Fathers Day Gift - Seafari 20
 

So I'm new to Seacrafts and boats with motors in general. I originally was speaking with Bigeasy about his '69 Seafari listed in the For Sale forum. But my wife wasn't letting me bring home a project. Super guy if anyone is interested.

I found this one in the Mass area (they only seem to exist in Massachusetts and Florida). It's a '78 with what seems to be a good running '78 Merc Black Max 1750. In general the hull is in very good condition and I would call it a running project, mostly just cleaning and updating. The only issue I found was a soft floor in the step down to the cuddy. I will tackle that in the fall.

I do have one question and one observation. First the question. What is this? I opened the engine cover and this dropped out. I didn't see anything obvious out of place or missing. Manual is on the way but I can't find this peice online

Attachment 12744

Also, I was surprised to find it has a 25" transom. I can find the faint line where the splash well was built up, yes, exactly 5" down. The previous owner was insistent it's all original. I'm reasonably certain Potter SeaCrafts never had 25" transoms. Does anyone know of any dealers that may have raised transoms by request or any other reason?

Forgot photos and f the boat and transom

Major Score! The "yeller" ones always look great. Good luck wearing out that Black Max - they are very "resilient" - ask Frizzle.

Your spare part looks like the plunger for the choke solenoid.....

yep, choke plunger
good looking boat, My first seacraft was a yeller 20 seafari. great boat

Google agrees. Thanks guys.

Happy Dad day indeed.

Seafari Soft Stepdown
 

Congratulations on your 20' Seafari. It looks very much like my '76 yellow 20' Seafari. There will probably be plenty of suggestions on CSC about your soft stepdown. Here's what I did for my soft stepdown way before I knew of CSC. It first occurred forward of the cabin door, then a few years later aft of the door. I used a thick cutoff wheel on a Dremel tool with a flexible drive ( to keep the fiberglass dust away from the Dremel brushes and bearings). Then carefully peeled back the upper layer. I scraped out all of the balsa and replaced it with some layers of roving and polyester resin. Then mixed up some cabosil with resin to make a putty to glue the upper layer in place. Then caulked up my cut line. It is firmer than it ever was. There are materials available that could have been lighter weight and just as stiff. But this worked well for me for about 18 years on the repair forward of the door, which I actually did with the boat in the water at my dock at night! The aft repair was done about 10 years ago.

nice pickup indeed!

Finally on the water
 

I know I have had my Seafari for well over a month and the weather up here has been near-perfect for boating but we finally got the boat out for the first time this weekend. It was just a quick spin and everything worked except for one thing, the fuel gauge. It is an old Medallion gauge that is original to the boat ('78). Does anyone know what the resistance range is this vintage gauge reads? I checked continuity between the gauge and sending unit, the grounds as well as 12v across the gauge. If I short the gauge it reads full. In practice however it doesn't move. I now the tank was changed by the PO and I assume by the look of it the sending unit was too. I'm also assuming since its newer the sending unit is a 240-ish to 30-ish ohm unit. Since everything seems to check out on there own I'm trying to figure out if this I just a compatible problem.

If the gauge pegs when you short it out, you have a bad sending unit
or pink wire (tank to gauge) You said you checked the grounds..
Do not worry about resistence. Buy your self a new WEMA sending unit.

Thanks. Using the search, "WEMA sending unit" shows up so many time I half expect a pop-up every time I open a thread.

I did pull new wires for to the sending unit. That's why I knew the continuity is good. For an extra $30 I think I'll just change them both.

RIP Yellow Seafari
 

So I took a second this morning to notice what I thought was an ominous looking cloud formation. Well it turns out it was a fire, a big fire. Here's the sad news. I put my Seafari in storage last weekend in the building I circled in the last photo. I am not holding out hope my son and I will be pulling walleye out of Lake Erie in the spring. I had it for 4 months. That was a fast ride....

Sad news indeed

Bethlehem Steel Fire

There is a drone video in this link..

Keep up posted !

I’m back to boating vicariously through you guys...
 

Well this puts a nail in it. It's next to the wall at the yellow arrow. I'm guessing it’s either burnt, blistered from the heat or flattened by the roof. Probably all three. Damn Glenn McLaughlin and his drone. I would have liked one night with slim hope.

I am so sorry! The world needs more yellow, not less.

:eek:Dang - that sucks. That's a great looking Seafari. Good luck. Holding out hope that they had sprinklers inside.

Seeing the news reports it is just another old building burnt down. Now it is hitting home I am sorry the yellow SC is no longer. Just proves we never know.....

Saw that on the news but didn't realize it was a boat storage barn! I guess that's why we carry insurance. That's a NICE Seafari! If it was on a lower rack it might have had a chance to survive. Please keep us posted on the outcome!

