The Cape Cod Crusader
 

I finally found a narrow weather window where I could make a run out to the end of the Cape. For the fourth time. There was a blizzard last weekend and another 8" of snow on the way tonight. But this morning, it was only flurries. So I took the chance. I knew the trailer had new bearings, and everything else checked out within reason.

I brought my money and crossed my fingers. But by 6:00 tonight I finally had it home and under a tarp, after shoveling out a snowbank to fit the outdrive.

I have been quietly working on getting this deal done since thanksgiving. A shout out to cdavisb, BigShrimpin and Strick for tips on what to look for in a 25 foot Seafari or other recon about this specific boat.

Unlike my 20, it is as nice a boat as I could afford. I don't need another project. It has a nice running 300 HP 350CID MAG MPI Mercruiser and a Bravo 3. For a ~40 year old boat, it seems to be in good shape. Not fancy, but not that rough. I am tired but very happy tonight after a 320 mile drive. The only drama was some snow, and warm trailer tires.

That baby is just plain old cool, I don't think I've ever been on a old 25 Seafari. That thing just wreeks of fun running through some inlet slop and into a nice swell. Love it!

Great find...but I thought I saw this rig being trailered on rte 6 last week? Keep us posted on how she runs and best of luck!

Seems to be a good day for cool boats.

Congrats

Quite likely. It had to go to a shop for bearings and seals. I couldn't fix them all in the seller's driveway.

Thanks! It's no 21, but I am happy.

She`s a 26. I know the feeling.

It must be the week for new additions!!
Picked up a project Hewes last Sunday...:eek:
It is only 17!! ;)

Lapstrake, bonefisher? Pics? New thread of pics after church tomorrow?

A rare Lappy.

Congratulations FishStretcher, nice find. Once you get her in the water, please share your performance numbers. I'm running the same engine with a Bravo 1 drive, and I'd love to have something to compare it against.
Dave

Good for you. Nice boat!

Congratulations!!!! That is about the perfect power/drive combo for that boat.

It sure looks like the pic of a boat posted in a thread(see below) I started in 2006, when I was looking for mine. Is it the same??

http://www.classicseacraft.com/commu...ad.php?t=16317

Connor

Good taste!
 

No matter how much I kid around with Ken, you have to admit he has good taste in boats!!!

Congrats NoBones!

The timing is right for the I/O replacement, and they look identical so I can't see how it is a different boat. I was in denial at first, but I think this is the case. He said it was in Chatham before he got it.


On the plus side, there is a detailed maintenance history. It needs some mechanical work I can perform. On the downside, hull maintenance was perhaps based on the presumption of the invulnerability of fiberglass to the elements. In the thread above, there is a picture with snow on the ground and no tarp. I never saw it with a tarp on it. (But this seems to be the norm out on the Cape- and it rarely snows lots that far out.) Even so, it looks OKish up close, save for some interesting user modifications. I will be paying attention to the bulkheads, as they are an issue even in a pristine boat, and this one has seen it's share of rainwater in the bilge thru a hole in the deck at the helm. There is also a section of deck cut out and screwed back in with a 2x4 backer so they could work on the engine without pulling it. I think that is a serious hack, but I can fix that.

I never got a scan tool on the engine. I was told 150, then 200 hours on the engine. As an injected engine, it starts and runs better than my carburated outboard, so I don't know.

I got no sea trial with a mid-winter purchase, so it is a "pig-in-a poke" in some ways. I am sure there is more to be done I don't know about, but so far I think it won't take that much work to splash it.

Sorry, didn't mean to shortchange you!:D

I haven't keeping up with your thread as I have spent so much time either shoveling snow, or trying to line up the inspection and tow home.

Congrats Fishstretcher on that boat. Make sure you check the fuel tanks out if they have not been replaced? Show more Pics :)

strick

I had no experience at all in taking a boat apart before I pulled my tanks and was astonished at how easy and fast it was. Assuming yours is done like the original, its worth pulling those tanks. That will also give you plenty of room to inspect the bulkheads, stringers, etc.

Pics, pics pics!!! purty please!

Fish - congrats on finding that rare gem! Should be a nice rig with modern engine and new outdrive! I've seen both Connor's and Blue Heron's boats - they know that model well, have put them to good use, and can give you some great advice! I love that layout and hull design. It appears to be one of the most sea-kindly of all SeaCrafts and should allow you to fish in some really nasty stuff!

The early Bravo 3's had a bad rep for corrosion/electrolysis problems and poor customer support from Merc, but I'll bet Pelican knows what the fixes are! Denny

Thanks!

The lower unit is an '07 reman. It looks like it has GenII Bravo 3 zincs- like on the propshaft-, but I am not sure. Either way, it will be a trailer queen for year one, and I got all this for the used, sold in winter in New England price. I could never afford this stuff new, so I think it is a decent deal. But I will keep an eye on it, and help is appreciated.

Pics are forthcoming. I got a precious few snaps just before I got the tarp on it and the next storm blew in. I have a 20 lb chunk of ice on my trash can lid (it is out for collection right now) so it won't blow away in the 40 MPH, 10 degree gusts.

The few pictures my dad took as he helped me tarp it up as the storm rolled in. Pretty amazing how mobile he is after two artificial knees. The boat is a mess as we were scrambling to beat a storm and nightfall. I bought a small step ladder yesterday just for getting in the boat and reaching the radar arch.

