Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $4895
 

'72 Seafari. Potter built, '91/'02 Merc 150, "new" rebuilt 1.64 ratio lower unit in May '07. 15hp Montgomery Wards kicker motor. dual batteries, new fuel tank in October'04, new cabin cushions in '04. New tall lounge/sleeper seats in '07. Comes with in-dash VHF, Matrix fishfinder w/GPS, galvanized tandem axle drive-on trailer.

Engine completely reman'd in 2002 to 190 hp, only about 150 hours use since, but it's a carbureted engine, and gets about 3.2-3.3 mpg average. It's been on just one boat ride since May, but I've started it on the hose just about every week.

Cruises at 32-35 mph, top speed about 48 mph when lightly loaded at 5700 rpms. (*with new lower unit, was 52mph at 6150rpms with old lower unit w/ Bob's nose cone)

No soft spots in the deck. Transom recored in '85, no flex in it. Needs some gelcoat or epoxy paint, and a bunch of minor cosmetics.
Click the thumbnail photo for a slideshow of photos
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y24...h_P1010111.jpg

Re: Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $4895
 

Father Frank, say it aint so..........upgrading??

Re: Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $4895
 

Ditto on Danny,
Forgive me Fr. Frank, but this BLOWS !!
You're not going to ClassicArk.com :( or something
like that are you :D
See ya, Ken

Re: Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $
 

No, I don't do wooden boats.

I'm not upgrading, nor am I giving up on SeaCrafts!
My difficulties are financial. I resigned from my last church two months ago to take a sabbatical and finish my current doctoral degree, and unfortunately, the church I left has not paid the monies it owes me to the tune of several thousand dollars. (It was already months behind)

As a priest, I never made much money, and have always lived close to the margin, regardless of my advanced degrees. (My salary was only $32K. I have never focussed on the money. I made more money managing marinas back in the 80's)

So I'm trying desperately to come up with a way of paying my mortgage and feeding my family without incurring any debt. I've also got my house for sale, and a bunch of other stuff. You can see the "for sale - waterfront" sign for my house in the 1st pic of my boat.

So now I'm looking to sell my good running SeaCraft, and find a basket-case Seacraft to replace it. I may go get that other Seafari that was $400 if it's still available.

Pray for me or wish me luck, whichever you're inclined to do.

Re: Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $
 

I'm praying and wishing you luck. Very sad to hear. Good price on a nice boat. If I could afford it I'd jump on it myself. I allways wanted a Seafari since I saw my first one. Hang in there.

Re: Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $
 

Father Frank,

You are one of the backbones behind this great web site. You write creative prayers for us all of the time.

I will say a prayer for you tonight.

Hang in there brother.

Peter

Re: Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $
 

Fr.Frank, The way I see it is if all of your stuff is paid for and you sell it then all it's going to do is buy you a little time, then you're still going to be in the same boat except no SeaCraft, house etc. Tuff it out and try to keep everything. Get rid of the stuff that you owe money on. It's not going to cost you anything to let your boat sit until more monies starts to come in. Just pretend that you don't have it to begin with.

Re: Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $
 

lost2a6 said
I hear you. Problem is my debts are not saleable, except the house (up for sale), and my truck (not selling my wheels). I still owe on my student loans from my last three degrees. I only got my BA 10 years ago, and since then I've added a masters, and a doctorate. and I am almost finished with my second doctorate. I got off light, too. The average educational debt for going straight from BA to a doctorate is over $120K, I got off for less than half that because of scholarships.

It's my house that's killing me. I built my house at the wrong time, (right after Katrina), and the materials cost was nearly $70K more than bid prices, which were made before Katrina. Add in the 40% increase in labor costs in construction here in our area, and it increased the cost of building my house by a whopping 70%.

I must, however, admit I went overboard in some aspects of design and construction. (I designed my own house.) My house is 2 story, 1830 sq.ft. Cape Ann/Cracker style, and yet is engineer certified to 160 mph wind loading. (except for the roofing shingles, which are only designed for 130 mph.)

My 2nd floor and my roof are all made from a unit-truss design, and have 5/8" go-bolts from the roof down through the foundation on every truss unit, on both ends. My house is wood frame, but the smallest exterior framing is 2x6, and corners and headers are doubled 2x12, except around the breakfast room.

Initial bids and estimates came to $165K. Actual construction came to $262K. Appraised value is $387K as of 10/2006, including $65K for waterfront land. But truthfully, in today's market in this area, I'll be lucky to get out of the house for the quarter mil I owe plus real estate fees. That's taking a $70K loss on the house and property.

Real Estate in Citrus County has taken a bigger hit than almost anywhere else in the state, with the average home resale price dropping 22% from spring of '05 to spring of '07. New home prices have fallen even more, by almost 30%.

So I've got to sell the house, because we can't afford it on just my wife's income, and I may never see the $$ from the church. That's just a fact of life.

SO, in the meantime, I still need to find a way to pay mortgage, lights, insurance, food, truck pymt, etcetera. Thats why I'm selling my Seafari. It might pay the mortgage and utilities for 2 months.

