And So it begins
 

Started to dis-mantel my Seacraft. .. I want to say thanks to Strick for giving me the courage and insight to tackle suck a Labor of love. This boat definitely need to refurbished. ..After removing the Harware and console. there was definite rot in the transom and decks..
So I basically decided to do away with the liner and replace the floor and beef up the Hull. I never thought that these hulls were that thin.. Atleast mine is... And the spray foma is crazy. But I am glad it just falls off the glass in sheets..

As strick may have mentioned, you don't want to leave that cap off too long or the gunwales will fall and deform some, then getting the cap back on will be extra work. Some of the guys have made retainers out of 2x4s by cross-cutting slots about 7-1/2' apart and placing the slots over the gunwale edges in 2 or 3 spots to keep the beam where it should be. That helps to keep the sagging at bay. Not sure what you mean about doing away with the liner - is your intent to core the hull? Others probably have a better idea on this but me thinks the liner adds considerably structural integrity to the boat. Good luck, looks like a nice clean project.

Thanks,,yes I am goin to core the hull, replace the deck, and enclose transom with live well

Takes guts to do that. Wimps need not apply :) I'm sure it will turn out great when you are finished. If I were to ever redo another 20sf or a master angler I would remove the forward casting platform and make the deck flush to the bow and add a coffin box with a live well built into it. Have you seen the Lefty Kreh edition?

Removing liner
 

Very Nice Rig. Maybe I will do that.. I am trying to not make to much work for me. a I was thinking of keeping the Liner fward to help hold the shap in.... until I saw that the Center stringer or Keel Is wood with glass over it. and allthough it is solid It is saturated with water and there are void foward that are holding water... I need to address. With that said i am going to remove the Liner and Jig the boat up.Or visa-versa..
What do you guys think about replacing that Keel ... Will the boat deform? should I replace in sections?? How can I replace with out damaging the shape of the hull? Whoops I said 76 when it is a 73 20Sf

Good thing your ONLY coring the hull :D:D:cool:

Dang, that is a lot of foam. Haven't seen too many keels replaced either... I've talked to a guy about drying out wood with heat and air via vacuum or pressure through numerous small holes and then infusing the dried wood fiber with epoxy... kind of more in depth git rot concept...he uses this technique for spot transom and deck repair but seems like it could be effective in a keel as well.

Anyway, don't let me slow you down.
Looking forward to watching your project develop.

Yea i think they were trying a Boston whaler experiment...this thing had foam in everthing but the has tank..lol

More pictures
 

ON with clean up and grinding of Hull. Not bad for a weekend.. Now that everything is out I can plan and design How and what to do

picture
 

again

Martin - I wouldn't worry about the keel. There are several layers of glass over it which provide most of the strength, so even if the wood were totally rotted, it has minimal effect on stiffness. Some guys have even replaced that keel with half of a ~2-3" PVC pipe to allow for drainage from the front with no ill effects. Might want to drill some holes into the void to drain the water, but other than that, I wouldn't worry about it. If you'll click on the Classic SeaCraft Home down at the bottom right of the page and then go to the Literature section, check out the 1969 Boating magazine article on the Seafari 20. If you can't read it, send me a PM with an e-mail address and I'll send you an Adobe file of the article. It has a very detailed description of the laminate schedule (number of layers of glass and type/weight of each layer) that will give you a good idea of how these hulls were built - there is a lot of glass in them in exactly the right spots.

Carl Moesly "proof tested" his construction techniques by racing SeaCraft's in the brutal Offshore Power Boat series in the '60's, where they totally dominated the outboard division! It's all documented in Carla's new web site: http://www.moeslyseacraft.com/seacraft-stockboats.html and in this thread that Big Shrimpin posted last month of the 1967 Bahamas 500: http://www.classicseacraft.com/commu...ad.php?t=23715 That race was so rough that 75% of the boats entered dropped out, but all 3 SeaCrafts finished the entire race!
Denny

I disagree with Bushwacker. Your this deep, rip that sucker outa there and replace it with new material. You are this deep, might as well do it all. I shaped up a 2X6 piece of lumber to match the original. Mixed up a couple quarts of cabosil to take up the grinding nicks and voids below it, made some nice smooth 45deg fillets on the sides, and then glassed the heck out of it with 6in 1708 tape.

