Category: 1951 Penn Yan Stern Drive President

My 1951 18’ Penn Yan President finally got her sea trial, which she blasted through, but, just as we reversed her away from the dock and Joe hit the throttle, my GoPro shut itself down. Then my iPhone said, “I can do that, too, and did. So we have a disappointingly short sea trial video to which I spliced her debut video.

With so much super-generous guidance from renowned 1000 Island boat collector and restorer, Charlie Santi of Horseheads, NY, we have been able to return her to as close as we possibly could to the finishes, materials and color pallet she boasted the day she left the Penn Yan, NY factory in 1951. Thank you for both your generosity and patience, Charlie! I will allow the clip tell you the rest of the story, but, first, here is a bit of history I dug up researching this oh-so unusual Penn Yan inboard…

German-native Charles A. Herrman founded the Penn Yan Boat Company in 1921, with Headquarters in Penn Yan, NY. Penn Yan produced a wide range of wooden powerboats, rowboats, canoes and sailboats at its founding, but switched to all fiberglass vessels in the early 1960s. No records are known to survive. The name Penn Yan is synonymous with the Car Topper, which it introduced in 1936. Designed to be light and narrow enough to fit on top of most cars of that era, Penn Yan marketed it as being easily lifted by two people Herrman was an innovator as well. Among his most notable inventions is the Tunnel Drive, which Penn Yan patented. Using a cavity that partially enclosed the propeller and drive shaft, Penn Yan’s tunnel drive system delivered higher boat speeds and hull stability.

According to Bob Speltz (Real Runabouts), “A Penn Yan inboard could take the tightest turns, either way with a perfect “gravity” bank. There was no skidding whatsoever. Running down wind in a heavy sea will find a Penn Yan being able to run wide open because it is light in the bow and heavy in the stern. “Many of the smaller length inboards built back in the 1930s through ’50s had the habit of nosediving when the throttle was cut way back. Penn Yan inboards with the front seat loaded to capacity and the stern seat empty, and ignition switched off at full speed to drag the propeller, will instantly lift its nose and settle into the water like a duck. A Penn Yan takes a wide-open throttle from a standing start. It lifts its nose instantly and “gets up and out of the wet” in a hurry. Penn Yans were also easy to steer; with the engine and rudder mounted so far aft, the constant fight of the rudder just disappeared. “The stern engine arrangement used by Penn Yan was used ever since 1932 and enjoyed great acceptance by all who owned such boats. Each Penn Yan inboard came equipped with a safety strut which was one-piece bronze casting attached to the transom carrying both the prop shaft and rudder stock. It was so rugged it could hardly be destroyed. “It has the effect of boat length behind the motor without hull buoyancy in that position, and that produced running characteristics we have already mentioned that were hard to believe. A safety feature lies in the fact that the prop is not under the bottom of the boat, and in any collision or grounding could not be driven up through the bottom of the boat, thus resulting in a sinking. The prop and rudder could be inspected, freed of weeds, or changed with the boat afloat. No stuffing box is required on the rudder stock, thus eliminating a possible source of leakage”

Well, I can tell you that this Penn Yan performed precisely as Speltz describes. She was on plane already at 1,000 RPM, and by 2,000, she was kicking up a rooster’s tail. Joe cranked the wheel and she simply carved a turn without any slippage.

What an incredible design, one that is both iconic and a joy to use for romping across the water.

My 1951 Penn Yan President blasted through several major milestones this week.

• With the application of the final two coats of Penn Yan Chinese Red gloss enamel, the is fully preserved below the waterline. (We sourced the Chinese Red from T.J. Amato, Penn Yan Parts and Accessories. The paint supplied by T.J. is formulated precisely as Penn Yan did, and it is an excellent paint in terms of application and drying.)

• Her transom and topsides have been stained, sealed with three coats of Smith’s Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer, and received their first 15 coats of pettit hi build varnish. (We sanded after coats 5, 8 and 12, and will sand them again with 400 grit before applying the final 5 – 10 coats.)

