Seacrest boats?? 20' Seafari on craigs $600

[cdavisdb]

and right next to a 25 that looks pretty good, but with inadequate power.

[bigeasy1]

***Well,it looks like I bought myself a Seafari***

So anyway,the seller called me back,and we talked about the boat.I asked him if he was sure that it was a Seacrest and not a Seacraft.
His reply was "That's what it is,! a Seacraft,not a seacrest". That's why he changed it in the ad.

I asked a few questions to which he seemed to answer truthfully.He said the cabin was a mess,and needed work.The motor doesn't turn over,but he thinks it is a shift problem as he can't get it out of gear,and it wont start unless its in neutral.
He claims the original owner had the transom professionally done in 2000 by a shop in Burlington.
Claims the hull is in very good shape,and a very small soft spot in the deck floor.The trailer is a bunk style and is solid.Needs some tlc and a little glass work on the soft spot in the deck.
It comes with four electric down riggers although he didn't know what brand.
I know down riggers inside and out,so as long as they are one of the major brands,and work ok,that's at least $400.00 right there.

So I told him,if it's as decent as he claims,and has the paper work(title)as he claims,and the trailer can make the 4 mile trip,consider it sold.
He claimed that i was the first inquiry and that he would hold it for me till he gets home tomorrow night about 5:00 pm.He will give me first shot.

So,hopefully he is telling me the truth and will hold it for me at 5:00 pm tomorrow
I hope he's a man of his word.nowadays you never know.

I'm excited,but have no idea why.I really don't have a need for it,although my 23 Tsunami is 400 miles,and 6-1/2 hours away on the great lakes,and yet I'm only an hour and a half from the salt in Rhode Island or Connecticut.Maybe it can be something to do a little striper,fluke,Bluefish,and sea bass fishing out of.

So I have my fingers crossed that I'll have it tomorrow night,and I know I'll have lots of questions for you guys,as I know nothing about the Seafari's. Thanks all.

[DonV]

I'm with ya on the downriggers, at least $400 in those. Good luck!!

[Bushwacker]

John,

A professionally redone transom is worth a couple grand as you probably know, so sounds like it's probably not a "project". Soft spots in the deck are often the fuel tank hatch, so easy to pull that and fix. Probably a good value if trailer is in decent shape. It's got a bigger cabin than your Sceptre, and it's easily trailerable, so would be a good boat to have for exploring Florida when you retire down here!

I've attached a checklist of stuff to look at on a Seafari. If you'll PM me with an email address, I can send you some more info on it. Do you know what year it is and what sort of power it has on it? Denny

[FLexpat]

John - Really hope this works out for you! Its not often you can say you paid high dollar for some riggers and got a boat (Seacraft, no less), motor and trailer thrown in as a sweetener.

[cdavisdb]

To reinforce what Bushie said, if you are coming to Florida and want a boat to explore, that one is just about perfect, great offshore performance, d next to no draft so skinny water is easy, decent fuel economy even with an older engine, cabin to sleep in, perfect.

[flyingfrizzle]

Originally Posted by Bushwacker

John,

Back in the 70's, the Seafari was highly thought of and had the highest resale value of anything in it's class, so there was an outfit which DID make a knock-off of it! I've forgotten the name of the company,

Answer Marine, a long defunct FL company also used Seacraft splashed molds to build a seacraft knock off . Here are a few pics of one:

Continental built some hulls similar looking to a seacraft. I actually owned one and have some pics of it somewhere, they did not have the vdr like an seacraft. At least the one I had didn't. The one I had was a cc that looked more like the master angler with a raised cap. Still a good riding well built boat. I sold mine to a guy 20 minutes away after buying my first seacraft.

Answer marine seafari copy:

[bigeasy1]

Well I have to thank all of you who answered my questions.
This site is chock full of such a great bunch of people,with a whole lot of knowledge.I'm not sure I could have done the resto on my Tsunami as quickly as I did without the help of the members on this site.

I'm hoping to at least be in Florida for the winters,and have been looking at a few places.I have some contractors doing some work on my home so I can get it on the market,but they are going very slow.
I need this to happen as quick as possible in order to finance the the planned winter stays in Florida,and the summers in NY.

Denny thanks for that checklist,it helps greatly as I know I'll either forget to ask some questions,or check out some important areas.

Glad to see that this hull will do ok in skinny water.

If all goes well I'll try and take some pictures,and will post them up.

[Bushwacker]

Frizz - those are definitely the different cabin windows I remember. The slant on both ends of windows is reversed and it doesn't look like that windshield opens either. I also remember seeing some Answer Marine boats but didn't realize they also made a Seafari knock off.

[bigeasy1]

Well I got the 20 Seafari for $600.00 Please see the new thread Im starting on this board(general discussion) titled $600.00 Seafari with a few pictures.