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Jumping in with Both Feet on a 20 Seafari
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Greetings, all:
I am new to Seacraft ownership, and have been lurking on the forum for a few weeks in preparation of the receipt of a 1972 Seafari. It arrived today! The boat comes from Cape Cod, where it was last on the water about 5-6 years ago. I actually rode in it then and said to myself: "this thing might sink with me on it". The bulkheads were rotten, the door was missing, the teak sideboards had aged to a special shade of brown gross, and the electrical was a rat's nest. In the last few years, the prior owner removed much of the interior systems: fuel, steering, electrical, motor, carpeting, etc. Then it sat, and I rescued it. My plan is to first get the transom done, repair a 3 foot section of the keel that was compromised, fill in a bunch of holes and other cracks in the gelcoat, all with an eye to not a restoration, but a return to workmanlike condition. The emphasis will be on function, not necessarily beautification, as my budget will not allow that. I will thank all on this forum in advance for my inevitable onslaught of questions over the next months as I rebuild this beautiful boat. Here are a few photos of the current condition: Attachment 13654 Attachment 13655 |
more photos
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Here are a few more
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Congratulations! Looks like a great project.
I am involved in a similar endeavor on the same year and model, but on the other side of the country. So far it's been a lot of work, but a ton of fun. I look forward to seeing your progress, and I'll be jealous if you get yours in the water first... Cheers! |
comparing notes
Thanks, Dogbomb. Due to work constraints, I will be having a talented glass guy, who has done work on other Seacrafts, to re-do the transom, raising it to 25 inches, and other miscellaneous fiberglass work. That will give me a significant head start. It will be good to compare notes.
For instance, my bulkheads are shot. Are you replacing yours? If so, what is your plan for that - just plywood and poly? Or something more decorative? |
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I made new bulkheads out of 1/2" marine ply. I pressure glued a 1/4" Poplar veneer on the front for added strength and because I really like how the grain contrasts my new teak doors. 7 coats of varnish later they're ready to install. |
bulkheads look good!
The tone of the wood and the grain are pretty. I am thinking about either fir or mahogany plywood for the bulkheads. My wood side trim pieces were treated with a mess of stains, and look outright disgusting. I may strip them and see how they turn out, or cover them with vinyl bolster material. That will be a next summer project as "must have" systems like steering and gas tank will take priority over cosmetics for now. What diameter steering wheel did you install? and did you do hydraulic or mechanical steering?
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Thank you, John!
I'm using a 15" wheel, and I'm currently rebuilding a vintage Hynautic hydraulic steering system. What kind of outboard are you planning on using? |
Outboards...hmnnn
As to Outboards, I have been scouting the possibilities. I am going to try to keep to the advice of a few experienced CSC members, and target a lighter motor with a horsepower range of 115-140 max. Really going to try to keep to the 115 if I can find one at a good price with good maintenance history. New power is out of my price range for this project, so I will try to get something in the under $4000 range. The transom will be raised to 25 inches.
I plan to install and rig it myself, unless the seller happens to be a shop that will make a deal on installation and rigging. |
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I ran a 150 on the Seafari and put a 200 on my Sceptre with a Jack Plate. After running both... The 200 Was the Only option i would consider... The engine won't cost you any more money... Most come with a Low Water Pick Up unit and the Jack Plate will let you get the engine height perfect before you prop it. My little sceptre 20' was a Bad Ass Ride with the 200 had i kept it the next jump would have been a 250 with a Revolution Merc 4 blade prop. Just food for thought.... IMHO There will be almost no price difference between a 115 and a 200 especially if you go Black EFI and the weight is minimal. Also flyingfrizzle redid a 20' Sceptre and hung a merc 225 EFI back there which is another 50 lbs heavier than the 200 because its a big block. He had good balance on that boat and it FLEW like ka Rocket.... U might do a search on his Rebuild of the 20' Sceptre. Robert |
Thanks, Robert
Interesting thoughts. Will be mulling all that over this winter, as the motor will not be needed until April.
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Congrats on your new project, Sailor.
The fact that its already stripped will be a helpful start. Good time to reseal the cap all the way around if not already done to keep the cabin dry. Check for water seepage around the scupper blocks, too. Presumably you'll raise the transom to 25" if you're redoing it. Nothing against Douglas fir, but mahogany or teak ply offer a timeless salty look and detail. Go with your gut there. Your consideration to keep the motor light as possible is also wise choice. Your boat was designed with a 300 lb 110 hp Merc in mind. 115 to 140 hp will satisfy, and keep you upright. That boat will get airborne at 25 knots in anything over 2'. Nonetheless, it will land gracefully and you won't spill your drink. It's a very cabaple 20 footer. Good luck with the project. May you board many stripers, bft or whatever your quarry. Look forward to your progress |
Thanks, Mcgillicuddy!
Appreciate the recommendations.
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Latest photos of the transom work
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Visited the Sea Hag at the fiberglass guy's shop for an update.