• Every square inch of her interior was stripped, sanded and sealed with CPES, before we applied 4 coats of Sikkens Cetol Marine (satin) to her hullsides and interior transom surfaces, and three coats of SANPACO gray bilge paint to her bilge. • After flipping her upright yesterday, we sanded her decks and covering boards fair.

• Today is bleaching day. As we shot the video, Joe and RJ had been applying bleach repeatedly and keeping her wet for almost three hours. As is our practice, we will continue applying Dalys’ stronger mixture – 3 parts B to 1 part A for the next three hours, and then we will leave her overnight.

Joe and I erred by referencing white Sikaflex seams. In fact, the seams will be filled with mahogany Sikaflex 291 LOT.

The seams will be only half filled, which enhances the seams’ contribution to the decks’ overall visual impact.

Her decks will be stained to match her topsides and transom, while her covering boards will remain blonde, as she was when she left the factory.

If all goes according to plan, We will stain her decks using Mike Mayer’s Lake Oswego Boat Company Custom Jel’d stain, which is now our standard.

We will stain the covering boards using Mike’s Chris-Craft Blonde Jel’d stain. Varnishing will commence once the stain is dry and three coats of Smith’s CPES have been applies.

Assembly cannot be that far away, but probably is… and winter will be here before then, so she will not splash until next spring. Darn!

Once again, Don Danenberg’s bible of wood boat restoration more than pays for itself.

Unlike most “trade” book, which tend to be all true, but absolutely NOT actionable, Don’s The Complete Wooden Runabout Restoration Guide, has but one mission, teaching the rest of us the art of wooden boat preservation.

Page 73, for example, presents a step-by-step how-to guide for fabricating a simple, but highly powerful steam generator. We built ours from his plans and materials roster. It has served us well for ten years. (The heating coils do burn out from time to time, especially if we get distracted and the sight tube goes dry.)

Why not just fire up the big band saw and cut the new stem out of a wide, and in this case very wide, white oak plank? Hmmm … doing so means having end grain, which will fray and split over time, along the outer face of the stem.

Well, just read Danenberg for the details.

Sadly, the video camera had a brain freeze and I lost the footage I shot covering pulling the blank out of the steam box and racing with it to the form. The trick is starting from the “short” end, the one closest to the stem’s sharpest curve. Joe clamped the end in place and then added clamps as RJ slowly bent the blank around the form.

Finally, they reached the other end, and then worked back and forth tightening the clamps.

We will leave things be for a week while the wood dries in the desired shape.

Then we will stain and seal it with multiple coats of Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer (CPES). Milestone!

Given how light it is, and is somewhat wide beam compared to the hull’s depth, tipping the 1951 18’ Penn Yan Traveler borders on being trivial. But over she is.

The very heavy copper or bronze keel that runs most of her length is unique in our experience, especially among Penn Yan boats we have preserved.

Happily, save for a 10-inch section at its aft end, the wooden keel lying beneath is in nearly as new condition.

We will remove the entire wood keel and keelson, and the stem as well. All components are solid and rot-free, but the fasteners have loosened and, since they are original, have most likely lost much of their tensile strength by now.

It is now a day later and we have released the stainless splash rail trim and the splash rails themselves. For the first time in our experience, nary the tiniest bit of rot is evident on the rails’ hull-mating-face or the hull planking beneath.

Stripping – always fun – with Jamestown Distributors’ Circa Heavy Body Paint and Varnish Remover ( ) has now commenced. Once again we’ve uncovered zero rot, damage or failed fasteners … but time will tell here.

Finally, we have my 1951 18’ Penn Yan Traveler Transporter fully deconstructed. Pressure washing with highly heated water and Marine Spray Nine, a heavy-duty marine cleaner-degreaser is next.

The diesel-fired North Star Industrial Hot Box heats the water to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and it is that heated water applied to the Spray-Nine-Soaked under high pressure that liquifies and sucks all oil, grease and other residue of the surface and out of the wood.

A word of caution. Notice that Joe and RJ are using a 25 degree fan nozzle. Anything narrower risks abrading wood and even cutting furrows into the soft inner planking.

