... wit dat blindin'ly light green interior.
FE
this pic will expire soon no doubt
but its an OT tripper on Maine craigslist. Beige gunwales
http://maine.craigslist.org/boa/2237299804.html
Ah’ paid $525 back in '78
– Last Updated: Feb-28-11 6:32 PM EST –
brandy new...
FE
That’d be the genuine “oltonar”.
Is the outer ABS layer black?
Tripper-Ranger
Tripper with wood trim? Either yours is a Ranger, or the Tripper with wood trim was in later years named a Ranger.
Either way they are rare and I think really cool. Sure you don;t want to redo the wood trim? It may be a wash $ wise, and new trim would last the life of the boat with minimal care. Have a local woodworker make it out of ash. I’m just sayin 
Have not seen that old vanilla white gunwhale material for a long time, maybe Old Town would sell you some if they have any ?
Yeah mines black
Yeah after I stripped mine down to the royalex hull,.I actually trimmed off the top 3/4 inch of the hull all along the gunwale edge. Sealed it with two layers of Thompson weatherseal. The outer layer of substrate is black and quite thick.
RANGER -YES
Wow I just finished scraping off the old RANGER stickers at the bow. I just assumed the canoe was actually used by a PARK RANGER and that was their logo. WOW. I did not know they had a RANGER model. Thanks for the info!
Old Town Canoe Co. used to sell …
… kit canoes . These canoes began life as the shell and all the parts sold as a kit . The purchaser did the final assembly .
We have one (1984 16’-10" royalex) , it’s gunnels are cream color . Very pretty canoe , has the nice old color green outer skin .
1977 Old Town Ranger
I have a 1977 Ranger, it is aactually the Tripper model with the wood trim. I purchased it new. I would like to restore to the original wood gunwales or as close as possible. I may go back with the vinyl gunwales in stead of the spruce and mahogany.
Kennebec
That is most likely an Old Town Kennebec. They designed the hulls with forward sweeping bow and stern and no tumblehome so they could be stacked three or four high for cheaper shipping. Then the store (or customer) installed the gunwales, end caps, seats, and thwarts. I assembled many of them myself. The boat was very serviceable in FW and WW but was not as stable as a Tripper.