The job is 80% done, with gelcoat and drain plugs to install yet. Here are a couple of shots of her with the new higher transom (25 inches). |
Wow, she's looking great! I love the raised transom.
Can't wait to see the finished product! |
Transom almost finished
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Here is the transom nearly done. Main drain plug installed, 2 more to go - the motor well and livewell. Gelcoat needs a bit more clean up, then I bring her home. Will need to touch up the bottom paint where the primer is, weather permitting.
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Is the teak trim on the sides salvageable? That would look sweet cleaned up and varnished.
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It is not clear whether the teak trim can be brought back from the current sorry state. Next spring, I will try to strip and sand it, but it might have to wait until after the fuel system, steering, wiring and lighting get installed. Oh, and a motor!
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Teak is amazingly tough and durable wood, but I would not use any of the commercial cleaners on it, as they destroy the soft parts of the grain and will leave a very uneven surface. Been maintaining it for over 41 years on my boat, and I've found that your best bet is to just sand and varnish with about 6-7 coats of Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss. I've tried teak oil, Deks Olje, etc. and all the oils oxidize and turn dark after just a few months. Epifanes will last many years, especially if you keep a cover on boat and is by far the lowest maintenance in the long run. The urethane varnishes may be even more durable, but when they go, it's a LOT more work to restore them! I varnished the mahogany emblem board below about 8-9 years ago and it still looks good, despite the high UV exposure in S. Fl.!
Oh, and "Sea Hag" may be an appropriate name for an ugly boat, but the Seafari is NOT an ugly boat! I think you can do better! |
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looks great ,you can do wonders with teak ,as long as it is solid, lots of ways to make it like you like it....pick your choice, from bare to gloss...they are all good.
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Plenty of thickness on that teak, take it to a wood shop, have them plane it, varnish and you will have one snazy boat. I did that area of my 20 with teak strips that needed a lot of clean up and it came out fabulous.
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Bushwacker:
I agree on the name - it is designed to reflect her condition when I got it - and not after it is reborn. Sometime in the past, she was called "The Old Buzzard" by a previous owner. Not sure what to make of that handle, either. |
Before and After transom
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The glass guy finished his part, and here are a few before and after shots:
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Sorry for the sideways photos
OOPS - Do not know what happened
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One more in my driveway
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Last one before the cover goes on for 3 months.
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Looks better than new!
Sorry about the cover for 3 months thing... |
Bulkheads a comin'....
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A little warmer this week in Jersey, so I ran down to the lumberyard and picked up some marine plywood for the bulkheads. Here they are with the rough cut done. Thankfully the prior owner saved the originals for a template. Note the close up of the old capacity sticker...will be ordering a new one today.
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Very interesting . . . I'm sure your boat is a '72 due to dash configuration and gunnel fixtures, but it might be a later model than mine, as the sticker on mine was located on port side of cockpit, just aft of the bulkhead. I believe the stickers on later models was located below helm like yours. FYI, the numbers on my sticker are: SN 2268, 170 HP (some were sold with twin 85 hp Mercs), max load of 6 Persons or 1500 lbs. I'm curious what your SN is, if it's legible?
Also, that upper right notch on stbd bulkhead is for running wiring from IP to back of boat. Although I have the original screen that attaches to front hatch with velcro, and a screen on inside of cabin door, the first time I slept aboard the boat, I discovered that skeeters could get into the cabin through that notch! Jeanne Moesly told me they discovered the same thing the first time they anchored out in the Shark river in the 'Glades in their Seafari! So if you intend to use the boat for it's designed purpose, best to seal up that area with some foam sealant once you finish rigging it! Those bulkheads should look nice once they're stained and varnished! When you install the bulkheads, you'll find that those screws at the bottom are hard to keep tight if you use the OEM sheet metal screws. I epoxied some brass expanding wedge anchors used for mounting hurricane shutters on wood houses that take 1/4-20 machine screws into the fiberglass. With fender washers under the screw heads and a little blue locktite on the threads, they work real well! |
Bushwacker -
Great idea on the anchors for the bulkheads - I was kind of worried about the integrity of the old wood under the floor that the sheet metal screws bite into. I was planning to fill the old holes with epoxy, then drill new pilot holes, but that still relies on the wood. I like the anchor idea better. I may use that method in other spots too - like the door frame, where the holes are way oversized. I cannot read the sticker, as some prior owner glued a veneer of plywood over it, and when I took it apart, the glue took off a lot of the numbers. Is there a way to identify the null number or serial number any other source? |
If it hadnt been cut out by prior transom replacement, Hull ID would have been right below the cap on the upper starboard corner of the outside of transom. Check with glass guy to see if he took any pics of the area. Title would also have Hull ID if you have that.
