Category: 1956 Century Cowhide Palomino

Finally, after way, way too long, this 1956 Century “Cowhide” Palomino is on the water again! Her original engine is fresh from a comprehensive rebuild, so we did not push it to run a full throttle.

Still, isn’t she just so inviting cutting through the water!

Everything about this boat is completely original, save for the burgee and the seat cushions, but even they are original in a sense. I sourced the fabric – all that this firm still had in its old inventory – from the same company that supplied this fabric to Century in 1956. Indeed, I purchased all of what was left over from that year. So, while the foam inside them is today, the fabric used is 1956.

(We have kept the original cushions, and will include them with the boat and Tee Nee trailer when her next owner takes her home)

The Tee Nee, which RJ disassembled completely and then preserved, is original to the boat, as are her engine, hardware, gauges, steering wheel, badging, and all of her wood.

Nary a sliver of wood has been replaced.

Next owner? Yes, she is now officially residing in the Snake Mountain Boatworks showroom, and will appear on the Century Club and other sites shortly. She can be yours! If she is, you will own one of a very, very small, fewer than 6 as far as we have been able to find out, population of Cowhide Palominos.

Give us a call and we can explore the possibilities!

We bought her and her original Tee Nee trailer on November 25, 2013, from the eastern end of Long Island, NY, where she had been lying in a dry building for some time. Here is the video I shot that Sunday and Monday.

We had previously restored several bright-sided Palominos, but hull number P 5652, was the first “black” one to come into the shop. She was represented as a 1957, but, with super support from the Century Boat Club members, I learned that she is in fact a 1956, the only year Century offered this particular model.

She was and remains remarkably original. Save for her bow and stern flags, both of which we have saved for her next owner(s), and her seat cushions, nothing but cosmetics and Fran Secor’s (Otega, NY), rebuilding her original 30 HP Johnson Sea Horse engine, nothing has been changed. Even her original hull number remains deeply punched into her bottom transom plank.

We saved the original seat cushions, but, unlike the rest of the upholstery, which is virtually like new, these cushions were just too sunburnt and cracked to save. However, with the help of Dave at A&A Marine, we were led to the manufacturer that originally supplied the cowhide fabric to Century. One partial bolt of NOS, 1956 fabric remained in their inventory. We bought all of it.

Finally, today, we pulled everything together and test ran the engine, which passed with flying colors.

Her sea trial is next, but the weather gods are not smiling on us. Lake Champlain is being buffeted by strong winds today, and tomorrow’s forecast is not any better, so we will pivot to next week and share her return to the water with you.

Our preservation of my 16’ 1956 Century Cowhide Palomino is approaching the finish line. Her original Tee Nee trailer is fully preserved and as of today is back under her.

Fran Secor of Otega, NY finished a complete restoration of her original, 1956, 30 HP Johnson Sea Horse and delivered it to the shop last week.

Only final wiring and the speedo, which Dale Kocian is restoring, stand in the way of her sea trials. Yes, we will record and share video of that event.

Enjoy!

We were not pleased with the bleaching results, so we sanded this 1956 Century “Cowhide” Palomino’s Avodire decks and hatch cover with fantastic results. The tiger figuring leapt out at us, and the 80 grit we used delivered the teeth we need for successful staining.

And stain we did, using Sandusky Chris-Craft Corina Blonde Filler Stain.

Patience is the key. The temptation to brush it on and wipe it off is powerful, but giving into to it is completely wrong. It is a “filler” stain because, used properly, it will fill the valleys and scratches left by sanding. As such, staining properly is truly an early step towards your goal, a varnished surface that looks all the world like it is ten feet deep.

Letting the stain flash and turn from reflecting light to a dull, flat surface is critical. Then, even though doing so requires three or four X the work, it’s all about scrubbing the wood clean using cheese cloth and going across the grain. When are you finished? When the surface begins reflecting light again, which informs you that the stain has filled the valleys, and it is time for a final burnishing with clean cheese cloth and a gentle touch.

Once the stain has cured for 24 hours, the first of three coats of CPES can be applied. Now it is time for applying the varnish of your choice.

It is time for an update on our preservation of the 1956 Century “Cowhide” Palomino, hull #P 5652. We completely stripped her bottom planking up to her waterline. Remember, Century Palomino’s are single planked with battens running through the bilge along every plank seam. Installing a true 5200 bottom therefore has little meaning.

