Excellent! Can't beat Powell for flat water and lots of it.
You'll see me there next fall, provided the Gods of SeaCraft
restoration are kind to me.

After much soaking in good ol' Marvel Mystery Oil, the big Johnson
finally freed up. Sadly, at least two rings broke in the process, and
the motor is headed for that big eBay round up in the sky.

Pulled the motor yesterday with my trusty cherry picker, and
prepared myself for the process of parting her out.
Goodbye ol' Johnson!

The second picture shows what happens when a sawzall falls into
the wrong hands. Could the PO (not you, John) have made any worse
of a job of hacking up the motor well?

I cut a piece of Starboard and will cover this mess later when I have
a new motor in place.

Yeah,what a hackarama.

no boat should suffer that kind of indignity.
It's hard to believe someone could be such a hacker.When I was still thinking of keeping it I thought about going with a hydraulic steering system as suggested by Denny,as you wouldn't have to deal with that unweildly stiff steering cable.

Im Sitting in the rv now watching waves going from 3 to 5 and 6 to 9 feet.overnight. so keep the pics and thoughts coming so i dont get bored to death. The whole rv is shaking right now I feel like Doroty in the wiz of oz.UGH!!

No fun! I hope the weather improves for you!
In the mean time, here's a glossy deck with a
new anchor roller. I'm making progress on your boat!

Transom Redone
 

Dogbomb- can't remember if your transom was redone. If not now the engine is removed is a good time to remove the aluminum around the engine cutout to take a look & reseal it.

I hate to say it John but the weather has been beautiful in this part of the world up until last week. Dry, calm and hot. Now let me think. What variable has changed in the last week or so???

Yes, the transom has been replaced, but I am going to remove and
reseal that trim anyway. They didn't exactly do a stellar job of
caulking and the aluminum needs a good polish anyway.
Good advice!

I try to make progress every day on the Seafari.
Today's progress was 3' more feet of deck wet sanded,
polished and waxed.
At this rate I'll be done by 2018!

I second that emotion. That strip of metal is the route into the transom core that, I believe ,rotted out my transom. My 2 cents. Good luck with your 20.

Making slow headway on the Seafari.
I ain't fast, but I try to do something once, do the best I can, and
move on to the next thing. Each project is a learning process!

Got the anchor roller and center deck cleat mounted, the boot
stripe painted, the deck sanded and waxed, the windows clean
and the frames polished. Removed the rotten port bulkhead and
began to make a new one out of 3/4" mahogany veneer plywood.
I'll make the starboard side when I have a new steering helm.
Varnish. Lots of glossy varnish and stainless screws.
I think I got more varnish on the dog than on the wood...

Trailer work! New wheel bearings, U-bolts, wheels and tires, and tons
of paint. Will replace the lights with LED units and add clearance lights
and new wiring. This ancient trailer is one stout mother.

Still motor shopping.
I'm leaning E-Tec and looking for the right deal.

I don't know about y'all, but I find it a pleasure to carve out a
hunk of time from everyday life to work on the boat.
Time seems to be the one commodity that is in short supply.
Working on a vessel like this is time well spent!