New Member 1977 18' cc bought from orig owner
 

Hey all,

Great site; I have been "lurking" for several years.

I just picked up a completely original 18' Sea Craft cc with a 10 year old Yamaha 150.

Growing up on the water in Sarasota FL, there were many Sea Crafts in my area on Little Sarasota Bay. I always admired them, and my parents' neighbor has owned his 18' forever. I asked him to let me know if he was going to sell it. He just bought a new 22' Grady and told my dad me was ready to sell. The price was very right. The boat has been hanging on davits for 30 years, used every winter and, since our neighbor has no mechanical skills, has had a total preventative maintenance schedule each year.
I already have a 17' Whaler, so that will have to go. For now, my dad will use the Sea Craft until I can have it shipped to Southern California. I am pretty excited since I have known the boat for over 20 years.

Pictures & more info to follow...

Can you fill me in on the history, features, ride, of the 18? I'm assuming this is a "Potter" hull; what is special about these hulls?

Thanks in advance!
-Jeff

Re: New Member 1977 18' cc bought from orig owner
 

Ahoy Ledfoot and Welcome to CSC

It appears you're now SeaCraft hooked and your lurking has been discontinued. There are several well versed California SeaCrafters on board as well. "Ikan Besar" can give you some good pointers on the 18'. Be sure to use the search function and don't forget to order your 1977 Potter Built HDS.... :cool:

BTW: My Grandparents were from Anna Maria Island.

Re: New Member 1977 18' cc bought from orig owner
 

WIDE GUNNELS, I had one and because of the gunnels its a much bigger feeling boat. I have the same design on my 20 MA but I figured to get them it would another 18, never in a million years figured I'd find MA. Great boat, keep the power light as possible and it will run fine with a modern 115 2S. Congrats on the aquisition.

Re: New Member 1977 18' cc bought from orig owner
 

welcome to the site. The 18 looks like a very wellbuilt from the pics...never seen one in person but then again most seacrafts of that era were built like tanks. I'm a little north of you.

strick

Re: New Member 1977 18' cc bought from orig owner
 

If I still lived in Pasadena, like I once did while attending ArtCenter, and got an 18' SeaCraft, I'd hook it up to the bumper and tow it down to Mulege to do some decent fishing!

Fun boat, I used to have a '76/77 SeaCraft 18'......regret selling it too.

Re: New Member 1977 18' cc bought from orig owner
 

Jeff-

welcome. there are a handful of 18sf owners here, and only a couple have a Potter built one. I have a 89 18sf w/130 yamaha and my dad runs an 87 18sf that used to have a 150 2strk. great boats. It has been called a pocket rocket by 18sf owners on CSC threads.

Re: New Member 1977 18' cc bought from orig owner
 

Wow great response.

EggSuck- "I have the same design on my 20 MA"
What's an MA??

Ikan- I went to Art Center, graduated (Trans) in 1996! Small world. I moved to Detroit for 5 years but now I'm back in Pasadena. What was your major?

I just found some pix I took a few years ago when I was home in Sarasota. I'll try to post. I'm starting to wonder now why I think it's an 18'. I don't think he ever told me what size it was. It may be a 20'-take a look & let me know. I should have the answer & serial # tomorrow.

-Jeff

Re: New Member 1977 18' cc bought from orig owner
 

OK for now here's a link to the pix. There are other boats of possible interest in the menu, check them out if you like. We've owned some neat stuff like a Blackfin Combi & a rare Whaler walkaround.

Here's the pix:

http://homepage.mac.com/ledfoot/boat...oAlbum120.html

Re: New Member 1977 18' cc bought from orig owner
 

That's a 20' SC.

If you look at the gallery pics, you can see that the 18' has some distictive differences.

Look along the inside of the fore and aft side panels and the forward storage compartments ... 2 on a 20' and only 1 on the 18'.


Great aquisition. Welcome to CSC.



