1989 Sceptre to Center Console
 

When I bought the boat, I knew it needed a new transom. What started out as a transom recore, turned into gutting it down to the bare hull and stringers and starting over. I didn't post the progress, because I didn't want to be one of those guys with huge ambitions that ends up listing their "90% compete, all the hard work done" boats for sale 12 months later.

I didn't do a good job documenting the rebuild, but I'll try to document what I did start to finish. For now, a couple before and after photos.

(As you can tell, it used to be very tippy...)

For the rebuild, I used Polyumac panels. I bought it all at once from the factory, so they gave me wholesale pricing. I paid less than half what the equivalent Coosa, NidaCore and Divinycell would have cost. It was all built with epoxy and mostly 1708 fiberglass. To see what I used in the following photos, they are:
Gatorboard - grey
15# foam - tan
6# foam - green
honeycomb - white

On the teardown, I was amazed at how little wood was left in the transom. I was able to scoop out more than half the plywood using my hand. It was the consistency of wet shredded wheat.

I replaced the tank and support a couple years earlier, so I left those in place.

I had areas where the stringers were loose and weeping water, so I cut sections out of the tops and removed all the old foam. The stern 3' or so had steel discs in it, so I ended up cutting those sections of the stringers completely out to get rid of it. I pulled about 200# of steel out of the stringers. I glassed the stringers back down and formed new stringer sections with foam. New 2# foam was poured into the stringers and other below deck sections that were going to stay inaccessible.

After foaming and glassing the stringers, I added two inch rigid foam on top of them to raise the floor.

Mmmmmm, Shredded Wheat...

Smithers! Bring me my breakfast spoon.

here

These pictures show the building of the forward fish box. I wanted it to drain overboard, which created a huge storage area under the box and in front of the gas tank. The bottom of the tank is 2" foam and the sides and top are 1.5". I made the drain tubes by wrapping 1/2" pvc in saran wrap, and then used epoxy and 6 oz fiberglass cloth to wrap the pvc until it was about 1/4" thick. Then I just pulled the pvc out and cut the tubes into the lengths I needed. I used thickened epoxy to install them to the hull and then sanded it smooth. The fish box is just over 400 quarts.

In front of the fish tank are two storage areas. The larger one holds all the life jackets and an 11 gallon fresh water tank. The smaller one doesn't have a set purpose. It'll probably be used for rope and fender storage.

For the stern, I added a bulkhead in front of the transom and built another fishbox with gullwing style doors (I mostly freedive spearfish, so this makes it easy to swim up on the bracket and throw the fish in the box without getting in the boat. The fish box is 4' long and about 120 quart. It's deeper at the transom and shallower at the bulkhead to allow access to the bilge area through the bulkhead. On one side of the fishbox is storage with a shelf halfway down, so there's a storage accessible from the top and one from the side. The other side doesn't have a shelf, but I still added top and side access.

The original livewell location, I changed to storage. I put a floor on it to keep it above the bilge.

I'll take a break from pictures for a minute, and mention that before, during and after these photos, there's lots of fiberglassing going on. Most of the flat bulkheads and frames, I was able to fiberglass on a table and then install and fiberglass them to the boat. The top of the stern has some camber to it, so I had to fiberglass it in place. For those that don't know, you can fiberglass one side and still have good flexibility, but once the second side is glassed, it becomes extremely rigid.

For the deck of the boat, I used honeycomb which is ridiculously easy to work with (as long as you don't have to finish edges). Since I raised the deck a couple inches, I added hatches to the areas outside the stringers for speargun storage. The two hatches toward the bow are for fuel tank vent and the large storage in front of the fuel tank I mentioned earlier.

In the one picture, you can also see where I've started installing the frames for the cap. Rather than trying to modify the Sceptre cap, I decided to just build my own. More on that later.

To build the cap, I clamped a sheet of foam to the bow, and traced out the shape of the bow piece. After I cut that piece out, I clamped it in place and worked down the sides using the same technique. I fiberglassed the undersides of each piece outside the boat. I then installed them and taped the underside of the joints together. This step had lots of vertical and upside-down glassing (gunnel to hull joint), which is not fun.

With the top installed, I built a 6" deep inwale using the same technique. At the bow, I took the inwale deeper to create cubbies which makes a good storage spot for shoes, towels, clothes, etc.

I also installed a strip of foam to the outside to attach a rubrail. I fiberglassed the cap, hull and inwale together. At this point, everything in the boat is one-piece (monocoque) construction.

Since I filled in the transom, I had a little more than 1/8" gap where the original cutout was. I ordered some 1/8" Divinycell to fill this in and built it up the rest of the way with 1708. At this point in the build (2 years in), I was getting to the point I wanted it done. So we will say that my fairing of this area left a little to be desired.