Thank you all for your kind words but it's official now. My Daughter and I were able to make our way down to the site yesterday morning. From our viewpoint there is nothing salvageable. There was nothing even resembling a boat.

So now all that's left is to decide what to do next...

The boating industry isn't big enough around here to support those type of facilities. There is a lot of empty industrial space however that makes indoor cold storage affordable.

The "Have you seen a grown man cry" is appropriate here. Sorry for your boat loss.

Wow, what a bad, really bad situation. Sorry for your loss.

I saw a 30' I/O boat on fire in the water many years ago, the smoke was as black as in the pictures you posted. Once the fiberglass catches fire it's a done deal.

Damm Bill,
Im so sorry to hear this terrible news.I can only imagine what you're going through. Every so often a Seafari comes up for sale in my area,and If I see one Ill let you know.Gotta get you back on another one.
I may be up on the lake for the months of May and June if my back allows it.You're welcome to come and fish with us until you get a new ride..Ill let you know when Im up that way.

They go really fast.
I have about five extinguishers.

Very sad for all there.

I have lost a few dogs in my life. I would never have guessed but this has felt a lot like loosing each of them.

This was a bit of a perfect storm. One million sq ft of 100-year-old factory. 2/3's occupied by a plastic and paper recycler, i.e. lots of fuel. This is a facinating video with lots and lots of black smoke. The ridge vents on the high bay (where my boat was) look like they were the BFD's worst enemy. They are moving a serious volume of hot gas.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6GANjGfpq28

I may take you up on both offers John. What makes this tough is my boat was really close to turn-key. I had a medical issue crop up this summer so not having to do any heavy lifting allowed us to enjoy a few days on the water. Unlike many of the CC's, most of the Seafari 20's I see for sale look like they need more work then I may be able to commit to. Of course I have plenty of time to find that right boat.

Any members in the Mass. south shore area willing to look over a boat for me? It's located in Lakeville near Assawompset Pond. I found another '78 about 15-20 mile from where I bought my yellow one last year. Speaking to the owner it's mostly been a fresh water/trailer boat so my hope is it's a bit of a barn find.

Best of luck for a speedy replacement! ;<)

I'm 20 minutes away from lakeville . . . and would be happy to take a look.

So sorry for your loss.

Man I appreciate it. I have drive hours out of town just to come home with nothing on the hitch. I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir though.

I will send you a PM with contact info.

Will call you tonight, sent you a pm.

You gotta love when we circle the wagons !!! :cool::):D

Indeed. Tim is already search new motors for it too! Seriously, He has been hugely helpful.

Bill - I'll give you the full report when I get home. Sent you a PM.

Bill - I left you a voicemail. Pics sent in PM. Take a close look at Pictures 6 and 7 on the inside of the transom. : (

Bigshrimpin came through! Again Tim, I really appreciate the offer and the great job documenting the boat.

Man, what a sad turn of events. That was a really sharp looking Seafari!

Back in 1989 our family suffered a total-loss house fire. Our much-loved Seafari 20 was on a trailer right next to the structure where the fire started. Luckily the boat did not ignite. The firefighters actually pulled the walls down a few feet from the boat, and a chimney had partially collapsed in the vicinity IIRC. Fortunately it survived with only two broken windows, some of the deck charred-brown like a marshmallow. To this day you can still see the heat bubbles in the original rub rails along the starboard side, and over the years cracks have developed on the top deck on that side from the heat exposure, which I plan to address this year. I'll have to dig up some pictures of the aftermath from '89...

Anyway, so sorry to hear about your boat; Best of luck finding a replacement!

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...pszbrdpz2y.jpg

So what's the verdict? Did BigShrimpin find you a score? If you're set on another Seafari 20, I may have one for you. My 77 is turn key and quite a few members have seen it. Also have a 76 I call the Blank Canvas. It's currently an I/O, with no engine or running gear. The strange thing is, I think the gel coat can be brought back to almost original, and she has never had bottom paint!?! Sorry to hear of your loss.

Vezo, Part II

Thanks John. I hope everyone was alright. Somethings are way more important then a boat.

Unfortunately the Seafari in the Cape wasn't the right boat for me. There wasn't anything terminally wrong just too many thinks needed addressing immediately. Hopefully someone else can bring it back. For a number of reasons a turn-key boat is what I need. I am discussing buying a Seafari that more than fits my needs. I can let you know if it doesn't work out however.

http://www.wellcraftv20.com/gallery/album210

Here's the album in case anyone is interested in the boat. It's still for sale. The owners are very nice people.

Putting a nail in the thread...
 

It took 11 months but we’re back on the water! As many of you have read the Restless Lady is now a fresh-water Yankee. 75 degrees with 70 degree water temp may be the dead of winter in South Florida but it’s a heat wave on Lake Erie. The last photo is on the Buffalo River among the old grain elevators. And just so we’re clear I will continue to refer to her as Denny’s Seafari.