How did you come to learn about SeaCrafts?

[Snookerd]

1970's boating magazine ads started the addiction, And while down at the community boat ramp in Tequesta, FL., I noticed a 20 SF tied up full of rain water........The owner walked up and asked if I wanted a ride while he ran the water out! I was hooked!

[lost2a6]

http://www.classicseacraft.com/forum...r=44728&Forum=

[gofastsandman]

We had a Dell Quay Dory when I was a kid. A Brit. Whaler knock off. I always called it a Whaler because no one knew what a Dell Quay was. My first love. It was wet and pounded. Just like a water park and an amusement park all rolled into one. What more could a kid ask for?

Millway marine did the annuals on "Pigling Bland". Dana was a dealer for SeaCraft, Mako, and later Ocean Master. That is how I came to know about the brand in name only. We moved from the Cape when I was a teen and it broke my heart.
I turned into a little S#(^ head. It wasn`t until Mom got ill in Vero that I found my church again. My ocean. I came back to help her and it helped me more. I left the drugs in L.A. and never looked back.

I met Janet and she bought me a Silstar special at walmart. I went to the pier. I became a pier rat. I blew up the silstar in no time and got a Penn spinner and a TLD. Learned to cast and catch bait for the real rats and they taught me a thing or two. I watched all the boats coming and going through Boynton, dreaming of the day when I would be that smile.

Friends had Makos, Formulas, and Berts, but my eye kept looking at SeaCrafts. They just seemed to float. I knew nothing of VDH. The Paramount also floated, but the lines of the SC were just right, and they didn`t porpoise as much.

I wanted a Potter, but they were either restored and big money or needed everything. I found my Slacker on ebay, but it was down in Kendal. I went. I went again. I then brought a check.

I knew about SeaCraft, but here is where I really learned of the the magic.

Pier rats forever,
GFS

[Ryan]

When i was a kid probably 4 or 5 my dad and I used to tool around Key Largo in this little 16 foot green aluminum boat. We always seemed to have one problem or another with it, and one day we got stuck out in the bay. At some point during the tow in he told me Ryan were gonna stop messing around and get ourselves a real boat. I didnt think too much of that untill the day she showed up in Key Largo. A white 73 cc with a 150 merc of probably the same year. He took it to HI lift Marina up in Aventura and mounted a brand new 83 Johnson 185 vro on her. Ill never forget Dad telling me how this new motor was gonna have her running like a Raped ape, and she did. We did everything on that seacraft, fishing snorkeling, chasing down guys poaching our lobster pots, and just having tons of fun.

A few years later me and my buddies were all really into boats, we could walk the docks and talk about em for hours and the seacrafts were always my favorites for the sleek lines and the envious looks of the people in whalers, aquasports and makos. The first time I got to take her out by myself I was sure I was the coolest kid in the world. I always knew there was something special about those seacrafts but i really didnt know why untill later on, and this site and the faithful, of course are a big part of that.

[Michael Vezzosi]

Coincidentally, in 1995 or 96, my brother and I decided we needed boats when living on an island. Only previous experience was sharing a 1968 BW 13 on the Jersey Shore as kids.

Started trying to get educated, and looking for center consoles, everyone said SeaCraft. Neither of us had heard of one. While on a trip to the Keys, my brother purchased a 1987 SC 18, older Johnson 150, locally. Had not even had a ride in it before cruising to Fla. to find a 20. First one was crap, so I decided to head west to visit my mom. Stopped and picked up a Boat Trader at a gas station. I was still upset/disappointed about the one near Daytona, when my girlfriend gets near the rear of the mag and says, "Here's a 20 with a 200 Merc. in Sarasota!". Called, straight to the house, seller seemed straight, and fell in love with my MA, which I had never heard of. Gave him a deposit, and headed to New Port Richie. A week later, me and the girl jump back in my 1987 Toyota Xtra Cab (150k on the clock), river test it (flawless), pick it up, and head straight back to New Port Richie. Mom says, "I've never seen a smile like that!". Towed her back to Hilton Head, pack the cooler, take my Dad, and friends, all visiting from Jersey, and LAUNCH!!! 30 minutes later she blows, only to find a brand new head gasket. $#!%!!!

Been a sickness ever since...Vezo, Part II.

[tuffguy]

OK i'll bite...

I liked seacrafts before I even knew what they were. growing up on the water in ME, there was an i/o 23' center console that was bright red/white boot top/ black bottom that used to go back and forth across the bay and it was FAST. It was called Kudu and it got sold to another guy in the harbor when the original owner moved up to a 26' twin OB. the new owner had the exhaust done and kept it around for another 5 years or so.

Around this time a 23' seacraft walkaround showed up in the harbor with a single 225 OB. I didn't think the walkaround looked great, but when they were side by side on the dock, they were identical hulls and I figured out that the boat I thought was the coolest in the harbor was a Seacraft.

I'm happy to finally be a part of the family with my own now.

[Tarpun]

Had been fishing and boating (mostly sail)since being a kid. MID 70's picked up small center console for fishing. Saw a yellow 20SF at a local outboard shop and was hooked. Not long after that I saw 20' Seafari w/twin Johnson 70 hp hanging off the back. I remember to this day. The name on the side was Maverick. Another new desire. Saw the old ads for the Master Angler. Hadta have one. Did research. Climbed in them at boat shows. Met Bill Potter at a show and I salivated all over his bright red 23' CC with molded Seamark T-Top and Volvo DuoProp with jackshaft. I can't remember if was gas or diesel. No Bones was also leaving his DNA on Potters boat. I knew someday I would have one. Missed out on a couple and passed on couple before I found my MA.

[BigLew]

Once bitten, no antidote! Don't you love it!

Keep'm comin! This is getting fun. Especially the ones with some detail and emotional aspects.

[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

[floorboy]

K Wow, I am a newbie to seacrafts I guess.... first one I had ever heard of was when john123 posted his newly restored tsunami on great lakes angler. I showed it to dad and told him this is our next boat.... we had a nothing boat together but registered to him. Last spring he died and the boat was lost because of a wicked ex step mother. Fishing season was coming and I had no boat. (I did have a whole garage full of rigging though ) looked at a lot of different boats before I gave up looking and figured I would boat whore for the summer. Thea day after I gave up a buddy called me and said he saw a sceptre on boat trader. I went and looked and sure enough there it was. And only 15 hours away as opposed to 24-30 like most of the others, and it was a fresh water boat since new in Michigan. Called the guy the next morning early. Talked to him for a while and told him I would take it if he could wait 4 days so I could get a co-driver. He said no problem and turned down several offeres for more money in the mean time.
It was his baby, he bought it new at the Detroit boat show and drove to Fla to pick it up. After talking to him we realized that he was the same age (39) when he bought it. I reassured him it was going nowhere soon.