The new hotness...
 

So my 1975 18SF sold in record time for a record amount back in September, and is now living somewhere in Freeport Maine.
This allowed me to grab the upgrade I was hoping for.
A local Cape Cod boat that was owned by a customer of the boatyard I work for. Kinda had my eye on this one for about 6 years or so now.
Owner upgraded to a 26 Regulator this season, so I made him an offer.

1979 23 Sceptre with a 2012 Etec (146 hrs), enclosed transom, Armstrong bracket, raised deck, replaced fuel tank, coat of Jade Mist Awlgrip (all in 2002).
New Seastar helm, hoses and ram.
New-ish Garmin chartplotter-fishfinder (little bitty unit).
Full welded stainless bow rail with anchor pulpit.
All for less than $10 K!

Of course there's a catch. :rolleyes:
On the flip side, she needs some work. (don't they all?)

Major item is a crack in the bottom of the transom across the drain tube. When they enclosed and replaced the transom it appears they left a small void in the bottom of the V, right where they put the drain plug tube, which is just a stupid plastic thru-hull.
So over the intervening 15 years it looks like the bracket was working the void/tube over and over again and it eventually cracked.
Fortunately its still pretty dry in there. The new-ish plywood isn't rotten or anything, just a bit moist.
Boats been in storage for awhile now since we pointed out the crack to the owner during the summer season 2016.

So bracket/motor needs to come off the transom and I need to get in there and have a good root around.

Small cabin floor is like a trampoline. Need to somehow cut out the floor, re-core it and replace it. Maybe make it removable?

Anchor locker bulkhead needs replacement.

Bracket needs some primer and paint while its off.

Full re-wire with new panel, battery switch, fuse block and batteries.

Mouse fur delete.

Previous owner lost the bow access ladder so I need to come up with a solution there somehow. Anybody got one kicking around? Or a template? Or some measurements?
She's going to live on a mooring and I need to make it easy and safe for the wife to get to the bow.

Also need to do a little weight distribution and try and get the bow down a little, and trim her a bit to port. Maybe move the batteries from the transom to the port fwd?

Anyhoo, off on another SeaCraft adventure!
Here are a couple of pics for you guys to chew on. Sorry some are grainy those are from the previous owner.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/CI...=w1200-h896-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d8...=w1200-h896-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/nA...=w1200-h896-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/rc...=w1267-h950-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/iX...=w1267-h950-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/rt...=w1267-h950-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/l7...=w1267-h950-no

Congratulations!!!

Part II

Very nice! Probably the best looking Seacraft ever!!
I loved the E-TEC and had great experiences with them.

Congrats, looks like it will be a fun project!
Rod

Soft Cabin Floor
 

From my 6-22-16 post. Here's what I did for my soft stepdown on my Seafari 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 (the flex extension to keep the fiberglass dust away from the Dremel brushes and bearings). Then carefully peeled back the upper layer, scraped out all of the balsa, and replaced it with layers of roving and polyester resin. 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 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. Best wishes!

She looks great! I’m moving my house batteries on my ‘76 Sceptre from the transom to the port v berth for the same reason, need to weight the port bow some. We’re are getting ready to open up the v berth and build a custom battery box to hold 2 group 27’s over the next few weeks. I’ll post some pics when we get done with it.

As an 18 owner I was a little shocked that you sold your 18 but... DANG!!! That is one good looking boat. I get it. And what a deal! If I saw that on the west coast for the same price I would have gladly taken the heat from my wife and pulled the trigger.

I cant wait to see what she looks like when your done.

Congrats!

Rob

Hmm... hadn't thought about just removing the upper skin.
I was thinking I'd cut the whole floor out and leave a lip around the edge that I could reinforce from underneath, and then make an entirely new removable floor that could just drop down in there. Kinda like a deck hatch, with a pull or a finger hole or something.
Maybe slap some teak decking on it.

I'll have to poke around a bit.

Yes, pictures please! not a lot of room in those v-berth lockers.
Need some ideas.

Well, it was a little bittersweet. I had the 18 setup pretty perfectly. It rode great, was easy to trailer and handle, I knew every fastener, wire tie and butt connector on her...
But over the years the nieces, nephews, etc. etc. have all gotten bigger. Me and my friends have uh ahem... also gotten bigger.
And the 18 just wasn't cutting it anymore.
When it was just me and the wife out putting around Cape Cod Bay and hanging out at anchor it was fine, but we always kinda kept feeling like we needed more room.
The Sceptre's got room in spades!
Looking forward to lounging in an actual deck chair! Maybe even get a grill! :D