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After one particularly rough Bahamas trip, I noticed the bottom screws coming loose, allowing the bottom of the bulkheads and door frame to shift aft, pinching the door at the bottom. I changed to machine screws & and threaded inserts on the bulkheads as previously described, and also ran a couple of wood screws thru the door frame into the sides of the bunks so they would be loaded in shear, and it's been solid ever since. Another option to threaded inserts for the bulkhead screws is toggle bolts. Although I've bought some from WM that had plastic zip ties running thru a plastic washer that help hold the toggle in place after you insert it, I'd still put a little epoxy on the toggles before installing them to insure they remain stuck to the back side of the fiberglass if you ever have to remove the screws. They're real handy for installing seat pedestals. (You typically have to drill about a 3/8" hole for a 1/4-20 toggle.) One other thing I'd do to the bulkheads before you install 'em is to saturate the edges and screw holes with some thin epoxy to waterproof them, especially along the bottom. Reason is that it's very hard to seal the bottom edge with caulk, so it's easy for wash down water to get under the edges of the bulkheads, and fresh water will rot 'em out even faster than salt water! Regarding the hull ID/SN, they didn't start using the hull ID numbers till 1973, so I doubt you'll find any numbers on the transom. I even had to explain that to a young USCG officer one time during an inspection who had never heard that! :rolleyes: All you can provide is the hull SN. The numbers are actually stamped into the metallic decal on my boat as I suspect they are on yours, so even if they're smeared over, the imprint should still be there. If you can clean off the crud covering them, you might be able to see them by laying a piece of thin tracing paper over them and rubbing over them with a lead pencil! |
Plastic tie toggle bolts
[QUOTE=Bushwacker;249017]
Another option to threaded inserts for the bulkhead screws is toggle bolts. Although I've bought some from WM that had plastic zip ties running thru a plastic washer that help hold the toggle in place after you insert it, I'd still put a little epoxy on the toggles before installing them to insure they remain stuck to the back side of the fiberglass if you ever have to remove the screws. QUOTE] As always Bushwacker's advice is pretty sound. I would suggest doing a trial or two on a piece of scrap material if you attempting to use the WM toggle bolts with the plastic zip tie wings. I did and I was not satisfied enough with the results for an absolute solid anchor for my barefoot boom.- sorry, can't remember why. Maybe some epoxy as Bushwacker suggests to glue them might have helped. Thought they a little pricey too, but would have used them if I liked them. My '76 20' Seafari has the aluminized sticker under the helm like yours, but my bulkheads are fiberglass, so yours must be a little earlier model. |
Thanks, guys. I am not sure I want to rely on the plastic anchors of the toggle bolts, whether epoxied or not. Bushwacker: you used brass anchors? Where did you find those?
I am still deciding on whether to laminate a thin PVC or other skin to the outside of the bulkheads instead of using the plywood alone. I am definitely planning on coating all sides and bottoms in epoxy to prevent the problem of sweet (or salt) water wicking up the grain. As to the foil sticker, I will try to get the serial number from the sticker by rubbing, and see how it goes. |
Tracing paper update - no luck. I could get the words "serial no" and then there was a rectangular box for the number, but the box itself was not intact, and none of the numbers were visible. Oh well, guess it will be a # 1 HULL as far as I am concerned.
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Thanks, McGillicuddy: The transom did not have a hull ID number on it. the prior owner had to get an assigned number form Massachusetts at some point. Here is what the transom looked like before the redo.
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Regarding a laminate over the plywood, that would give a more uniform appearance than if you just varnished the plywood. I used some wood grain formica on the PVC board I used to replace the rotted plywood on the galley seat I bought (see pic below). It looked nice initially, but I'm disappointed at how quickly it faded in the strong UV we have in S. Fl., even though I keep a cover on the boat most of the time. It's actually faded worse than the 45 year old contact paper originally used on the bulkheads ! It's also very important to use waterproof contact cement or maybe epoxy resin to attach the laminate! Maybe if the laminate was coated with 5-6 coats of a clear varnish with lots of UV inhibitor, that would work. I would not use a urethane varnish because it'll be too hard to fix it once it goes bad. Also would not use epoxy or varnish over epoxy because epoxy under varnish will turn white once the varnish looses it's UV protection; you can't tell when that's about to happen, and I've heard stories about varnish + epoxy coatings turning white virtually overnight. You'd have to strip off the epoxy to fix that, so just plain varnish is probably your best bet. I've had very good luck with Epifanes. Used it on mahogany entry door shown below at least 4 years ago and it still looks great. although it faces N, so doesn't see direct sun. |
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I ordered a new number plate in stainless steel from machineplatesonline.com that will get screwed to the hull in the same place. I will put a second identical plate inside the cabin, perhaps on the inside of the bulkhead inside the instrument panel cover. The prices for a 3 inch plate were not cheap - $60 for two. Cheaper than a ticket, though.
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Outboard reserved
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Found a 2002 Johnson 115hp 2 stroke at a nearby dealer. Price seemed reasonable (for Jersey) and I put a deposit on it. The dealer will hold it for a couple of months until I get the boat ready for it. The service history is good (dealer serviced) and it is one owner. Very Clean. Here is a couple of shots:
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Great engine! I had a slightly older version on my Arima and I loved it.
Lots of grunt and decent fuel consumption. Never gave me any problems in 600 hours and required minimal maintenance. I miss that motor. Congrats! |
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