20 potter seacraft, another one under the knife

[thegoggleeye]

Hello all. let me start by saying this site and its contributers are the best thing going for the survival of the classic boats we all seek. the posts by the ppl restoring seacrafts have irritated my itch long enough. and after a year long, exhausting search through most of florida for the right project, last summer i found just what i was looking for. a 73 seacraft superfisherman, stripped to the hull ready for restoration.after restoring several for customers in my earlier days i found with hulls afordable i would take advantage and build one to MY specs [image]http://[/image]

I bought the boat, after an extensive search, in the ft. meyers area, from a gentlemen who, lets just say was going through a divorce, and had to get rid of it. he threw in a sheet of 3 inch thick divinacell for a hundred bucks more. which paid for the trip. i temp-lated the transom and cut out of the divinicell



as you notice from the template, i intend to enclose the transom and bracket the motor. the divinicell transom was attached with a mixture of west systems mixed with cabosil to a buttery texture to spread evenly and coat between the hull and new transom. i used a method learned on this forum to clamp while bonding the two surfaces: 2* 1 inch boards (many thanks to strick, for the idea, it sure beats the 100 taping screw method i used in years past.

P.s. sorry about the upside down pic. u get the idea. i have not had the time to figure how to flip it from photobucket to this forum. but lets move along.. more pics:






with the transom in place i am ready to move along. fournately the stringers were re foamed by the previous owner, so that is one less worry. after i glass the transom in from the inside, i will use the divinicell as walls to tab the stringers to the transom, and pour two part foam in the middle to finish the stringers. more to come as progress takes place.



hey just wanted to let everyone know about my plans for the boat. i want to build an open fisherman, center console that holds every convience a small offshore fisherman can provide. with this project, as it came without a deck, my idea is to design a boat, without the casting platform usually found in boats this size and build a flat deck in the bow. from the stern up i want an enclosed transom with access to pumps, a livewell in the deck, followed with the fuel tank (im aiming for around 50 gallons).foreward of that will be the console with the deck cut out for maximum room. foreward of that i want to built a center fishbox in the bow and utilize whatever storage up front i can spare with a flat deck. i have built one seacraft without the floor available to me (a 23 footer) and at the customers request we had to fabricate a casting platform up front. i believe leaving the front flat will provide the greatest room to fish in a 20 footer. throughout this process i am open to any and all recommendations from you-all. i know there are alot of bright minds on this forum and if you see something im doing you think you have a better idea let me know!