'72 23ft 305 I/O - Leaving it in the water during fishing season
 

Hi Everyone. I just bought my first Seacraft and I am wondering about leaving it in the water during fishing season in the San Francisco Bay. I bought it from a friend of mine who owned it for 35 years. He is a very good mechanic and put a new Mercruiser alpha one outdrive and 305 engine in it about six years ago. The package has 280 hours on it. I am concerned with water getting into the transom and causing damage. This is the third engine in the boat and he said the transom didn't show any signs of rot. Do you guys recommend taking the unit off and re-sealing it before berthing it?
He also said he used silicone to seal it to the transom. It says in the instructions you don't have to but it sounds like a good idea.

Thanks, Keith

Outdrive seals !!!!
 

Man the water stays cold out there all the time and they don't grow any barnicles in SF Bay. They have lots of wood Work Boats that are floating that are 60 years old. You'll need to see if Strick or Gilley chime in. They are the West Coast operators.
The only thing I know about SF Bay Area is what did the Pelican hooker ask the Sea Otter hooker? -
"Did you ever blow a Seal?"

don't worry about water getting into the transom.if you worry about that, you are already done......If you can catch fish stay in..you can always prep the engine for below freezing ,in the water,if you get that cold....enjoy your new boat,...cant wait for spring ,in NY.,my boats still in,waiting for the last big bass....

Thanks for the input, and the hooker joke :D
I want to keep it out when the Salmon fishing is good. Maybe a month or two. I am also concerned with the bottom paint as it has the original paint on it. Is this something that I should be concerned with? Is there potential from damage? Should I repaint the bottom? I would hate to make the finish messy looking with a driveway brush on job.

Thanks,

Keith

It really should be sealed with a marine grade sealant/adhesive like 3m 4200, not silicone. If your transom is dry you want to keep it dry. The transom is where most care should be taken to ensure that the core stays sealed.

About the silicone. I wasn't too excited to hear it but it is sandwiched between the outdrive and the transom so I thought it could be ok. I could take it off and re-seal it. Do you think it is necessary right away?
Do you guys have any advice for resealing any bolts that may be in the transom, like on the swim platform? Should I go around them with something or take them off and make sure there isn't any damage? I have read on here that holes should be overdrilled, epoxied, and then drilled to desired pilot hole.

Thanks,

Keith

That's the bulletproof way to avoid a wet core. Also, Life Caulk polysulfide sealant in another option to 4200. Stinks like hell, but it doesn't harden and will cure underwater! If you're not leaving boat in water all the time and the silicone sealing job is relatively recent, you could probably postpone resealing the outdrive until time for annual maintenance on it.

Yeah, that sounds like a great way to make penetrations.
I don't plan on doing a resto on this boat any time soon, if ever, but I would like to use it for a long time and I would like to take care of it. Do you think I should redo the penetrations that have been made, such as, the transducers, swim platform, trim tabs, etc? It seems like I should and at the same time I can check out for any rot. It's either that or apply adhesive around the penetrations to keep the moisture out.
Is there a tutorial or guideline for doing the drill, epoxy, drill method? How much larger than the bolt hole do you drill? What epoxy are you guys using? Do you paint it after? Do you seal around the outside of the bolt after it is in?

Thanks,

Very excited new Seacraft owner, Keith

Redoing all screw penetrations is cheap insurance if you plan to keep the boat for a long time, and might save or delay need to replace a core. Check out this West Systems Guide section 7.2.1!

[QUOTE=keith;232693]About the silicone. I wasn't too excited to hear it but it is sandwiched between the outdrive and the transom so I thought it could be ok. I could take it off and re-seal it. Do you think it is necessary right away?


Just a few notes on this-
If you are saying he added silicone to the outside sealing surface I guess he did it as an additional safety measure. When you install that transom assembly you use a gasket from merc and that does the sealing work and gives you the right tolerances for torquing down the bolts. If the transom sealing surface was getting less than perfect he may have just added the silicone and, like others above, I would have used something else, but don't consider it a big liability if the job was done right.
You are looking at pulling the motor to redo that job so unless it is really stressing you out Or you are seeing water coming in may want to hold off. There are several failure points on that IO so every so often I would pull the boat, completely dry the bilge and then relaunch and run at the ramp and just keep a really close eye on everything for a few minutes. I always found the best way to inspect that motor/bilge was at night with a flashlight. The few times I was chasing down a leak it was much easier to find this way.
I just sold mine but loved the power package. I had a 5.7 and the same drive you have. They require a bit more vigilance but will treat you well if you do the same.
Feel free to pm me. I think I have a pdf for the shop manual for the Alpha 1. Very good thing to have around.

Thanks for the reply Oldfielder. He sandwiched the silicone for added seal with the gasket provided as an extra measure. I am with you, I think it is ok. He is a good mechanic. After looking through this site at all of the rotted out transoms and floors I am on high alert to all the penetrations. I would really like to avoid a restore for as long as possible. I just want to go fishing. Great idea using the flashlight at night, I will definitely do that.
He gave me the full shop manual for the outdrive so I think I am good there but it would still be nice to have the pdf. I will pm you. Thanks!
I don't think it has been really gone through since he installed it 6 years ago. It has 280 hours on it. I was going to do the impeller as soon as I get it home.

