Back in the Family 1981 23 SeaCraft
 

It has been a few years since i have owned a SeaCraft, I needed a larger boat as many of you knew and I switched to another cult classic hull a few years back.

My family has always had sailboats (hence my username and boat name "Trayder") yes, I grew up since I was 8 days old on a sailboat and with family have sailed in many different seas in a few different countries. My folks still continue to sail but a big decision was made this past year and their 42' sailboat was put on the market and sold in a short amount of time. Keep in mind this boat was like family, purchased in 1991 and covered the waters from the Southern Bahamas to the shores of Canada "Pryde" was a member of the family and a well loved one at that. I could write a book of the lessons I learned on that boat and of the places we travelled but this post is not about that but about what just replaced her.

A few weeks after Pryde was sold I received a depressing phone call from my Father the jist of it was that he was bored and wanted to get back on the water. He water a powerboat (WHAT BLASPHEMY! I thought, did I hear that right? a Powerboat??) he wanted something that could take my mother and he to the many harbors around Cape cod and Buzzards Bay. This is an area where at 12noon it blows from the SW at 15-25 almost every day and kicks up a chop our favorite boats love to eat. As it happens, I had recently done my scouring of the local Craiglist ads and just down the street from them was a 1981 SC 23 with a 2007 225 etec with 90 hours.

I relay this info to pops and he checks it out, turns out the boat is unmolested, no T-top, never been painted, was re-fit in 2007 with new transom, fuel tank, and wiring, has decent electronics but needs some love, just general cleaning some re-wiring and the fuel tank hatch core was shot. As a bonus the owner was a neighbor of my parents and they struck a deal in short order.

So without any further babbling here is the new "Pryde" a 1981 23 SC with a 2007 Evinrude eTec

Yo Velvet,
Welcome back to the cult, err, family, o prodigal son and founding pimp. Looks real perty.

Awesome . . . Tell your Parents congrats!

Welcome aboard Harvey! Is this Like Son Like Father or vice versa?
More pictures when you run Pryde out to the vineyards. Good luck with her & BTW: Don't celebrate too long and "fall in the bushes" :p

Alright! hey trayder thanks for providing all of us sc nuts with a place to gather all these years!

Trayder, Thanks for the history and congrats on the purchase. Very cool. Let us know what mods are made and how she performs with that power.

Yes, my son, there is a God and he Does work in mysterious ways! Congratulations!

Jason-congrats on getting another SC for the family. I think I hear the welcome back Kotter song playing in the background!:D. I don't know about you with your dad, but from what I heard the look on my dad's face when his sailboat was being driven away was tough.....my dad ended up with an 18sf. We may need an appearance at a FL gathering, for old times sake!?

And our family is whole again

"He water a powerboat (WHAT BLASPHEMY! I thought, did I hear that right? a Powerboat??) he wanted something that could take my mother and he to the many harbors around Cape cod and Buzzards Bay. This is an area where at 12noon it blows from the SW at 15-25 almost every day and kicks up a chop our favorite boats love to eat."

Amen. Like today.*


Welcome back!!




*I never surfed breaking 7-8 footers in a boat until today- about 15 mi east of you.

Thanks guys

I hope to put some decent time on her over the next few days. She is definitely a "runner" and very solid and smooth, as they are supposed to be, my pops referred to her as a "woosher" and I quote "you know she does not pound off the waves she just......woooshes on to the next one, nice a smooth" I shook my head on that one, with a grin of course.


Anyhow, does anyone currently run a 23 with a 225 etec? The numbers i saw were not fantastic we saw 1.9-2.2mpg BUT this was in some serious seas and pretty loaded. I am curious what pitch and # blade props others are using with the eTec

Mr. Velvety Smooth, what prop you have now? If I was guessing a 17p Rebel 3 blade is the way to go. My brother went through five different sets of props on his eTecs and this is the one that worked best!! His best fuel numbers are at 4100 to 4200 rpms. Good luck!!!

PS: "Woosher" is the correct term! :)

I do like the clean lines of no T-top or bow rail. Really nice score.

Not sure what prop/WOT rpm you're running now, but your WOT rpm should be 5500-5600, which is the OPTIMUM rpm for that motor. http://www.etecownersgroup.com/post/...post1269398114
I'd make sure engine height is correct, as many dealers mount them too low (should be able to see top of AV plate above green water when up and plane and motor is trimmed out as far as you can go without ventilation or porpoising.)

I've read articles by Nigel Calder where he's overlaid propellor power (HP vs rpm) curves on engine HP vs rpm maps. The engine power maps show islands or contours of constant BSFC (Brake Specific Fuel Consumption, (fuel flow/HP)), which is a good measure of engine efficiency. The best efficiency usually occurs near the speed of maximum torque, quite a bit lower than the speed of max HP. Calder's studies show that if you install a large enough prop to load the engine to operate at maximum efficiency at cruise, the engine won't have enough power to spin that prop up to the engines peak HP! In other words, you can get better MPG if the engine is over-propped, but that's not good for the engine, plus it will really struggle to get on plane! With a fixed pitch prop, you'll get the best all around performance if you prop to reach the optimum or max HP rpm at WOT.

In the ideal world, a variable pitch prop would allow you to load the engine for max efficiency at cruise but also unload it enough to spin up to its max HP for WOT speed. Calder is investigating hybrid diesel/electric systems where an electric motor drives a fixed pitch prop. The load of the electric motor can be adjusted to act like a variable pitch prop, so a diesel electric system shows significant efficiency advantages over a conventional direct drive powertrain, but the added weight makes it only practical for displacement or semi-displacement hulls.

One thing that might surprise your dad is to compare that E-TEC's MPG to the sailboat under power at 5 mph - I would expect it to show at least 5-6 MPG. My 150 burns 0.5 mpg at 5 mph and about 900 rpm!

Jason - I have a 17 pitch Enertia and a 15p or 19p mirage plus if Harvey wants to try them.

Congrats on the sled.
So, I have to ask Pryde and Trayder. Why the y?

Off topic but curious, what does the bottom of the Conch
look like?

Cheers,
GFS

I nos what dem conch bottoms look like. I been der 2 x a year with homey

http://www.bikernet.com/news/images/PhotoID23206.jpg