20 or 23 that is the question

[thehermit]

older pic...but.... The 3' difference is HUGE. I have owned both. They are both fun to run and handle great.

[davidjor]

I gotta say, most of my fishing will be offshore, here in South Florida. And would like to trailer it to the keys on occasion, also make a trip to the Bahamas. I think I am starting to answer my own question... :-)

[bigeasy1]

As usual,lots of good advice here.
I'll add my two cents for what it's worth.With the costs being somewhat close to restore either,then I'd go with the 23.
If your intention is to save some money by doing a restoration,I think you may find that not to be the case.If you spend time watching the for sale ads on this site and on the net,you'll see that it's not uncommon to find some very nice Seacraft restorations for some very reasonable prices,and will be less than what it would cost to do it yourself.

I was in your position several years ago.I bought a 23' Tsunami(sceptre)that was sitting in a field for 10 years.
I knew it needed a lot of work,and figured it would cost me around 8-10 grand to restore.Well,when I was through with the resto three years later,I was into it for closer to 15-18 thousand.
And,I work for a friend in the glass,resin and marine supply business,so I saved a lot of money there,and got a lot of free technical advice,along with much help on laying up glass.
I did all kinds of horse trading for a lot of the equipment,and did every drop of work myself(with the advice from the folks on this site),and it still cost way more than I projected.
Now for me this was ok,because I didn't have the ready cash to do it all at once,and I had another boat to use in the meantime.
So, I would save up and buy materials when I had the money.The expensive items like the electronics,radar arch,kicker motor,canvas work brought the total up very fast.In the end,I'm still very happy,and proud of the job,and have basically a new boat at a fraction of what a real new one would cost.

I wasn't intending on making this about my project,but just maybe something that would give you an idea of a similar situation to yours and what to expect when attemting any kind of major restore.

If you have the financial resources,then I think buying one already restored would be a better choice.It would be less money,and a whole, whole, whole, whole, less work.I never want to wear a Tyvek suit again.
If on the other hand,you like doing nasty,dirty,itchy,sweaty,back breaking work,and scouting for bargins on supplies,that leads to a beautiful finished project then go for it.

Good luck with whatever you decide,post some pictures when you get the new project.

[DonV]

There ya go!

Just one point, from experience, if you decide to restore a 23'er. Whatever you think it will cost add 50%....minimum. As most of the other folks said get a hull in as good of shape as possible, then spend money on new power and enjoy your time on the water versus the working end of a sander.

[Bigshrimpin]

There are tons of great boats in the 20K range with newer power. Talk to a credit union if you want to preserve your cash. Rates are so low it's like free money. I'd rather have a fixed $300/month payment for 5 years and be fishing than an unknown variable wallet hemorrhage and commitment to do 2 full years hard labor grinding fiberglass.


I am saying this right before I pickup another large project boat but I have a 27 x 50 shop, a good working 23 center console, nearly all the materials (including rolls of 1708, a precut drop in marine ply transom core, epoxy primer, awlgrip, two 200hp motors, hydraulic steering, trim tabs, fuel tank) + parts to assemble it the new hull. See what kind of excuses . . . I come up with to try to convince myself this project is a good idea That's the sickness. I'm still budgeting 5 grand for a drum (55 gallons) of resin, rubber gloves, sandpaper, brushes, acetone, misc parts to slap it all together. When you break out the costs of each of those repairs listed above and factor in your TIME at $7.50/hr (2nd job @ a tackle shop pay) . . . You can't make an argument for saving money by buying a project hull even if you get it for free.