When they popped these hulls out of the mold they drilled 1/2in holes thru the center stringer to grab it, then never sealed them back up. My keel stringer was actually cracked at one of those holes. Also when they rot they DO allow the hull to flex then the hull will crack right beside the stringer. Ask me how I know... this is what sunk my Mako 2 years ago.

http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/t...b/P7081304.jpg

Hey Patrick, a Mako versus SeaCraft is not a fair fight!! Actually a SeaCraft to most any other boat is not a good comparison. After I drilled the 3 3/4" hole in my hull to install the transducer, just for grins, I checked the thickness of the glass with digital calipers, it's a smooth 0.415 inches. The closer to the keel it's even thicker.

I remember when my brother had to take his 21' Wellcraft back to have the hull replaced, the hull was just at 0.200 inches....real, real thin. It's scary coming in with water coming through cracks in the hull!!

Interesting info on the Mako! Drilling a 1/2" hole through the glass of the keel stringer would weaken it considerably and possibly create enough of a local stress concentration around the hole to cause cracks or delamination around it and down the sides of the stringer. However, that doesn't mean that's how they pulled the SeaCraft hulls from the mold, although maybe it might apply to the Tracker models. I believe Strick and others have found evidence of a loop built into the laminate up in the bow area of the 20' hull that was used to attach lines/cables for pulling the boats out of the mold. There appears to be some tumblehome built into the transom of the 20, so it makes sense that to pull that hull from the mold, you would have to pull it up and forward at the bow; probably could not remove it by lifting straight up at the transom.

Can't disagree with the advice to rip out and redo the keel stringer if you want to do extra work, but I question the need to rebuild it heavier than the original. Moesly used spruce stringers in the 21 before he started using hollow fiberglass stringers, and I remember Skip telling me that Carl said it really didn't matter if the wood rotted out because it was the glass wrapped over the stringers that provided the strength. That's a fact that's pretty easy to prove by comparing the bending stress calculations for a solid vs. hollow beam.

My 89 18sf had these fiberglass loops located on the outboard side of the stringers maybe 2/3 of the way fwd from the stern.

The 1972 mako and 1972 SC 23 had a almost UN-noticable difference in hull thickness in stock form which really surprised me. (I had drilled thru both hulls at one point sitting side by side) The half inch holes were definitely there from the factory, as the deck had never been pulled up and the areas where they were located were not accessible with the deck in. (under the tank platform) Seeing as how this is a very early boat, they could have changed the practice over time and used 'glass straps' instead.

Do not misunderstand me, I do NOT think the damage that the Mako sustained would ever be possible on a SC, because of the fiberglass boxed stringers. BUT anything is possible. This is a VERY VERY common problem with older Makos, because of the wooden stringers.

Nothing like the smell an feel of fiberglass in the morning

Today I started to remove the Transome core. Man what a mess. I made sure the transom was over the Trailer bunks before removing the core. I cut about 5-6 inches back from the transom across the stringers and removed the foam core . and then cut the perimeter around the transom. I then used block wedeges and pry bar to remove the plywood core.. The outer skin is very thin so I had to be careful not to damage it.. Like 0.125 thick. I never thought it was going to be that thin.. I did see about 0.0.25-0.375" thick of cabisil to bead the plywood. to the outer skin and then about 0.25 on the inside

Transom removal
 

here are the pictures

Pressure wash and degrease and scrub the hull, cut out Keel
 

I then Pressure washe and degreased the whole entire hull. drilled relief holes for the water to weep out of voids in the glass and foma.. Then Decided to cut out keel...

pictures
 

Now I have to wait and let the hull dry out. I tarped the whole boat nad let dry for a few weeks

Here I have laid up and outer skin for the Transom..2 layers of 1.5 oz mat and 2 layers of 18 oz biaxial

vacume baggin the inner skin with 2 layers of 1.5 oz mat and 18 oz biaxial and 1/4 corecell .. once laid up then i will go and wet oiut another layer if1.5 mat to the other side of the corecell fit it and tab it into the inner side of transom...

here are the poor mans vacuum bagging

Martin,

You will be Strict II when you finish. I thought replacing transom and deck was a big job. Seeing your pictures makes me feel mine is a piece of cake

Your vacuum baggin looks fine. What are you using to pull vacuum?

vacuum
 

7.5cfm yellow jacket...

