Seafari step down soft deck, and bilge pump question

[rockdoc]

Added a 74 20' Seafari V6 i/o to the fleet. Great little boat, floors seem solid, transom maybe (project for the winter), but the step down area going into the cabin is soft. What have you seafari guys done as far as cutting and fixing the wood under there? And is there room there for a forward bilge pump and inspection port, like I remember reading a few of you mentioning?

Steve

[Bushwacker]

Steve, that V-6 I/O should be a nice rig, with plenty of power and smoother than the I-4's!

I've had zero problems with soft decks anywhere on my boat, but I'm just the second owner and always been careful with drilling holes in cored decks. Shouldn't be too hard to cut off the top skin, remove the rotted wood and replace with fresh balsa core, which will absorb resin much better than the foams. Pianewman is in the process of doing that to the front deck of his Seafari, and he said a toothed semicircular blade on a Fein tool worked real well. He was able to remove the entire front deck in one piece, and your step down is smaller than that.

I've been thinking about adding a second bilge pump to my boat also, up in the bow under the bunks, just forward of the bulkhead where the head is located. I think Fr. Frank had one up there in his Seafari. I think the 2x4 keelson is under the stepdown, so not enough room to put a pump under it, but plenty of room forward of the bulkhead forward of the head. When the boat is at the dock, the front of the hull is typically deeper in the water than the stern and water collects up forward, so it makes sense to put a pump and float switch up there. I had a small leak in the scupper tubes on one Bahama trip, and every morning when I got on the boat, the bilge pump in the back of the boat would come on after I got on the boat and water ran to the back. I was thinking about running the discharge line aft up under the cockpit shelf and teeing it in to the thru-hull for the galley seat drain. Might have to dig out some foam under the cockpit shelf to do that. If you just put a thru-hull above the chine up in the bow, I think you'd take on water when punching into big waves!

Does the front hatch under the bunks open to the entire hull like mine does, or does it just have a gel coated box under there like the side hatches? (I think the later models had boxes, but mine was open for access to the thru-hulls and hoses for the head.) Denny

[rockdoc]

Denny thanks for your reply! This is the boat I've been looking for, and I'm looking forward to running it, and restoring it a bit as I go.

My Seafari has the gel coated box up front. I'll have to poke around and see about what to do about positioning a bilge pump up there. The boat is not going to spend any time at a dock, but I might camp out during trips to Block Island or Cuttyhunk, and sleeping up front might cause any water to accumulate up there so a forward bilge pump is on the short list.

I'll report back with pics when I do cut the step down floor, although if there's a good under-skin I'll leave that in to lay the new balsa core on.

What do you mean when you say "running the discharge line aft up under the cockpit shelf"- what's the cockpit shelf refer to? You mean the side shelves under the gunwales? That would be a good idea; to use the galley seat drain.

Steve

[Bushwacker]

Originally Posted by rockdoc

. . . What do you mean when you say "running the discharge line aft up under the cockpit shelf"- what's the cockpit shelf refer to? You mean the side shelves under the gunwales? That would be a good idea; to use the galley seat drain.

Yes, those shelves that run the length of the cockpit with the teak boards on them. Does your boat have the galley seat? I think it may have been standard on the I/O models for awhile. It's really handy when camping! My boat did not have one, but I found one that another forum member was removing, so I had to cut a hole in the side of the inner liner to install the sink drain thru hull, and there is foam between hull and inner liner all the way up to the shelf. The shelf stops just aft of the bulkhead, which extends all the way out to the hull, so I think you'd have to drill a hole there as well as in the bulkhead for a bilge pump hose. Would probably be easier to remove the bulkhead to do that! I've seen some photos of a Seafari with the bulkheads removed, and there is a vertical surface about 3" tall just forward of the footrests that the bulkheads attach to. I think you would have to drill a hole for the hose thru that surface also, so will be a lot of work routing that hose!

If I removed the galley seat, I have a long flexible shaft the fits on a dremel tool and a 1" diameter abrasive bit that I think would chew thru the foam, but drilling holes in the glass and bulkhead will be a lot of work.

I've attached some pics of the port bulkhead and some shots of the bulkhead just forward of the head which runs between the 2 inner stringers, looking aft thru the front hatch under the bunks. Don't know how big the box is under your front hatch, but you might want to consider just removing it because you can access a lot more volume in the hull without the box in the way, although it's potentially wet storage if you get much water in the bilge! I keep a spare prop up there, attached to a stud I installed in the bulkhead!

[McGillicuddy]

Steve, Congrats on the new rig. Seafaris are neat-o. My floors are very dry too. Does your cockpit and cuddy have the striped non-skid or the diamond non-skid soles?
Denny,
Are both of your cuddy storage buckets cut out or just the port side? I wonder if only the boats fab'd with a head were cut for access to plumbing? I like your spare prop storage idea.

[Bushwacker]

Gillie,

I have the gel coated boxes under the bunks on both port and stbd side. Only the forward hatch opens to the bilge. Don't know if you noticed that glove box on the port side of bulkhead, but it provides a neat shelf inside the cabin, but it's so far over to the side that it's not really in the way. Glue some 1/4 round on the top of it and it makes a handy storage area. See pic below.

Not sure Steve can do that, as the later Seafari's with the shelf in the cabin up in the bow flare area have a different inner liner.

[RUSTYNTABATHA]

can yall post some better angled pic of the cabin... I am seriously thinking about 1 of these listed in my area... the guy has it on craigslist for 1300 but it has a bum engine... no biggy though since me and alot of my buddies are mechnecks... i was automotive but 1 was mercury factory and the other raced merc ouboards ..

[rockdoc]

Originally Posted by Bushwacker

Does your boat have the galley seat? I think it may have been standard on the I/O models for awhile. It's really handy when camping! My boat did not have one, but I found one that another forum member was removing,

No Galley seat in mine. I'd love to find one though!

Steve

[rockdoc]

Originally Posted by McGillicuddy

Steve, Congrats on the new rig. Seafaris are neat-o. My floors are very dry too. Does your cockpit and cuddy have the striped non-skid or the diamond non-skid soles?

Mine has the striped non-skid.

[rockdoc]

Originally Posted by Bushwacker

Not sure Steve can do that, as the later Seafari's with the shelf in the cabin up in the bow flare area have a different inner liner.

Looks like more space in the bunks without that set of side shelves in the liner my '74 has.