[Bushwacker]

I've been boating for most of my 67 years, probably since age 4 or 5. Grew up in landlocked Ky. but my dad always had a boat, which we used to keep on the Ky. river at Boonesboro. Was a 30 mile drive over crooked back roads to get to the river. He was a large animal veterinarian and said it was the only way he could get away from the phone, since he was 1 only of 2 vets in the entire county (Good thing they didn't have cell phones back then)! The farmers all worked 7 day's/wk and figured everyone else did too! First boat I remember was an old scow with engine from a Star automobile (which I'd never heard of) in the bow under front deck! Next boat was a war-surplus 18' Correct Craft built for the USCG in 1941, with a Gray marine flathead 6. Had a wood hardtop which was eventually removed and replaced with a conventional runabout windshield. Spent many good times in that old boat. Next boat was a plywood 19' Glen Martin with a cabin under front deck and a 35 hp Fageol (Crosley engine) V-drive using a bunch of V-belts. Although grossly underpowered, it worked ok unless there was water in the bilge. When you opened throttle, water would run to back and hit the V-belts which then started to slip and you'd drop off plane! My dad died when I was 15 and we gave this boat to his best friend who had been partners with him on the Correct Craft. He repowered it with a 1958 50 hp Johnson V-4 and it ran much better with that, although it really sucked up the gas. When I finished school and moved to Fla. he gave it back to me. He had stored it with a tarp over it but it had rainwater in the bilge and was full of rot. It was subsequently stolen from a dry storage marina, but whoever took it did me a favor because the hull was trashed. I bought a used 18' Orlando Clipper cabin boat with 100 hp Evinrude. Was similar to the old Glaspar Seafair with a fairly large cabin. Was a good family boat but with a modified flat-bottom it rode terrible in any kind of chop and was only suitable for the ICW.

I first learned of SeaCraft from several guys I worked with at Pratt who were running Moesly SeaCraft's in the mid-late 60's . . . a couple of 21's, a 27' SeaMaster with a 454 Mercruiser, and a couple of 19' Bowriders with outboards. All were used exclusively for diving and Bahama trips. The guys with the 21's were particularly gung-ho about them! One of them used to hang out a lot at Brown & Haputner, the local SeaCraft dealer, and told me about a 21 he saw there one time that had a mount in front hatch area for a 50 cal machine gun! It was evidently one of the boats used to run agents in and out of Cuba! I had a subscription to Boating magazine when the article on the Seafari 20 came out, and I was hooked then and there!

I found my Seafari at Brown & Haputner in 1975 with no engine. It had been kept in a covered rack storage place since new, so was in good shape except for bottom paint and some minor scrapes and spider cracks along the gunnel from dock walloping. Turns out it had belonged to the father of one of my friends with a Moesly 21! Mark Hauptner used to do a lot of racing and had a Seafari with a 150 Merc on it that would run about 50 mph! Asked them why no motor and Frank Brown said it came in with a Johnson on it, and all their customers wanted Mercs, so they had sold the motor separately. Frank, who was a great mechanic that used to crew for Carl Moesly on his race boats, tried really hard to sell me a 115 Merc! However the Mercs at that time didn't hold up well in salt water, while it was common to see 20 year old OMC's still going strong. I put a new 115 Evinrude on it, which was still running strong when I sold it 31 years later. Except for the bracket and closed in transom, the boat is pretty much original and as solid as the day I bought it, despite my being young and stupid and beating the hell out of it when I first bought it! Made half dozen trips to the Abaco's and many diving, fishing and cruising trips around Florida. The Seafari is an amazingly versatile boat and I've done just about everything with it! When Don Herman filled in the transom, he said it was the driest transom he had ever seen in a boat that old. Frank Brown had recommended that, before installing the motor, I do as they did to all the new SeaCraft's they sold, i.e., remove the trim around the engine cut-out, chisel out all the brittle "Potter putty" between the cap and transom, and caulk it with Life Calk. That polyester putty used to crack and let water into the transom, which I think is the main reason you often see rotted transoms in these old boats! I also inspected and sealed the live well inlet/outlet area with epoxy, as that feature is also a potential transom killer. Denny