Very useful pics, thanks.

You have relatively wide tabs which should be good. I'm looking to do something similar. It looks like your tabs bracket the hull step. Could you take some for and aft pics of that, when the weather clears? I'd reallly like to know what the tabs feel like, once you get it in the water.

Connor

Your tabs should be ok there. You don't want them any more OUTBOARD then that.

strick

It's good that it was replaced by the Bravo 3! Those old OMC drives were a terrible match for the 25 Seafari hull, with an inefficient small high speed prop and not much gear reduction. A guy I worked with once bought a 25 Seafari with that outdrive and a small high rpm Chevy 307, and that was a REALLY poor combination!

You fellers need to fabricate yourselves a pair of these:

http://i655.photobucket.com/albums/u...t/IMG_4249.jpg


They're so responsive, I bet if I was going fast enough, and timed a wave jump just right, and had my trim tab finger all warmed up, I could make her do a barrel roll.:D

Dave

Dave,
You are a very sick man :D:D:D. May God bless you...clearly, he has...:cool:

Don't try barrel rolls at home kids - they are not for regular folks:rolleyes:

If any boat can do it, that one can!!

Dave, you are right, what you have is what I need, but I'm lazy, want to see how FishStretcher's work.

I'm waiting for the patent to expire :) Don't want to get into any trouble.

strick

Heh Heh. I'm willing to license the patent for a very reasonable fee, payable in craft beer.
Dave

I took some measurements. My dry joint riser elbow is 7-1/2" above the deck.

That makes it 9-1/2" above the bottom of the scupper. On my boat, the scum line is another 2.5" below that, and the chine is another 2.5"

Figuring that fully loaded, the scuppers might be just at sea level, then I have 9-1/2" from the riser to the ocean. And 12" sitting at the dock.

Looks like I need at least a 4", and really more like a 6" riser extension. Thankfully, it looks like there is room. Although the 6" is starting to get close.

One reason to have a tarp on your boat. Ice in the bilge.

Also I got some good DSLR pics of the stringer on the port side (the flash helped). I can post them? Sounds like I should cut into the binnacle on starboard to examine the situation there.

I have 4" on mine and I'm right at the recommended minimum height.
Dave

Another thing- the cockpit floor in mine has 1/2" holes drilled in the corners draining to the bilge. I suspect that is endangering the balsa core, but it might be solid fiberglass in the very corners. I was planning on boring these out and instaling 1" PVC bonded in with epoxy or plexus. These 4 corner scuppers could drain to the bilge or could feed a small sump with its own bilge pump that sits atop the keel stringer.

The idea is to have adequate drainage to keep the cabin itself dry(ish). And to pump the water that gets there past a hard top and windshield overboard before it has to run all the way aft under a few bulkheads to get to a bilge pump.

Any thoughts? Especially with PVC scuppers/drains from topside to the bilge (not thru). I am not sure how strong a plexus or epoxy bonded in PVC pipe would be. I would slightly recess it below the deck height, but even so, I am concerned.

Drain holes go right through the balsa. A few of mine had allowed water into the balsa core, with some modest rot. Surprisingly(to me) the deck seemed completely solid from above, lots of glass, I guess. I filled the rotted out balsa with epoxy (it wasn't all that much), filled the holes with epoxy paste and redrilled them. Worked OK, but the hole diameter is a bit small now. Holes at least as big as original, or bigger would be better. One problem with the arrangement, the water drops from the holes straight into the bilge, a loong way from the stern access. Pretty much any solids that drop through with the water are going to be trapped in the hull. Give it time and that will be a lot of crud. Several owners have reported drainage problems, maybe related to inaccessible crud. Screens on the drains would be a good idea.

X2

Dave

My home depot plan goes from 1" drains thru to 1-1/4" hose. I really should have just turned the PVC down to make hose barbs on the lathe at work, but this is easier. And I think the socket welded 45 degree bend will be nice.

Her is what I did on mine. The two that sit on the outside of the cabin door threshold have screens. The two that are inside the cabin are bronze fittings epoxied flush with the deck. The balsa core was in good shape on my boat.