Once we have her sparkling clean, and have given her at least a week inside to dry out. During that time we will address the two dropped corners where the aft deck meats the covering boards. We must raise the forward ends of the deck and then replace what appear to be missing blocking, but how we will achieve that goal remains to be seen …. Until RJ, lying on his back, can get up in there! With repairs behind us, we will next sand and then apply multiple coats of Sikkens Cetol Marine to the entire interior.

For now I am having way, way too much fun, first disassembling the seating components and engine box and then stripping what is surely a mountain of parts before I “get” to focus on stripping the ceilings.

Oh…. then comes the hull. (At least precious few coats of varnish have been applied to her over the years!

According to Bob Speltz, The Real Runabouts, Vol. 6, pages 213, 214, “Four eighteen-foot models were offered in 1951, Traveler-Transport ($2,511), Traveler-Challenger ($2,578) Traveler-President ($2,892) and Traveler-Aristocraft ($2,927). All are stern-engined inboards.

“Penn Yan inboards with the front seat loaded to capacity and the stern seat empty, and ignition switched off at full speed to drag the propeller, will instantly lift its nose and settle into the water like a duck. A Penn Yan takes a wide-open throttle from a standing start. It lifts its nose instantly and “gets up and out of the wet” in a hurry. Penn Yans were also easy to steer; with the engine and rudder mounted so far aft, the constant fight of the rudder just disappeared.

“…The stern engine arrangement used by Penn Yan was used ever since 1932… Each Penn Yan inboard came equipped with a safety strut which was one-piece bronze casting attached to the transom carrying both the prop shaft and rudder stock … (The stern engine arrangement) has the effect of (adding) boat length behind the motor without hull buoyancy in that position, and that produced running characteristics that were hard to believe.

“… 1951 model Penn Yan inboard … (bottoms) were painted Chinese red to waterline… and upholstered in Chinese red Russaloid…Transports had cushions on driver’s seat only, with other cushions and backs offered as optional equipment.”

George Kirby Jr. Paint Co. Inc.’s Web site offers custom mixed “Penn Yan Chinese Red”, which I ordered. What!!!! Imagine my shock when it arrived. The paint was quite orange.

George was perplexed, “It must be I mixed the wrong color, or the card I received from some owner is wrong. Send me a piece of your color card and we will make it right.”

The surely dead-on Chinese Red paint arrived yesterday. Today I stripped the transom, hoping her owners simply applied new bottom paint over old, including the original coating. They did.

I reached for the Circa 1850 Heavy Body Paint and Varnish Remover and went to work. Yep the original bottom paint way down against the wood remained and rolled off.

ORANGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What I found matches George’s “Penn Yan Chinese Red” exactly.

George graciously enjoyed a light moment. I will keep the PANTONE Chinese Red, such a beautiful color it is, and George’s Penn Yan Chinese Red will be applied to the bottom.

My challenge now is finding a source of Penn Yan Chinese Red Russialoid upholstery fabrics for the cushions and seat backs!

Her HIN is WR5167, and she is an example of Penn Yan “Stern Engined” inboard boats, powered by a twin carb Gray Marine Phantom 112-6.

According to Bob Speltz (Bob Speltz, The Real Runabouts VI, p. 213-14). Penn Yan offered four models. The Transport and President were utilities. The President and Aristocrat were runabouts. Three lengths, 16-ft, 18-ft and 19-ft were available, as were several engine options.

According to Speltz, “The ‘heavy stern/light bow’ balance produces uncommon action characteristics that delight all Penn Yan owners…

“A Penn Yan inboard could make the tightest turns, either way with a perfect ‘gravity’ bank. There was no skidding whatsoever. Running downwind in a heavy sea will find a Penn Yan being able to run wide open because it is light in the bow and heavy in the stern….

“The stern engine arrangement used by Penn Yan was used ever since 1932 and enjoyed great acceptance by all who owned such boats. Each Penn Yan inboard came equipped with a safety strut which was one piece bronze casting attached to the transom carrying both the prop shaft and rudder stock. It was so rugged it could hardly be destroyed…

“It has the effect of boat length behind the motor without hull buoyancy in that position, and that produced running characteristics we have already mentioned that were hard to believe.”

She must wait until winter 2019, but my goal is to preserve her then and have her on the water the following spring and summer.