Etec 175 on a 23 CC?

[bmajvi]

Okay, just back from a short sea trial on this boat. Three people onboard and 50 gallons of gas. Seas were around 3' (it's rarely much smoother here in the Caribbean), with 10-15 knots of wind, boat has a hardtopped t-top. Engine is quiet at idle, but doesn't seem as quiet as a four stroke. Boat jumped right up out of the hole and accelerated nicely right up to 32 mph on the gps, where it topped out. Sliced through the seas in typically great Seacraft fashion, but honestly not sure how much faster I'd really want to have run through the stuff. My old 18 could run 42+ in flat water, but I very rarely ran it over 25 down here to keep from throwing my back out - not much protected water in my neighborhood. The seller has owned it for 10+ years, is selling due to serious health issues (Big C), and doesn't have any GPH/MPG calcs (engine only has 6 hours on it). The hull is an '85 (non-Potter), and has been cleaned up, rewired, repainted, etc. Thinkin' about it. Would ideally prefer a closed transom/bracketed 250hp, Potter hull, etc., but this one is here, and doesn't need anything right away. Hmmm...

[castalot]

if the price is right do it and if you are un happy with the motor size trade up and it should be a matter of unbolting and rebolting it on since it's already set up with guages and controls otherwise run it until it's done then enclose the transome and go from there

[Snookerd]

Bmaj-

Great hearing from you............It has been around 5 years or more since you lived in PB County! Your living that good life down there. Your 18SF was one of the first ones to sport the DF140 here on CSC. If I recall......You had a comment about cruising with 10 people on the 18 "back in the day". You gotta use your old user ID.............Get the 23SF with the 175. Add another 175 IF you want more power some time down the road when your back in the states on flat water........

[bmajvi]

Thanks for the recollection Snookered! Yup, moved to the VI in'02, and the 18SF served me well, although I felt she was just a little stubby for the typical conditions down here - the Suzy 140 ran flawlessly though. Bought a 40' sailboat in '05, which my wife & I have sailed all over the Caribbean, and sold the 18 to a guy who's put her in the water exactly twice since then...sheesh. I seem to have caught the Seacraft bug again, and while up in FL a few weeks ago looked hard at the Savage for sale in Stuart. I was visualizing a nice new DF250 on the bracket, but the floor replacement/restoration project + shipping were a little more than I wanted to bite off. Went over the 23CC here pretty closely yesterday, Refinish work done is okay, still some tinkering to do, and the current owner never tried any other props, so the performance numbers might improve a little with a different prop. Thinking about making the guy a lowish offer and see what happens. Film at eleven! PS - I had tried my old login, but couldn't get in, so created new.

[Fr. Frank]

You know, you can run all the way to St. Croix by water. Just takes lots of fuel stops and extra-large cojones.

There's a '77 23' SF down in Jacmel, in southern Haiti, that was driven there from Ft, Lauderdale via the Bahamas, and Turks Islands. When I saw it in '02 it had twin mid-90's era Merc 150 EFI's, which were used to make the run down back in '99. Eric Danies (the owner) said it took him only 2 full days from Ft. Lauderdale to make the trip solo, and the boat ran flawlessly all the way. Eric is the former governor of the State of the South in Haiti.

[Snookerd]

Bmaj-
Good luck with the negotiations. We would like to see pictures if the deal goes down. That 40 ft sailboat sounds like a solid boat to see all those sweet islands down there..........

[bmajvi]

Guys - Thanks for all the feedback. Unfortunately for me the owner is mentally/emotionally stuck on how much he's put into the boat rather than trying to understand current market value (I imagine most of us have had that problem at one time or another), and he was pretty frosty towards my offer. I'm pretty certain he'll find the used boat market an awful lot tougher than he imagines, but because of his health issues I didn't push it. Oh well, back to the drawing board! I've got a long list of projects on the sailboat to keep me out of trouble anyway. Brian

[ricknewman]

I wouldn't go less than 225. You'll need more torq in a sea.

[eggsuckindog]

I also agree on 225 and up

[Fr. Frank]

Brian, keep an an eye on/bookmark this website link. Site Smash This Bot goes out and looks at all the Craigs List and Ebay listing for Seacraft.