Classic SeaCraft Community - New Member, Old Boat, Unsure of Year.

I did what I should have done in the first place and stopped at my town clerk’s office. She was able to check the old registration number and confirm I have a 1970. Registering the boat shouldn’t be a problem but they won’t title such an old boat.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bushwacker (Post 249319)

Do you have the windshield for it? That opening windshield is a great feature that you can't find on modern boats! If you're missing the windshield, try using the search function, as I think some poor misguided soul on here recently posted about planning to butcher his Seafari to make a CC model the hard way, so he might have a windshield he doesn't want! That thru hull on the port side indicates that it had the galley seat at one time; so do you still have it or is it MIA? That seems to be a pretty rare option, but one that I've found to be very useful.

Regarding the bracket decision . . . I think that depends on how you plan to use the boat. If you plan to run offshore a lot in big seas, it is nice to have that solid transom, and that big swim platform is nice if you're a diver. However if you can find one of the full height splash well tubs Potter started making about '76 or so, it provides equivalent safety, and the boat is balanced much better and will ride better without the bracket. Modern motors are so much heavier than the 300 lbs the 20 was designed for, and a bracket + heavy motor seriously screws up the balance on the 20! Don Herman popped a mold off of one of those brackets, but was going to scrap it so forum member Rickg rescued it and took it over to our gathering at Terry England's place last September. I think Terry, brother-in-law Doug, or Vezo II now have it. A good shop could make a nice part using that mold!

Do you have soft spots in the cockpit sole or front deck? That whole inner liner is bonded to the top of the stringers with Potter putty, so it's not easy to remove! You have a 4-stringer hull, which I personally think is stiffer and stronger than the later 2-stringer design; those stringers are hollow fiberglass and never seem to have any problems, so there is no reason to remove the whole deck unless you think you have a bunch of wet foam under it. It would be MUCH easier to just cut off the top skin and replace the core than to pull out the whole inner liner or even the top cap for that matter. And I think you can get to that forward bulkhead through the front hatch under the bunks. I think it's pretty well bonded to the inner liner, but Potter made a mistake trying to tab it to the stringers with such heavy roving, which is so stiff it doesn't like to make sharp bends. . . a couple layers of 1708 laid down with epoxy would bond much better!

The boat didn’t have a windshield (or the original galley seat). In fact when I got it, it had the remnants of a rotted homemade wood windshield frame still on it. Thanks for the tip as I’ll eventually have to find one or fabricate one.

Although it’s the ocean that does it for me I live around lots of lakes and will spend more time there. I’m also not likely to be out in big seas that often. From what you’re saying and from what I’ve read in other posts I think my only remaining reasons for a bracket are cockpit space and personal aesthetic preferences (more so with the uncut full transom than the motor hanging out back). I’ve fabricated a few fiberglass parts before so if I decide to skip the bracket I’d probably end up making my own splash well.

Regarding the deck, I’ll have to check, but I think the top skin is sitting on bare plywood now. At least that’s the mental image I have in my head. It may have been pulled up once already. I went into this as a project and I’m not trying to get in the water asap. I really do want to go over the whole boat and I think I may want to do a raised self-bailing deck.

I also started toying with the idea of raising the cap a couple inches. The boat was on at least its second rubrail and has more random screw holes along the joint than I care for, plus it has a small amount of dock or impact damage I’ll need to address anyway. Assuming I did a good job and put on a larger rubrail afterwards I imagine it wouldn’t look that unusual. I haven’t yet come across anyone that’s done this. Though time-consuming, it doesn’t seem like it would be all that difficult. Grind a little on the outside and more on the inside then build straight up a couple inches of extra hullside. I’d think with an epoxy bond and proper materials it should be about as strong as the original joint, possibly stronger if reinforced. Again I’m no glass expert so I’d welcome any insight if anyone has some to offer. I realize the cabin bulkhead would have to be accounted for and if I went this route I'd get rid of the drop down deck section and go to a shorter door.

I do like how accessible the joint is on the inside of this boat. It really leaves no excuse for not through-bolting that joint.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vezo, Part II (Post 249328)

I have the ability, resources and facility to fill transom of 76 Blank Canvas Seafari, cut and remove original I/O transom cap, build to 25" and a splashwell. Be a cool project but probably financially an overall loss...

I think that’s what I’ve signed up for, and no worries about all the splashwell posts. I’m still in sponge mode, soaking up ideas and developing my plan, and that was all relevant.