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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.

Now that three coats of Interlux Interprime Wood Sealer has been rolled and tipped onto her decks and coming and covering boards, varnishing this 1946 Garwood Ensign will begin next week.
We followed our long-held practice, quickly scuff hand sanding after each coat of sealer using 220 grit paper. Doing so knocks down any dust particles trapped in the surface.
We will sand the final coat on Monday and wash the surface down with acetone, before RJ and John begin rolling and tipping Pettit High-Build varnish onto these surfaces and include you in the process via follow-on clips.

Her hull number is TFK 873, and her owners bought her as a 1957 Penn Yan Captivator, but she is virtually an exact duplicate of the 1954 Captivator from which her owner graciously allowed me to release the seating and floorboards so we could pattern new and correct seating and floorboards for our project boat.
I am not sure how we could have made any headway using photos alone. Armed with the under-seat framing and all seat and floorboard components, we have solved a challenging, three-dimensional positioning and fabrication challenge.
No, the two hulls were not exactly identical. TFK 873 is just a bit wider at the chines, possibly from use over the last 60 years. But having the components allowed us to first fabricate cardboard patterns, from which we could transfer lengths, angles and bevels.
As of this afternoon, John has masterfully finished and temporarily installed all of the components, save for the aft outer seat brackets.
Only the outer seat bench braces remain. These were originally steam twisted into quasi-corkscrew shapes that fit into the hulls ever-changing radius curves. Duplicating these complex shapes, each of which was just slightly different from the other three, would have sent us on a maddening, probably fruitless fool’s errand. Rather, John applied his ingenuity to the problem and came up with sanding the backsides of each brace into shape using our 4-foot, stationary belt sander. Of course, his challenge involved shaping the outer face while maintaining the top face, where the bench fastens at the correct angle.
You see the front braces already installed in the video, and John is attacking the aft braces as I type.
Once we are satisfied that everything is perfect, all of the new components will be released for finishing, and so we can apply bilge paint up to the chines and topside paint to the inner surfaces of the topside planks, the ribs, and the back face of the aft seatback.
While RJ and I are painting, John will focus on installing her new transom and refastening her bottom planking starboard of the keel.

Why take the time and spend the money bleaching the planking? Compare this clip to the one posted earlier this week for an excellent before and after comparison of the 1946 Gar Wood Ensign.
Bleaching makes the coloration infinitely more uniform, while it also raises the grain, thereby delivering the perfect environment for the filler stain that follows bleaching.
First we lightly, and I mean lightly, scuff off the “feathers’ left by bleaching by hand and using 200-220 grit paper. Do not get aggressive here as the bleached layer is only 1/32” to 1/16” deep. Sand through it and you will either end up with disfiguring blotches when you stain, or you must bleach anew.
Having tried the other usual and customary options, and being disappointed with the results, or lack of same, our go-to bleach is Klean-Strip GWB19 Wood Bleach, which we source from Amason.com.
Rather than applying once and allow the surface to dry, and then coming back with a second application that must be neutralized, we keep the planking wet with repeated applications of the equal-part A and B solution over at least 12 hours before allowing the wood to dry.
Our results speak for themselves.
Drying will continue for the rest of today, and will be followed by staining using Interlux InterStain Wood Filler Stain in brown mahogany tomorrow. Then comes three coats of CPES, and into the paint booth she will go, where varnishing can begin.

We could not be more pleased to have reached this milestone. We knew we had no choice but to plank the decks anew, but she was holding another secret beneath her tired, split and just plain worn out original decking.
Not only were both decks dripped and broken away from their respective connections to the gunwales, the balance of the framing had become distorted and disconnected over time. When we positioned several trial planks across the foredeck, a pronounced and ill-positioned hump was evident on port, while the starboard side was essentially flat. The aft deck had similar issues.
Our strategy for addressing bringing the decks back to their proper shapes and strength involved releasing and re-fastening the individual elements under pressure. Once everything seemed to be in place, we fastened the newly-fabricated planks, holding our breath all the while.
That we succeeded is evident in this clip. The foredeck has regained its correct “domed” shape. The bulkhead is firmly attached at both ends. And RJ can stand on the deck without deflecting it.
Addressing the aft deck required releasing and replacing much of the framing as the end of most of the members had suffered serious degradation over the years.
Bleaching is next, followed by staining. Only then can we begin rolling and tipping coats of varnish.

RJ spent this week completing the small Dutchman repair to the starboard strake dry rot area, and then has turned his attention to fabricating a pretty complex transom Dutchman repair below its waterline.
He first fabricated a cardboard template which he used with ¾” marine plywood to fashion his initial blank. The latter required substantial sanding in as all of the edges are beveled as well as being curved.
His next challenge was routing out the inner surface so that the Dutchman will eventually lock into place, with the extensive shiplap joint providing substantial strength to what will be the final product.
Here, after pointing out the repairs completed on the aft ends of the bilge stringers, he demonstrates how well his Dutchman dry fits into the receiving cavity.
“All” that remains is routing out the face of the Dutchman where it will receive yet another layer of mahogany marine plywood in the area above the waterline that will be finished bright.
Truly Knock on Wood is getting some of her wood back!