That looks amazing. Super score. Stay warm through the storm.
Cheers,
McG

I recognize that boat. Back when I first got my 25, I was saving pictures of 25 Seafaris from all over the net. I have pics of your boat from before the repower. I'll post them when I have some time. Does it still have the name on the transom, "Oui Fish"?
Dave

good luck great u found a nice one george

Two things have occurred to me since I last posted to this thread.

1) FishStretcher, this is your boat. Even though the pictures I have were taken before it was yours, I'll respect your privacy and won't post them without your permission. Let me know by PM if it's ok to post or if you'd rather I just send them to you.

2) It looks like the exhaust riser elbows are only about 6" above the deck. Mercruiser has a recommended minimum height above the fully loaded static waterline to the top of the riser elbow. I believe it's 12", but I'd have to look it up again to be sure. I don't think 6" above the deck is going to get you there. I have 4" riser extensions on mine. Looks like you've got plenty of room under the engine cover if you need to add them too, and riser extensions would be cheap insurance against water ingestion.

Dave

Ditto on the risers.

I will need education on this one. If there is a good website for how this works, or you want to type it out, I would really appreciate it.
The Seloc manual covers every configuration in the book, and a 5.7 with fresh water cooling and partly (?) cooled exhaust is something I know nothing about. But it looks like I need another riser and a harder bend for the exhaust, you say? There sure looks like there is room I was wondering why the engine cover was so tall. I have to do some other engine things, so the more I know, the better. I have a 1 ton chainfall, so I can move the engine if I have to. And a mobile cherry picker good fro 500lb at that reach.

I already warmed up the credit card late last night, so now I need to see what my unintentional expenses are. :eek:

Ouch. Riser kirs for a dry joint exhaust are $450?!? They should be titanium for that price.

For mine, volvo makes hugely expensive, one piece hi risers, but you can buy extenders for the existing risers, after market and much less expensive.

I dragged my installation manual out of the shop to check the requirements. The manual is for Mercruiser gasoline sterndrive models and includes the 350 Mag MPI in both Alpha and Bravo configurations with Serial number OM668000 and above. Do yourself a favor and throw out that Seloc manual and get the factory service manual. You'll need two manuals, one for engine, one for Bravo drive.

Anyway, the installation manual says the minimum exhaust elbow height is 13" (33.0 cm) above the static waterline with the boat fully loaded. That means full tankage, gear and crew. My fully loaded static waterline is around the middle of the scuppers unless everyone moves to the back of the boat. That puts it an inch or two below the deck. Which would make minimum elbow height around 11 or 12 inches above the deck to the top surface of the elbow casting. I just checked mine and it's at 11 3/4".

If you increase your exhaust elbow height, in addition to the riser extensions, you'll need longer intermediate elbows. Those are the ones that connect the riser elbow to the Y pipe. They will have a slightly sharper angle than the shorter ones.

Something else you might want to check:

From page 19 of the installation manual - IMPORTANT: Bravo closed cooled models require a through the hull or through the transom pickup in addition to the sterndrive water inlets in order to meet the minimum flow specifications.

So there should be a Y fitting on the engine cooling hose behind the seawater pump on the starbord side of the engine. The Y fitting should have one hose fed from the Bravo transom assembly, and another fed from a through hull.

Dave

This is a good thread, a lot of key information. Not enough height and we may be costing ourselves needless manifolds and risers, not to mention possible (likely) engine damage of not having sufficient height!

Thank you! Please continue.

Don`t chop the throttle and let them idle for 2 minnows before shutdown.

More on the topic:

http://www.perfprotech.com/blog/unca...d-and-checking

Dave

This is all great stuff.

Mine does have a thru hull pickup and a Y pipe to the gimbal/lower unit for raw sea water pickup. I was confused by that, now it makes sense.

I bet my exhaust risers are not much above the deck, judging by the pics. the scum line on the boat is perhaps 4-5" below the scuppers, so fully loaded, I can see the waterline being close to the scuppers.

I do have a post 2002 engine, , and 0W0..... serial number- so with the dry joint, all the riser extension kits are >$400 that I can find. I looked at eBasic Power, Osco, Mercury... Unless I am dong something wrong?

The older extensions are 1/2-1/3 the price. If I need the expensive dry joint extensions, I need them. But it looks like a lot of $$$ for a few bolts, gaskets and lumps of cast iron. Plus, as you pointed out, the intermediate elbows.

I will take measurements and see how far off it is. Is there a known downside to more than 13" above waterline? Because the pricing for a 3" extension and 6" is about identical. So I might wind up with 15". I guess if 13" is the minimum, then a bit more is OK.

Pictures of the (scum) waterline before the repower. Blue Heron passed these along.

And a few more. I did pick up scraps of the canvas, but not all of it, and almost no electronics. And an awful lot of thru-hulls. Mostly plastic, it looks.

Two more. I hope this trim tab placement is right- a bit inboard. Again, thanks to Blue heron, and these pics are 11 ish years old.

Here a few more. Looks like someone did not like the name at some point. You can see where they took off the lettering in the last pic. I have a couple shots of the old engine as well.

strick

That's a funny way to attach an outdrive... :eek:

There was rumor that it was used as a rockfinder once.