Rather we applied three coats of Smith’s Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer (CPES) to all surfaces including the inevitable spaces between the bottom planks. We then filled those voids with Sikaflex 289, which is designed as a seam compound that cures, but remains highly pliable.

Why don’t we use 3M 5200 for this purpose? Unlike the Sikaflex product, 5200 becomes extremely hard once it is fully cured, so hard, in fact, that it will not compress in the face of even the slightest swelling of the planking risks crushing the wood.

Then, as is reinforced in his Classic Boating article, “What is a True 5200 Bottom?” (September/October 2014), we applied two coats of barrier coat beneath four coats of Hard Racing Bronze bottom paint.)

We cleaned out every countersink in the topsides, replaced most of the fasteners and tightened the few that were not replaced, faired the surface, applied three coats of Jamestown Total Boat topside primer beneath the first two of what will eventually be five coats of Total Boat black topside paint. We had hoped to save the original bright finish on the Avodire decks and aft hatch cover, but the splits we discovered in several planks forced us to strip these surfaces completely, carefully release, glue and refasten the offending planking.

Now it is time to bleach the Avodire – which is also known as African White Mahogany. After experimenting with many products, our go-to wood bleach is Kleen Strip (available from Amazon.com). In spite of the accepted “wisdom” that dictates applying a single coat, allowing the wood to dry, and then applying a second one, we get fantastic results by continually reapplying and keeping the wood wet for at least two hours.

Once the wood dries thoroughly, which takes 36 +/- hours, we will apply stain the surface and then apply three coats of CPES before engaging the final step, varnishing with Pettit Hi-Build. Our goal is to have her back together by the end of next week, which may be optimistic given the cure time implications of build a dozen coats of varnish and at least four more coats of Total Boat black on the covering boards and topsides.

Thanks for watching! Please weigh in with your comments.

Yes, this video is long by YouTube standards, but we have been receiving calls, emails and texts asking us to shoot a video focusing on paying Sikaflex into deck seams the Snake Mountain Boatworks way.

Here it is. I hope it fills in the gaps, if you will excuse a terrible pun.

Very few of Century Boat Company’s “Cowhide” Palominos with their distinctive Avodire decks and glossy black topsides and covering boards were built in 1956. Fewer still have survived. Hull No. P5652 is one that did, along with her original Tee Nee trailer and 30 HP Johnson Sea Horse outboard.

As we have observed during her preservation, she is the single most original Century we have seen to date at Snake Mountain Boatworks. Our work was purely a cosmetic preservation as nary a single piece of wood has been replaced. We saved, polished and re-used every hardware fastener. All of the hardware is original, having been prepped and plated by New England Chrome Plating, East Hartford, CT.

Fran Secor, noted Johnson rebuilder and restorer, has been able to save her original engine. As of today he’s completed all of the mechanical work and much of the final painting and assembly. Would a larger engine propel her more quickly? Yes, but it would not be original. Save for her seat cushions, all of the upholstery is original, and those cushions were fabricated by A&A Marine using material from a NOS bolt of period cowhide fabric, sourced from the firm that supplied Century during the mid-1950s.

While we have, and her new owner(s) will receive her original burgee and stern flags, neither of them could survive even one roar across the water. We found an identical stern flag from the same period, and had Dave at A&A Marine fabricate two burgees, the black-on-white one that you see in this clip, and the more traditional white-on-red background burgee resting on the helm cushions. Her Tee Nee trailer is about half-way through a complete restoration that began with it being completely disassembled, sandblasted and primed with metal etching primer, and is now being in brilliant Ford chrome yellow two-part epoxy.

We are racing to have her ready for her new owners before the ice leaves Lake Champlain. Meeting that goal is made easier by the fact that we still have over 2 feet of ice on the Lake.

Once again David Irving and his Bone Yard Boats has proven to be an invaluable channel for helping owners of great old wooden boats find and move them to new owners who are committed to doing the heavy lifting required for comprehensive preservation of these elegant ladies of yesteryear.

Now, based on the Century Boats Facebook page and speaking with Dave at A&A Marine, it seems I erred in characterizing this boat as a Palomino. In fact, it appears that she is a Pinto with horsehide upholstery, which makes total sense given how Pinto horses are marked. And her hull number, P 5652, suggests that she was actually manufactured in 1956, not 1957.

Here she is in her as-found debut at Snake Mountain Boatworks. With her hull number stamped on her transom, and as complete and unhurt as a 55 year-old boat can possibly be.