I don't know about strick 2 I can only hope that OT will turn out as nice

at it again... sent the wife and kids on vacation with micky
 

Ground the whole hull and jigged up. The stern.. will work on cap tomorrow and fit it before icore the hull and pour the transome.....

Some more rehab hpotos
 

This is what i did after the rain stopped last week... Poured transom and added deck cap to start the hull Layup

What was supposed to be a 1.75 thick transom turned out to be 2.25" on the inside. and that threw my whole calculations off on the pour So i did not have enough to pour.. I pour what I could cause of the Resin window i was working in, and when my materials come in I will pour the rest. I will have to drill holes in to the cured resin so that i will get a better bond and some how rough up the sides...inner skin.. half inch really made a didfference when pouring.. made a temp cap so that i could pour the rest up to the top...

here are the rest of pictures
 

Basically more pictures of the Transom build. You can see a 2x4 in the hull at and angle... Well after pouring one bucket and I just happened to look inside the hull and what do you know, a leak. so I found what I could in the boat a used chip brush and some glass mat and veola a plugged the hole oh and a 2x4 to hold pressure till it kicked off.. the whole time cussing cuase if this did not work i can through the whole project away . Cause I would not be able to cut this crap out of the hyll . haha.. Anyway it worked Thank God

OH found out today well caseing broke so have to burn 5000 for a new 4 inch 400 ft deep well ..I will not be able to finish project this year.. Maybe next year....have bought most materials to do hull and gunnel supports. Maybe the front anchor Hatch But that is about it.. Take care guys see you soon

After trying three times the guys finally punched ahole 410 feet.. Will be hooking up water for the house sat. And picking up new used boat..i know i am not right in the head.. Atleast tha is what my wife says

Not having water sucks....it can mess with your head....maybe that's what happened? :)

My well pump broke several years ago and it took about 4 days to get it diagnosed and fixed. Neighbor let me run a hose from his house to ours. Having to replace the whole casing is bad. Good luck. Was it a seacraft?

strick

My old casing was a 2" galvanized this is a 4" with submersable 2 the amount of water... Not bad for the price probably could have got her cheaper but this guy is a local and like to keep the money here.. no Seacraft..40' lurhs. Bank repo ...my 20 will be the tender for it

Dang 400+ ft up in Panama City...:confused:
Well here at Area 442 is 115ft. 4 inch case with SS submersible!
Have a shallow back-up well off of the barn.
Made sure when we built the house I can throw a
couple of gate valves and back feed the house in an emergency..
I know how you feel strick & martin, No water, no fun!!
People make fun of my water treatment plant when they see it..
Iron filter, chlorinator, softner with salt tank, filters on top of filters...
It does the job though.. I love the slimy soft water feel.. :)
Hard water just does not cut it!!

Oh yeah, back on subject, project being put on hold stinks..
Getting a 40ft. Luhrs should off set the pain..
Hopefully you can back to the Seacraft sooner..

Hull
 

I dont know if i am seeing things or i amjust crazy , but okay it has been acouple months since i cut stringer and hull apart and out.. As i was backing out and looked at the bow it looked like the keel to bow point was a bit twisted . I have heard that you need to keep tension on the bow eye. But didnt think that the hull would actually twist in that manner .. Has anyone experience twisting in keel

Denny,

How does one download the PDF's, so an "Old Goat" can blow them up?

Charles

Charles,

Doesn't look like all the articles are in PDF format. They apparently used some other type of file for the website on many of the articles that can't be downloaded, maybe for copyright reasons? Only the articles that have the "Click HERE to download" statement below them appear to be PDF's.

I do have a PDF of the Seafari 20 article that I can send if you PM me with an e-mail address. I also have a PDF of a similar Boating Magazine test of the 23 Sceptre, featuring twin O/B and twin I/O versions. Denny

The articles are jpeg pics.

Thank You,

My email is listed on my user info, but it is old_goat@bellsouth.net.

I would appreciate any info on that old boat I had, as I never really knew just how special it was till now.

Charles

Cored sides andGlassed keel
 

I have nida cored the sides of hull and built up the keel.