[Fr. Frank]

If the Seafari is as bulletproof as it sounds(and I'm sure it is) I plan on keeping this boat for a long while and making it my baby. I don't doubt that I'll end up spending a lot more than the wife would like on it! But for the time being, my goal is just to get a reliable boat.

I am definitely starting to get a better grasp on what I should be looking for when it comes time to buy.

Now I need to start learning about outboard engines, hah!

I'm assuming that all of the older 2 strokes are fairly similar in design? I'm thinking about getting the repair manual for a johnson 115 and starting to get familiar with it. If I end up getting a different type of engine will that have been a waste of time?

I used to sell SeaCraft as the Dockmaster of a marina - and having been in and out and under and through SeaCraft
s is why I own one now 30 years later. This is my 2nd Seafari. For pulling with a regular passenger vehicle you can find no better boat than the Seafari.

I have, like Denny, taken a Seafari to the Bahamas many times, making the crossing in good weather and in terrifying weather. I have taken my Seafari as much as 115 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico to the Florida Middle Grounds. Given that I'm a painstaking nut for planning my trips that far offshore, and always traveled with one or more boats in company, I still never worried about the boat being able to take the seas.

For years I have been in love with the Mercury/Mariner "Tower of Power" inline 6 cylinder engines, which were made in models ranging from 70 to 150 hp. They are, in fact, the engine the 20' SeaCraft was designed to run. I find them more dependable that the equivalent Johnson/Evinrude's. But the truth be told, many people have the opposite experience.

If you are 20 miles out, and have a problem, you want a motor you can feel some confidence in troubleshooting. Early inline Mercs used a distributor in their ignition system. Easy to troubleshoot, not so easy to fix. Later '78 through '88 inline 6 motors used an electronic ignition system, called ADI. It is very similar to the OMC "powerpack" ignition. Mercury called theirs a "switchbox". Mercury used 2 of these to ignite the 6 cylinder motors. OMC used only one on their V4 85-140 hp motors. Theoretically, you could get back on just 3 cylinders with the Merc.

In saltwater areas, OMC parts are more readily available than Mercury parts, and generally cost a bit less. You have to decide. If the choice were mine, I'd find a very good condition, later model inline Mercury. It will cost a bit more than the equivalent OMC, but I'm more knowledgeable and therefore more comfortable with the Mercury/Mariner. Both are great motors.

Getting to know the OMC V4 motor is not a waste of time. Most of the principles apply to any older motor; just the applications differ.