25 seafari conversion to CC

[cdavisdb]

Good luck with it. If you can do it, it will be a first.

Be sure and read the threads on hull repairs. There were not enough bulkheads in the original build and that led to problems you can avoid.

[strick]

wgscott329

Thanks for posting your project here on CSC. Looks like you are well on your way....If it turns out anything like that beautiful 23 you re did it will be a success. Not sure if you have ever had the pleasure of driving the 25 yet?

cdavisdb (Conner) has the most experience of us all with the 25... he had one for years and made several Bahamas trips. It's a great ride in a head sea as are all seacrafts. The 25 will turn into a sharp bank like a F16 fighter jet. It's a little unnerving the first time you try it but don't worry it will not flip over... you could almost reach out and touch the water if you have long arms. I had a 25 with a 350 duo prop. The thing I did not like about the boat is that it is very sensitive once on plane. just having people moving about on the boat is enough to change the attitude while at speed and you may reach for the trim tabs. It was suggested above that auto trim tabs would be a good idea. We are very much looking forward to this project as it's not been done before here. There was a 25 center console up in the North east Bigshrimpin may remember it better then I do and have some input...Thanks for posting If you load your pic to a desk top they should load up right otherwise I can flip them over for you..

strick

[wgscott329]

Y'all want me to include the 23 rebuild here or have another thread for it? Just getting around to fixing the cracked keel on the 23. Next is stringers.

[wgscott329]

Thanks for the compliment Strick! I hope it turns out as good as the first 23, I think it may even turn out better! Got the new transom for the 25 cut out and almost ready to be installed. Cool pic of the of the 25 transom cutout overlayed on the 23 transom.

[strick]

Originally Posted by wgscott329

Y'all want me to include the 23 rebuild here or have another thread for it? Just getting around to fixing the cracked keel on the 23. Next is stringers.

Post away...interested about the cracked Keel...did you have the original wood keel still in the boat? freezing temps have been blamed for expanding and contacting of the water logged wood keel in the past.

strick

[wgscott329]

Originally Posted by strick

Post away...interested about the cracked Keel...did you have the original wood keel still in the boat? freezing temps have been blamed for expanding and contacting of the water logged wood keel in the past.

strick

This is the second cracked keel I have fixed, and I’ve seen a few others with a nearly identical crack. It seems the 23 has a hard spot in the keel, forward of the center wooden stringer, before the bow eye. I basically grind a ton away on the inside, lay a bunch of glass on the inside, and then grind back to my fresh glass from the outside to eliminate all the bad spots. Easy fix if the boat is fully apart. I’m not a fan of the wooden center stringers, so they have been removed from both 23s and the 25. The 25 will only retain 2 of its original 7 stringers by the time I’m done.

[Blackfin26]

Originally Posted by strick

wgscott329

Thanks for posting your project here on CSC. Looks like you are well on your way....If it turns out anything like that beautiful 23 you re did it will be a success. Not sure if you have ever had the pleasure of driving the 25 yet?

cdavisdb (Conner) has the most experience of us all with the 25... he had one for years and made several Bahamas trips. It's a great ride in a head sea as are all seacrafts. The 25 will turn into a sharp bank like a F16 fighter jet. It's a little unnerving the first time you try it but don't worry it will not flip over... you could almost reach out and touch the water if you have long arms. I had a 25 with a 350 duo prop. The thing I did not like about the boat is that it is very sensitive once on plane. just having people moving about on the boat is enough to change the attitude while at speed and you may reach for the trim tabs. It was suggested above that auto trim tabs would be a good idea. We are very much looking forward to this project as it's not been done before here. There was a 25 center console up in the North east Bigshrimpin may remember it better then I do and have some input...Thanks for posting If you load your pic to a desk top they should load up right otherwise I can flip them over for you..

strick

I remember the 25 CC conversion that was on the Cape, well Bourne I believe (not intending to start a debate about what is and is not "the Cape"). Seemed to be fairly dialed in but my memory is fading so maybe Bigshrimpin can chime in with a recollection. The auto tabs also seem like a great retrofit to deal with the significant dead rise. I've wondered how twin 200's, transom mounted but spaced fairly far apart, would do? Less tender at slow speeds and on plane?

[Bigshrimpin]

Originally Posted by strick

The 25 will turn into a sharp bank like a F16 fighter jet. It's a little unnerving the first time you try it but don't worry it will not flip over... you could almost reach out and touch the water if you have long arms.

I'm pretty sure you don't need long arms That ride was eye opening. Do you still have pics on where you reinforced the hull in the front? I seem to remember someone cracked their hull by front stringer or bulkhead

[Capt Chuck]

Get post Denny!
This dead rise on the 25' will never be a good planning type hull.. I would like to hear more from Connor he is experienced. As is, without that forward weight , traveling in a heavy following sea, or entering an inlet with a incoming tide, would be nightmare. Getting from Point A to Ponit B would require a ZigZag course....

[Bigshrimpin]

Richie Carvalho owned this 25 and before Big Fluke.

https://www.chapmanfuneral.com/obitu...?obId=20630303





From BigFluke:



http://www.classicseacraft.com/commu...t=20269&page=4

Originally Posted by bigfluke

Blackfin,
I did buy the SeaCraft 25' in Massachusetts that wss converted to a center console by a commercial fisherman. He really knew what he was doing: removing the foredeck cabin and building a fishbox from the footwell to the forward end of the v-berth inner liner shifted the lcg forward and kept the vcg as low as possible. From what I understand the fishbox was always full of ice or fish so his set up is much as Moesly envisioned with his ballasting system. He also moved the helm aft a bit which is a lot more comfortable then the original helm about 2' more forward. With the big block sterndrive giving it adequate stern weight, it runs much better than the other two SeaCraft 25s I have that were originally rigged with a smal block sterndrive and the other that I retrofitted with a single large outboard on a porta-bracket. Excellent seakeeping out to about 22 knots. Above that speed needs to be driven very attentively and with constant tab adjustment to keep upright in rough water or it will loll.