Thanks, Keith

I gave you some good info concerning a few things : http://www.classicseacraft.com/commu...728#post232728


there's info concerning the waterpump in there,along with some general info.
follow the advice given -it WILL keep you out of trouble


the MPI motors,are very smooth,powerful and reliable ! I've used quite a few of those 5.7/5.0 MPI motors on repowers -both straight inboard and stern drive applications.
the fuel economy you will get,it will impress you !!

silicone:

sealing the transom assembly against the transom:

there's a seal from the factory attached to the transom plate - me,i've used black 3m 5200,a quick smear is all that's needed.silicone has no place on a boat.i've lost count of the transom assemblies I've installed...

water intrusion:

stern drives - look where the cut out is,for the transom assembly - this area is often overlooked - this area needs to be sealed - if it's a wood core.seal it with EPOXY,not the cheap porous polyester resin - this is often overlooked...

3m 5200 :
the inexperienced will tell you it's permenant - it's not !


few things I noticed in the pictures :

nylon/plastic thru hulls -I see one,port side -you need to be careful with these - plastic will become brittle and break/crack - not a good thing...

prop - looks to be the standard aluminum prop - looks like it's been run through the mud or sand - you may want to send that in for reconditioning

lenco electric tabs - seen quite a few problems with those and sea water intrusion



side notes:

additional bilge pump - allways good idea to install a second bilge pump -wire this to a seperate battery than the other pump - feed power to the auto float switch from the battery terminal behind the battery switch though a waterproof in inline fuse to the float switch lead.
separate thru hull,and hosing

high bilge water alarm - install one !!

Probably the biggest thing is to make sure you have power to the bilge pump. Boats at the dock don't usually get a huge leak - mostly a small one that drains the battery as the bilge pump cycles. If the bat drains because of a slow leak, the boat slowly sinks. If you are not on shore power then get a solar panel on it and make sure you don't accidentally turn off power to the pumps.:eek:

The weird place on my 23 that had a slow leak was the scupper. The port side brass tube had corroded through but you couldn't tell except for the slow trickle in a flashlight beam after crawling into the transom and laying on top of the motor. The wood backing block was jello from the leak - it even leaked in from rain on the deck while sitting on the trailer. There are more threads here about scupper issues than I can count and 4x as many opinions.

The good news is that after it has been in for a while you quit worrying as much...

Here's a good summary of the various marine sealants available that you might find useful.

Pelican,

Thanks a lot for your recommendations! It is nice to have access to people so knowledgeable on this site. I replied to some of your comments below.

Thanks, Keith

Good call. Will do.

transom cut out - look inside the boat - it's where the transom was cut out to allow the transom assembly to fit...


thu hull - it's on the port side - looks like maybe a bilge pump outfall ?? it looks like it's plastic...


that other set of pictures - the prop was black - looked like a standard aluminum prop


lenco trim tabs - the actuators often fail - due to water intrusion -actuators not the tab screws



bilge pumps - NEVER share thu hulls !! separate thu hull for bilge pump exits !! smooth hose as well !!

look at this picture:

look at prop - it's black,and it's an aluminum prop - notice the edges of the blades ??


look below hull vent - see the white thru hull ???

Got it. That was from an old picture he sent me before I went to buy it. Yeah, I can see the aluminum prop.
I do see the bilge thru hull and it does look plastic. I will check it out and let you know.

Thanks

Keith,
You got tons of great replies from everyone. I am another that will 2nd using 3M 5200. I am in Idaho so another West Coaster and a Lot colder than SF bay.

Some of the things to do on this side of the coast...as well as the NE part of the country. The water temp is wayyyy colder here.

SO I...

Have 3 bilge Pumps in my boat.. Some will say overkill, but... Florida water wont kill you in 60 mins or less like here.

Every Bolt on the outside of the hull that is under the water line should be sealed good...I prefer again 3M 5200...just me.

Would recommed going thru the Outdirve, Has the Gimbel Bearing been done, seals and Water pump.

If you were really concerned about not having to do maitence on that boat again... You can pull the Engine and Outdrive in less than an Hour. Install New Gaskets and 3M 5200 and reseal it up. Then as the boat owner you know exactly what has been done. Over the years i have learned, don't take someones word for it unless you did it yourself, you don't know.

I did not look to see if that was a Closed Cooling system or not..I would assume Closed. If that's the case don't foreget the semi-annual maintenance on that bugger.

The 23' Hull is Amazing for our side of the country... You could take 2 days, get thru everything and know without a doubt she is in tip top shape and then You Yourself can start keeping track of Maitence.

Keep a Log of what and when you do things. It will help down the road.

Happy boating my friend.
Robert