I would stay away from that corrugated hose. It gets brittle with age and breaks. Any solids that find their way down the drain will hang up in the corrugation. It will be difficult to support in a way that consistently drains. If it holds water, your arctic winters are going to freeze it and break it. Just sayin'.

Dave

Blue_Heron-
You have a good point about freezing the corrugated hose, I hadn't thought past the $11 a roll , vs. $3 a foot part.

I am of two minds on the strainers. I hadn't thought a lot about debris, more about the ability to drain away water quickly- hence the 1" diameter. If they do go to a small "settling tank" (and the debris sinks- it might not), then the settling tank has a slightly elevated bilge pump, then that might work without a screen. But a topside screen fixes most of this straight away. Except for leaves. Which both are vulnerable to.

I think I will keep looking. Or buy some schedule 80 PVC and make a deck fitting with a shoulder on it in the lathe.

Strick-

Thanks for documentation on demand! I really should take more pictures. I might also look for the screened drains on line at Jamestown or Hamilton next.

And never use it on your bilge pumps.

This is the cockpit- (I stitched together 2 cell phone photos so it is warped)
I need to remove some wet balsa and fill holes. I drilled them out to get rid of cracked glass and get access to soaked balsa core. I plan to foam fill and put "water putty", then vinyl ester, then gel coat.
You can see the track of the bilge hose out of the left corner, across the deck and out the port side. The 1-1/4" hose was reduced and put thru a 5/8" thru-hull!:eek:
Oh yeah, and they couldn't be bothered to remove the wood decking they put in the cockpit before splashing it with stain...

The 5/8 thru hull was probably originally for the optional galley sink exhaust.

Congrats FishStretcher!

Great boat!

What animals would do that! :)

strick

This is why the deck is stiff with mushy core. This is the piece of deck cut out for starter access in the engine bay by the previous installer. About 0.300" (5/16") laminate, then a 1/2" core of balsa. Wow. This is a 1971, pre OPEC oil embargo. Maybe later boats have less glass and resin?

I am modifying my engine cover to use no hinges- they tear out of the deck. I will use Southco rubber t-handle draw latches with stainless clips. Available on Amazon or Reid supply for less than I paid from McMaster Carr, I think. :eek: I plan on using bits of AZEK (TM) white cellular PVC trim from Home Depot around the sides on the cover side so the metal clip isn't an ankle hazard or deck hazard when the latches are unfastened or the cover is laid on it's side on the deck.

I drilled and tapped some scrap 1/2" thick 5083 aluminum for nut plates. I hate holding onto nylock nuts on one side of the panel when torquing on the other- this is easier and spreads the load. $2.99 assortments of stainless hardware from Harbor Freight (lots of 10-24 screws) finishes it out.

Mine is a '72 and looks about the same. Still pre-embargo, though...

Just a fun fact - 49 of the 80 25' Seafaris were made in '71 and'72.

So for year 1 on the holes in the deck and cockpit sole I am enlarging the screw holes, digging out damp balsa, filling with great stuff expanding foam (just tiny amounts), and capping with water putty/ PC11 epoxy putty. The PC11 is MUCH easier to work with. Like bondo in consistency, not clay. Water putty is too firm, in my opinion.

Then vinylester barrier coat from duratec, then gel coat, then kiwi grip.

Plus nut plates with captive nuts for the 9" base Todd captain and fighting chairs. 6 on a 8.25" bolt circle. Looks like 1/4-20 or 5/16-18 will do.

Plus some Seadek for the engine cover.

I just started putting all the rehab/mods in a separate thread for the boat. Now named Bass Relief. The thread is here:

http://www.classicseacraft.com/commu...ad.php?t=25405

I got some draw latch shrouds roughed in, too. They need finishing, but I got my hands on some scrap AZEK and like it. Not cheap, but convenient. I am still cleaning them up. This is fresh off the coping saw.

With this, nobody loses an achilles tendon to a draw latch.