A People’s Choice Pink 1958 Century Roan
In 2011, she saw it. A pink 1958 Century Roan. A boat fabricated in her favorite color. “I fell in love with it in about two seconds,” says Kateyln Marsden, member of the Finger Lakes Chapter, a third generation member, in fact. “My grandparents were founding members.”
The boat, then known as Happy Days, was owned by another member at the time and Katelyn would joke that she’d trade her pink kayak for it. But, in 2015, Katelyn’s friend, named Kay, passed away and Kay’s husband agreed to sell Happy Days for a very generous price.
Century only made about 50 of these pink Roans and only in the year 1958. The supposition is Century was trying to get more women into boating. But says Katelyn, it didn’t quite work as they’d hoped. Her boat, for instance, sat for two years before it was sold. Today, only three pink Roans are known to be in existence.
Once the boat became Katelyn’s, she and her father, Syd Marsden, got to work restoring it before she left for college. “We completely stripped and caulked, sanded and repainted, mixing red and white paint to create pink. We rewired the lights and reworked the 1958 Evinrude 35 hp engine, taking parts from two motors to recreate the one.” The original motor, a fat four, was too heavy, she thought, and Katelyn wanted something different. The only work they didn’t do was upholstery, which had already been completed before Katelyn purchased the boat, and varnish and finish work was was expertly completed by Katz Marina.
Katelyn renamed the boat K’s Happy Days, in part paying homage to Kay, the original owner.
K’s Happy Days is a favorite at shows, in part because of her fantastic pink personality, in part because she is so rare, and in part because of the attention to detail in restoring her. Katelyn shows her in the Finger Lakes and Clayton, New York, and has taken her to Lake Hopatcong in New Jersey. K’s Happy Days has won numerous awards including Best Century, Best Outboard and, Katelyn’s favorite, People’s Choice.
Katelyn Marsden is only the third owner of this pink 1958 Century Roan, a boat that has practically become part of the family. “It’s funny,” she says, “When new, this boat was kept on Cayuga Lake and that’s where my grandparents had a lake house. So, in a way it’s like she came home.”
I met Katelyn and her dad at the June 24, 2017 ACBS Lake Hopatcong boat show. The Century Roan is a pretty little boat! We were there with our 1962 15’Ideal Craft, also an outboard classic.
I owned a 1958 Sea Mac, produced in Riverside, New jersey, equipped with a 35 HP Evinrude. Similar layout to their Century without the tumblehome. It looked like a horse rode hard, and put away wet, when I bought it. Boat, Motor, trailer $400.00. I took it home, stripped it, repainted the hull Woolsey White, with a Signal Red stripe and matching red deck. After reassembly, It looked great. I used it for 5 years until I moved into fiberglass boats. I miss that Sea Mac.