I have a little problem?!?

[Captn C]

At least I hope it is any way.....25' SeaCraft Open Fisherman. Since I bought the boat 9-2002 (it was built 9-1999) I have been finding shards of plastic in the bilge area. They appear to be pieces of PVC pipe. I took the boat in to BPS this past Saturday and I fished around under the bilge pump mounting plate(I forgot the little bag of pieces I had saved). There were more in there than I expected and this time I actually found one that had the blue writing on it like PVC has. I took the boat in because the top cap has cracked though in all four corners of the little splash well in front of the engines. It leaks a lot of water into the bilges.

I have not heard anything from them yet on what they think it is or where it's coming from.

Any one have any ideas? All the wiring appears to go down the starboard side in a tube that isn't PVC and is sprayed with what ever they cover raw fiberglass.

Thanks....Love the new look too!

[barnacle]

Sounds to me like it could be the extra material left over from when to boat was built. Most of the times the hull does not get cleaned before the top deck gets put down. After the first few years it travels back to the stern.

[Captn C]

The shards appear to have been crushed though....most of the pieces are long (3 to 6 inches) and not more than 1/2" wide.

Any one know anything about SeaCrafts hull replacment policy?

Where did they move their operation?

[steveV]

Wow! brings back old memories!
in 1989 I bought a 23' tracker seacraft,while I was rigging it out for tuna fishing putting pumps in the bilge and all kinds of other things I noticed that when I drilled a hole in the transom water came out.Not good for a boat that had never even been in the water .This was february so I contacted Tracker who told me to use the boat for the season and then send it to them. I did. Well ,as you know Tracker was going to stop building the Seacraft at this time so they told me they would fix the boat rather than replace it.but then they found stringer problems also and that changed everything.at this point they offered to buy the boat back and pay all my expenses,and labor costs.this worked out very well for me,I made out in the end.
As far as yours goes,why is Tracker getting involved is'nt Seacraft a company on their own now?
Whatever happens I wish you luck,hopefully my story will give you some peace of mind in the outcome.Be Persistant and do all correspondence by registered mail also keep copies of everything.
Good luck.Steve

[Mark]

I think the most telling statement that I have heard on this topic was made by the guy that is completely redoing my 1971 when he was describing the current crop of new SeaCrafts, some of which he has worked on: "in thiry years, nobody will go to the trouble to have these things rebuilt like they are willing to do with the Potter boats...they'll just drive them to the local landfill".

I don't say this to disparage the new boats, many of which I have had a great time on. Merely pointing out that the older hulls have a cache that the new ones can't seem to acquire.

-Oh, and to respond to the question by Tuneafish as to why Tracker is getting involved....they OWN SeaCraft these days along with all the glitter-paint boats you see at Bass Pro Shops. Johnny Morris owns quite a number of boat lines, and they are all under the Tracker Marine umbrella.

[Captn C]

I got a letter yesterday afternoon from Tracker....I have been asking them over and over "when does the warranty run out on my boat?".....Well I got an answer yesterday....

There is NO warranty after the boat is sold by the original owner!

Tracker nor Bass Pro Shop knew that!?!? Neither did I but they should have. They said they are going to repair the boat out of the kindness of there heart and becasue they want everyone to know how they stand behind there product...blab..bla. I do still have warranty coverage though my extended warranty, but I guess they forgot that when they sent the letter. PLUS the fact I paid BPS to check the boat over and they didn't act on the cracks before I bought the boat.

Any way they still have not told me when the boat will be ready. I'll be e-mailing them this morning.

[JohnS]

SeaCraft relocated to the Carolinas, FYI. You should probably have someone, independant, check the boat over. Pull the inspection plates, possibly even pull any removable panels and take a peek to see what is up. Most likely, it is some stuff that was left in there when it was made and they just left it there, figuring nobody was ever going to see it anyway. I would complain, in a nice way, they will listen to someone who is sincerely concerned [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] more than someone who is reaming them a new @$$..... [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

[ocuyler]

I doesn't sound like a hull integrity issue, but I would agree that the dealer should be alerted.

SeaCraft/Mako moved to Forest City, North Carolina (50 miles west of Charlotte) earlier this year into a renovated former textile plant. I have heard that the move was difficult and the first boats coming off the line there had some quality control issues.

[Captn C]

I just got off the phone with Bass Pro Shop. The Asst Manager said he stood on the back of the engines and the transom fell back about a 1/4". He's about 5'8" 170lbs.

He is planning to have the outside shop who does their fiberglass repair come look at it before he calls the factory.

[Scott]

I just got off the phone with Bass Pro Shop. The Asst Manager said he stood on the back of the engines and the transom fell back about a 1/4". He's about 5'8" 170lbs.

He is planning to have the outside shop who does their fiberglass repair come look at it before he calls the factory.

YIKES !!!! Hope things work out for you .... I think I might take a ride over there while this is going on !!!! [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]
Think about what the thrust of those engines must do to it when your pushing through some nasty ocean [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]