Re: Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $
 

Man, that's really sad to hear. When I was laid off the first time, 4 very good friends from Charleston (where I used to live) got together and each sent us $200. That $800 helped tide us over until the new job started and I got my first paycheck. None of my bills were late and I can't thank those friends enough. I don't want to offend you but if you don't mind, I'd like to return my friend's favor and send you a few extra dollars I don't need right now. What goes around comes around I always say! Send me a PM if you agree and God bless. :D

BTW, where's Citrus County?

Re: Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $
 

Hang in there Fr Frank, youre not the only one feeling the pinch lately. I'm sure were all feeling the effects here in SLOW sunny fl, hopefully we will all pull through this slow time unscathed. Whatever happens please dont you forget that many of us here appreciate your contributions to csc

Re: Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $
 

I can't begin to tell all of you how much I appreciate your words of encouragement. Thank You.

Re: Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $
 

Fr. Frank, my prayers are with you.

as was said, you are one of the stalwarts, and most knowledgeable of folks, on this good website, and I for one can only wish you the best.

Times are a bit tough, at the moment, as I am in the same boat as you, laid off just over a month ago; I am going to try mightily to hold on to my Seafari; there are few things that calm my soul like time spent on the water.

I'm noting some folks saying things are a bit slow in Florida; my son is living in St. Pete, and I have started looking at opportunities down there; I might as well, if I can't find something local.

take care, and God Bless !!!

Bill

Re: Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $
 

Hi Father,

I had a roofing accident after Wilma and was in a wheelchair for 9 mos. with staph infection as a result of the surgery. I had a hole in my skin going down to the bone in my ankle that just would not close.I was carrying around enough lymphatic fluid in my leg to fill a very small livewell. This overwhelmed my right inguinal lymph gland and turned into non-hodgkins b-cell lymphoma. During my down time , I started to think about an idea I had when I first came to Florida and found the price of live bait to be $60 per dz in 1990.

Back then I wondered if you could raise them and made an appointment to go see Bill Halstead at the national marine fisheries snook and redfish restoration project in Tampa Bay. Not being a marine biologist, I ended the grand tour with answers for my 30 or so questions. The problem was that my 30 questions had now turned into hundreds. I was out of my depth. But the idea of doing this just would NOT go away.

My down time gave me the perfect excuse to get back on the horse.After thousands hours of surfing and bothering biologists and anyone else who would listen, I caught a break. We set up a little experiment and voila.

My wonderful wife Janet thinks I must be part of the Flintstone gene pool , but I believe. I`m fighting massive medical bills , but threw caution to the wind and took a portion of my embarassingly insufficient workers comp settlement and bought my `89 20 sf. With Janet`s blessing of course. I will start driving to the Keys to purchase and sell locally in W.P.B. this winter as part of stage 1 of my new future. I hope to be a pioneer in the industry when all is said and done.

Things may look a little bleak now , but sometimes ,some of the most trying circumstances in life, can truly be a blessing, or in my case an awakening.

Thanks for all you do here and elsewhere . We will leave a light on and say a prayer for you.

Sandy and Janet

Re: Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $
 

Prayers sent to him who does not slumber and is able to supply according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus :)

Re: Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $
 

How about both?

Re: Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $
 

Hey Guys,

I think that's a good idea. I am a new member and a born again christian. I would like to help a brother in need.

Fr. Frank, in the past my assistant Pastor has told me that tithing can encompass helping a brother or sister in need. I would like to share a bit of what Jesus has provided for me to be a blessing to you and your family. I work in construction and am out on w/c. I haven't been paid for a month and will be out for another month at least.
My wife attends school full time and isn't employed so she can focus on school. Our first mortgage payment is due Dec. 1st and Jesus has provided us money to cover our mortgage for a while and pay for a roofing job as well as termite fumigation and ground treatment to be done this month.
I would just like to help in a small way as GOD has blessed us with a loving family we can count on in times of need. Please let my wife and I be part of your family during the upcoming Holidays so we can all be blessed by our Savior Christ Jesus. PM me so we can pass on The LORD's blessings :) Your Brother in Christ, Greg

Re: Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $
 

I have no way to thank you all for your "Save the Fishalot" efforts. Except just to say "Thank you".

But you do deserve an update.
After two months of searching with no success, I have in one day received invitations to preliminary interviews at three churches: one in Gulf Shores, Alabama; one in Christiantedt, St. Croix, USVI; and one in Hudson, Ohio. I have also received an inquiry to send my resume to a church in Panama City, Florida. All in one day.
But I still have to sell the house.
I praise God for all of you.

Re: Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $
 

Fr Frank, I have no doubt you will be lead and guided to a
a congregation that will be your home. We are all behind
you with our thoughts and prayers..... :)

I'm just glad the wood boat thing did not happen. :D

Keep the faith, Ken

Re: Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $
 

HALLELUJAH :D GREAT is The LORD. I would still like to share if you don't mind. GOD Bless, Greg

Re: Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $
 

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do.
Confucius
Chinese philosopher & reformer (551 BC - 479 BC)

Re: Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $
 

St. Croix sounds good! :D

Re: Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $
 

Today is a travel day. 1st interview in Hudson, OH.

Many of you have been extremely generous. Personal thanks are coming.