Stringer/Transom area question

[JohnB]

Well, the gas tank should be ready to be installed next week, picking it up Tues. I am getting the 1/8" tank, vs the 3/16th. The old one was 1/8", and was over 20 years old, and no leaks. The issue was more of weight than cost. The mounting platform, and installation will be much better than the original, so I would hope to get 20 or more years out of it. I am now knee deep in fairing freenzy to get it all leveled and cleaned up.

I built a mold to make the cap that would fit in front of the transom. The livewell will be mounted inside the cap. The cap came out real good, and fit within 1/4" everywhere. I took the old SeaCraft livewell hatch that was in the floor, and reused it. I wanted to keep the classic appearnce, and also, I'm cheap. Here are some pictures of the cap





I finished the mold for the livewell this afternoon, and have to do a little clean up on the corners, but it should make a nice livewell that will fit inside the cap. I left the boxes and lids in the back, so the geometry is 12" to 17" wide, 44" across, and 21" deep. It calculates at about 38 gal, but will probably action be about 34 when full. If anyone need a livewell that will fit inside a transom cap, let me know. I will keep the mold around for a little while. I plan on putting an adjustable height standpipe/drain in it, so I can adjust the water level height in it.

[htillman]

Nice work. What type size outboard powers your boat. I used Coosa on the transom mainly because I could get it in correct thickness. It was more expensive but is also providing great ways to build braces and supports. Funny, the port side stringers in my 23 are wetter than the staroard. The bottoms are wet indicating wet foam but structureally in good shape. I will post some pictures but I have found two cracks in the bow area in the lower cap right at the forward storage area. Looks like she was run pretty hard on a rough day. The moisture meter you recommended really detects wet areas and seems to be real accurate - sometimes scary.

[JohnB]

I am currently running a tweaked 250 EFI Merc offshore, probalby about 310 hp. Lots of power, but 1.7-1.9 mpg is putting me in the poor house at 3 bucks a gallon. Long range plan is to put a Suzuki 4 stroke or Merc optimax 300 on her. Pick up a little speed and a lot of milage.

As for the coring, I drove my self nuts looking at all the options. The original core lasted through 20 years of abuse and poor installation from the factory, if this one goes 25, that will be fine with me. I went with Okumi marine plywood, and all the layup was done with epoxy, 4 layers of it. We have seen alot of transom failures in foam core boats (I won't name names). I think if they used epoxy instead of glass, they wouldn't have as many problems, just my opinion. I used dyvincell to recore my hatches, and the stuff has worked great.

For whatever reason, all the seacrafts I have seen that have one stringer bad, it's always on the port side, wierd. For you stringers, I would drill some 1/4" holes ever 12", right at the bottom of the stringer, and let it drain for a long time, maybe put some heat on it, I used hair dryers. Then plug the holes, knock some 1/2" holes in the top, and pour slightly thickend slow cure epoxy in to "reconnect" the cores to their outer skins, and then run some 45 degree bixal tape down the sides of the stringer to reinforce the stringer to hull connect, I used to layers of 9 oz/6" wide the whole length of the boat.

The cracks in that area are usually because the lower cap is now lose from the top of the stringers and is moving around. Most of them do that, especially when they have seen as much water as mine has.

[htillman]

Good idea on drilling the holes in the stringers. I have drilledone on each end and found water weeping out. I will now drill as you recommended and use the heaters. The hull and top cap are stored indoors and have not seen water now for three months. Plans are to keep both completely dry until I reinstall the top cap. This will give me time to continue drying the stringers. What surprised me is the floor is solid. The moisture meters reads damp in a few areas but is for the most part solid. The last 23 I had the boat cosmetically looked much better but I had two soft spots in the deck that I injected expoxy in and stiffened. I need to recore the hatches as they indicate very wet and are a tad heavy. Need to look into some composite coring for this project but I may wait until next year on the hatches.
I am looking at a 5 year old 250 Johnson for power. My friend has it on the back of a 76 23 Sceptre and wants to repower with a 300 Suz 4 stroke. Claims that is the engine for this boat. He purchased Potter built tackle cabinets after Potter left Seacraft. Very nice boxes. The tackle cabinets are old but in good condition. He has owned the boat since less was less than one year old and is a Seacraft fanatic. Actually has a very old 20 Seafari that still runs in original condition.

[JohnB]

Could you shoot some pictures of the tackle cabinets, I am thinking about putting some in my boat, and am looking for ideas.

[1bayouboy]

JohnB....where are you located.....
I live in Mount Pleasant......I can also get pretty good prices on glass through some friends in the Marine industry.

[JohnB]

I am a little north of Orlando FL. I get glass for 24 bucks a gallon in singles, and epoxy for about 58 a gallon. I hope to be putting my last gallon of glass into this rig tomorrow.

[JohnB]

Completed the final water test today, ran it for an hour, and she is SWEET....

Gas milage is up 5-10% across the board, I am getting a nice 31mph cruise with a 14.8 gph burn. At 26, I am getting about 2.4 mpg burning 11.1 gph. WOT is 45 mph burning 26 gph. That is pretty good considering the sail/top I have on the boat.

I am assuming since I am using the same fuel manager and setup that these are accurate.

Of course this is with a light load, but I never got near those numbers before.

Min planing speed has dropped, and surpisingly, I actually have a tighter turning radius with the bracket, then without it.

Noise and fumes dropped A LOT. The wife and I made a trip down the St Johns with the wind at our back, and you could still talk, and even with the wind at our backs, the fumes/oil were much less in the no wake zones.

The remounted trim tabs are awsome, and the new short/fast actuators really can bury the nose fast.

The balance seems very good, I will have to put a fuel load and some guys in it this week to do the final test. She is a little nose down, but I think once I get gas/iced/crewed up, she should be just fine.

The repositioned transducer and between the clean hull and the new ducer location, it seems to work much better too.

I could probably go up one more hole on the motor, but I am going to get her in some snotty salt water before trying that.

Well, she needs a final clean up, and I need to finish insulating the fish box, and hopefully, we will see if the dog remembers how to hunt, and can still sniff out the bottom dwellors.

Well I snapped a few shots, and here she is

Bracket and rounded off cap


Profile shot


View back from the cockpit.


Shot of the bracket and cap, check out the trim tabs.


Another shot of the Fishing Bull Pen, nothing to fall over or into back there.


New infloor fishbox, where the livewell used to be. It isn't long, but will hold a 42" grouper. I have another fishbox under the passenger seat, and always have the fishbag for anything else that comes along in the cabin. With the new SAMFC rules, I can probably use lunch pail :why


New in-transom/cap livewell, holds close to 40 gallons. I am really going to miss stepping on peoples fingers when they are crawling around on the floor trying to get a bait out of the livewell, the stepping in it, and dinging my shin on the way down. Probably one of the reasons I hate live bait bottom fishing.