OK John, You must have seen my old '78 cruising under Longboat :)
BTW: I changed your thread title because I couldn't stand to read it in it's altered state.
Lets keep it civilized, so the gang don't stick it to you.

Capt Chuck (Admin)

Bertram 35, Hatteras 36 Express, Viking 43 Express, Hatteras 50, Monterey 65, Viking 52 Express and others not owned by family. My dad did have a 24 Sea Ray for the grandkids in the canal in his back yard, but we don't like to admit to that. As for a number roof, you will have to ask Spell Check/Auto Fill what that is. What I typed or intended to type was "a number of them" ;-) Funny that you mention a 48 Rybo because the 50 Hatt won out over an 89 48 Rybo. Not my decisions, mind you, as I was pushing hard for the Rybo but I was merely searching for candidates for purchase not cutting the check. In hindsight, everyone involved agreed that was a double bad decision not buying the Rybo AND replacing that really good 43 Viking with the Hatteras. The thinking was need more bunks for when we took customers, vendors and such out fishing. Most of the time, they didn't want to sleep on the boat anyway.

No, Captain, haven't seen it yet, but surely wouldn't mind. :-D I had already changed the title. Did I get it wrong again?

Nope.

Don't be afraid to admit you had a 24 Searay... (I owned a 76 24 Command Bridge Searay for years and loved that boat).
Hopefully you can tell by my icon that I own one of the running 21's built by Carl Moesly. Knowing what I know now...if I could not be in my 21 for off shore running, I would be in a 23 Seacraft of any configuration. Matter of fact I was looking for a 23 before the 21 found me.
According to what I know...less than 200 were built, and there are only 6-8 accounted for. My number is 136 and I think that is the newest in the bunch. ( I can't remember what Gillies number is).
If you want more info...just click on my link and you will see the whole rebuild process.

I saw your thread. Pretty amazing work. As for the Sea Ray, it was one of the newer 2000's era 24 bowlders, so I stand firm by my embarrassment. It handled like a pig. LOL I have been wondering about those old 70's Sea Rays. They don't look much like the one that my dad had.

Jdm61 I wasn't lucky enough to grow up around boats but as my kids grew up and it was time to sell the race car and do some more with the whole family I started looking at boats and asking a lot of questions about what kind --- it was amazing who many came up with the same answer to my lists of wants and needs.Sounds like your looking for a old SeaCraft try a 20' . Later after a few years I got man as much as you like your 20 for fishing offshore if you got in a 23 you would swap in a minute . You can learn a lot by asking!

Joe -

I've had both a 20 CC and Seafari. Both are terrific, but different. I currently have a 23CC that we fully renovated and is awesome. But she like bigger water and now we are renovating a '67 bowrider 19', which has a 90 eTec. In my humble opinion, the best all around is a 20CC with at least 85 HP up to 130ish.

Arguably, there has been no definitive evidence that any year SeaCraft hull is not worthy with the possible exception of a random structural issue with a 2000 25CC.

If you are willing to make a significant investment in time and energy, you can not make a mistake with a these hulls. As you have seen, you can do what ever with a renovation or just get a good one and run her. You may have it for a long time.

With this great family on CSC, it becomes both the journey AND the destination. Good Luck!

well said ocuyler!

Thanks, Otto and Wattaway,
The 18 or 20 would work best for me in my current tow vehicle situation. We have my mother's low mileage 2006 Chevy Colorado "gardening truck" as kind of a communal hauling and towing vehicle and it will pull 4000 lbs which is probably less than would require for a a 23. My sister in law had one of those giant GMC Yukon Denali's but it's tow weight is whatever her three kids can stuff in the back. We use the truck to tow my brothers Key West 1990 Sportsman, but that is a fairly light boat. i have no illusions about gong offshore in this part of the world, but getting out to say Egmont without getting my backside whooped would sure be nice and being abel to trailer to the east coast of the Keys and go a little ways out there would be gravy. The better news is that my dad is moving to an high fenced acre plus on the river and the property has a 25 x 35 concrete block shop building with a lean-to on the side up by the road for all of our collective toys. Won't he be pleased? LOL I just saw a 77 Potter 18 with a mid 2000's "Johnzuki" 140hp 4 stroke listed for sale in South Florida right now. Might be worth a look. The ad said it was restored, but who knows what that means?