I debated a while on paint. I didn't have space to spray, and since I had done everything on the boat so far, I didn't want someone else to paint it. That left rolling. I used System 3 before and it was ok, so I wanted something that would hold up (and initially look) better. I debated between Quantum and Alexseal. I ended up going with Quantum just because everything I read about Alexseal (including from them), said to ONLY use their products from prep to finish on the paint. I don't remember the exact numbers, but it was somewhere around $5000 for everything I needed for Alexseal vs. the $2000 I spent going with Quantum.

I ended up using System 3's high build primer (which I like and never had issues with) and Quantum finish primer and paint. I used Kingston Grey for the hull and Matterhorn White for the cap and interior. With the brushing additive, the first coat left some bubbles that needed to be tipped, but the second and third coats flowed out without any bubbles.

For what it is, I'm very happy with how it turned out. I'd rate the finish as somewhere between gelcoat and a sprayed paint. It's smoother and shinier than a production boat, but no one will mistake it for a $250k flats boat.

And for anyone that hasn't painted before, it wasn't just prime and paint. There was a little work in between...

After installing the hatches and hardware, I used Kiwigrip for nonskid. For the rubrail, I left it on the asphalt for a few hours and had a friend help hold it in place as I screwed it on. I ended up using a heat gun to make sure I had a smooth curve at the bow and the stern corners.

I had the bracket built by A & J Marine. I went with a flotation bracket with a kicker mount. I went with the kicker option vs twins for two reasons. 1. If I had twins and one went out, the options are either lug the good motor hoping to get planing speeds or idle back in. 2. With a kicker, I have an excuse to get a jon boat.

I forgot to mention, but you can see it in some of the pictures, that I went with side scuppers for deck drain. I kept the original drains for the stern fishbox. The scupper covers I made by sanding foam into the shape I wanted, then fiberglassing over them. I built up enough layers to make it solid, then I scraped the foam out of it.

The rest is just outfitting the boat. I kept the wiring simple. My first two cars were MGs, so I have an irrational fear of anything electrical. Everything is well labeled, so it can be easily isolated if needed. The console, leaning post and t-top all came from a guy that was rehabbing a 25 SeaVee.

The fabric on the top needed replacing. Rather than going with new fabric, I made a hard top out of extruded pvc. I coated it with one-part marine paint. We'll see how it holds up, but I've got less than $200 into it and only 3 or 4 hours labor, and it looks great.

Looking for engines in 2022 is not a pleasant task. I talked to several Tohatsu dealers (first choice), and got anywhere from being laughed at, to they weren't even willing to take a deposit. I did find one Suzuki dealer that said he could get a 250 mechanical for $26k plus installation. He said it would be 30-60 days out.

Even newer used are in short supply (probably because of new supply), so I ended up with a 2004 F225 that had the midsection replaced.

(The on the lift pictures are a couple days after Ian. I just gave it a quick rinse and put it on the lift.)

As far as performance goes, this one is quite a bit different than how it started. Originally, as a Sceptre, I had a 2001 225 OX-66. Top speed was just at or under 40 mph, 4000 rpms was about 24 mph and I think around 4700 for 30 mph. I was getting a little better than 2 mpg cruising in the 4-4500 range.

Now I have a 2004 F225 with a 19 pitch SWS prop (I believe 15 1/4). I haven't put much time on it yet, but with 4 people and half a tank, I was seeing:

4000 rpms - 26 knots (30 mph)
4500 rpms - 30 knots
5700 rpms - 41 knots (47 mph)

That was going into a 10 knot wind. I didn't compare numbers when I turned around.

I didn't have the fuel flow hooked up when I ran those numbers. Since I've installed it, I've only gone from the boat ramp to the lift, so I don't know where I am fuelwise yet.

Some other performance notes. I was a bit concerned about how the weight would affect it. I'm probably 1000# lighter than when I started (and getting 47 mph with an F225 confirms that). There were whitecaps on the bay the day I took it out, and if anything, it handled those conditions better than it did originally. With everything fiberglassed together, it feels much more solid - no rattles or noises at all.

At idle, there is a little bit of squat. Not much, but I can tell the difference vs how it was as a Sceptre. It jumps on plane easily with very little bow rise. I didn't play with the trim tabs much, other than just to make sure they were working correctly.

I'm planning on doing about a 100 mile run on Saturday for a spearfishing tournament. The forecast is for 10-15 all day, so I should have a better performance report then.

Good ideas I'm seeing Smiln!
A couple of questions sir. Why did you decide on raising the deck 2" ?
Who gave you that idea?
Have you stood at the transom of a 23' SeaCraft with a raised floor too measure where your knees now come in contact with the gunwhales ?
Just curious

I raised the deck both to keep it higher than the waterline and make the area outside the stringers usable as below deck storage. On the Sceptre, when a couple people would stand on one side, I'd get water on the deck. Since I'm mostly diving out of the boat, having 2" less freeboard isn't a big deal.