Darlene

Re: New Member 1977 18' cc bought from orig owner
 

Welcome to CSC ledfoot, I have to agree with Darlene,
It appears to be a 20SF. Still a great find.
Shipping will be around $4500. I had a friend do the same thing about a year ago. You could probably buy a new trailer in Florida and drive it back for less money.
I know it would be a long trip, but it could be fun.
See ya, Capt. Ken

Re: New Member 1977 18' cc bought from orig owner
 

I assumed an ACCD past with the "car designer" and Pasadena location. In my case PHOT'89.

As to the boat, that's a 20' rather than an 18'. Not that that fact should dimish your fun any. I've owned both and the similarities outnumber the differences. I actually had my 20' completely redone to mimick my 18' (see "Mark's 20" in the gallery section).

As to shipping, I agree with what one person posted about towing it being cheaper. I've towed boats from NC roundtrip to SoCal on several occasions and it's really not bad at all. I'd tow it over paying thousands to have it moved anyday.

Re: New Member 1977 18' cc bought from orig owner
 

I don't know about shipping a boat over the ground. I DO know about shipping a boat by cargo ship. Last time I shipped a boat by sea, in 1994, it was from Belize to Tampa, shipped on it's trailer on the deck of the ship. I used Tropical Shipping through their West Palm Beach offices to ship a 23' Seacraft. Total cost was just under $1400, not counting import tariff of $335 and doc stamps out of Belize and into the US of about $80. The downside was that in order to get that price, I had to wait nearly 4 weeks for open deck space. To ship by sea is usually less than by land, but I'm sure it's more than $1500 now.

Figure a driving/towing cost at 16 mpg over, 12 mpg back - of about 330 gallons gas, plus minimum 6 days RT, plus food and lodging.

A conservative estimate would be about $2,000 to $$2,500, not including the value of your time. Plus you get to see this great country of ours. :cool:

Re: New Member 1977 18' cc bought from orig owner
 

I've done the drive . . . 3061 miles in 3.5 days towing.
Averaged 14.3 mpg over the entire trip. Grapevine was the only scary part. Pasadena is closer . . . than sacramento only 2500 miles. I don't think you could pay me enough to do that trip again.
http://www.wellcraftv20.com/gallery/...0369.sized.jpg

It's not so bad once your mind goes numb. Books on tape is the way to go.

Re: New Member 1977 20' cc bought from orig owner
 

The drive doesn't scare me; I quite like a few days on the road anyway. I have done that trip many times, as well as Michigan to L.A., towing a 1964 Buick! My best bet may be to rent a truck & tow the boat back to SoCal. I'm flying home (for some reason I still call FL home) in March with my family; I'll talk a friend into driving back with me.


Thanks for all the input. I'm still waiting for some more info on the boat. I'll have more in the next couple of days. I believe it is a 20', as some of you have indicated.

Re: New Member 1977 18' cc bought from orig owner
 

Those hellfire and brimstone evangelists/preachers on AM radio are the deal! they can provide endless hours of amusement about how many ways I'm going to eventually burn :D ....and they do it with such enthusiasm.

Coming across the I-10 isn't bad at all, just make sure the bearings on the trailer are in good condition before you leave.

Re: New Member 1977 18' cc bought from orig owner
 

The trailer will be new, so I won't be too worried about breakage.

I once heard the SAME classic rock station for 8 hours straight on FM radio while driving across Nebraska one night. I'm thinking there were several antennas...

Re: New Member 1977 18' cc bought from orig owner
 

NA IT WAS JUST FLAT UP THERE.
AS FOR THE TRAILER BE SURE TO GET TORSION AXLES FOR CROSSING LOUISIANA ROADS AND OIL FILLED BEARINGS FOR THE DURABILITY. IM IN THE RESTO PROCESS AND HAVE TO BUY A NEW TRAILER AND HAVE BEEN SHOPING PRETTY HARD.
GOOD LUCK
RUSTY