Best riding SeaCraft model ?

[cdavisdb]

As built, the 25 Seafari always had I/0s, always twin 6 cylinders, I think. A single 350 1/0 works great(what I have). I've seen various conversions to single and/or twin outboards, but never talked to anyone who ran one. Never seen an inboard model, that would almost certainly require changing the cabin.

Thanks, Denny.

[bgreene]

Originally Posted by cdavisdb

As built, the 25 Seafari always had I/0s, always twin 6 cylinders, I think. A single 350 1/0 works great(what I have). I've seen various conversions to single and/or twin outboards, but never talked to anyone who ran one. Never seen an inboard model, that would almost certainly require changing the cabin.

Thanks, Denny.

Many suggest I/O's to be hard to maintain in salt water environment - how's it been with your boat ?

[Islandtrader]

Carl (Moesly) once said " a bigger boat will be better than a smaller one" but foot for foot I like the "21".

[Fr. Frank]

I've ridden in every production SeaCraft hull made from 18' to 27' from 1967 to 1988, EXCEPT the 21' and the mysterious 27' SeaVette, (which I would love to find the money to raise the one sunken in Africa).
Hands down the best ride was the 25' Seafari with twin 165hp sterndrives. Absolutely amazing boat!
Next best was the 27' Seamaster owned by the Royal Bahamian Defense Force that was converted to twin transom-mounted 275hp V8 Evinrudes.
That was only slightly better than my neighbor's '74 23' Tsunami (Scepter) with twin 140 Mercury OBs, or the '75 23' SF with inboard tunnel-drive, which two hulls I rate about even.
Even the 18' Seacraft is better than many 21'-23' boats, by far.

[bgreene]

Originally Posted by Fr. Frank

I've ridden in every production SeaCraft hull made from 18' to 27' from 1967 to 1988, EXCEPT the 21' and the mysterious 27' SeaVette, (which I would love to find the money to raise the one sunken in Africa).
Hands down the best ride was the 25' Seafari with twin 165hp sterndrives. Absolutely amazing boat!
Next best was the 27' Seamaster owned by the Royal Bahamian Defense Force that was converted to twin transom-mounted 275hp V8 Evinrudes.
That was only slightly better than my neighbor's '74 23' Tsunami (Scepter) with twin 140 Mercury OBs, or the '75 23' SF with inboard tunnel-drive, which two hulls I rate about even.
Even the 18' Seacraft is better than many 21'-23' boats, by far.

Interesting - questions about the Seafari with twin IO's ...
1. I/O's in salt water use ? Did SeaCraft do anything special -I/O's and salt usually don't mix too well.
2. Fuel economy with those twin 165's ?
3. Fuel tank size and range ?

[bgreene]

Originally Posted by Fr. Frank

I've ridden in every production SeaCraft hull made from 18' to 27' from 1967 to 1988, EXCEPT the 21' and the mysterious 27' SeaVette, (which I would love to find the money to raise the one sunken in Africa).
Hands down the best ride was the 25' Seafari with twin 165hp sterndrives. Absolutely amazing boat!
Next best was the 27' Seamaster owned by the Royal Bahamian Defense Force that was converted to twin transom-mounted 275hp V8 Evinrudes.
That was only slightly better than my neighbor's '74 23' Tsunami (Scepter) with twin 140 Mercury OBs, or the '75 23' SF with inboard tunnel-drive, which two hulls I rate about even.
Even the 18' Seacraft is better than many 21'-23' boats, by far.

Sent you a PM

[cdavisdb]

Music to my ears Father Frank, good info, thanks

On I/0s in salt water: Up north, with short seasons, apparently you can get away with leaving them in the water for the season. At least, so I'm told. I would not have an I/0 kept in the water year round in Florida, not even a Volvo.

On a trailer or lift is a different story. I'm a fan of the I/0. It does have more maintenance than a modern outboard and you do have to be fairly anal about maintenance. but it usually rides better, normally has better torque, you can work on the engine yourself and that old car engine will warn you before it quits, if you are listening. The key is good maintenance. Do that and an I/0 is an extremely reliable system.

Specifically on my boat(s): In 35 years, I've had 4(all volvos) and changed an engine in one of them. Never had a serious failure offshore. Total significant repairs on the drives, 2 bad u-joints (both definitely my fault), one tilt mechanism(0000H are those little parts expensive), one set of power trim cylinders, and a leaky lower seal on one I just bought. That could have been VERY expensive if I had not caught it before any damage was done. Everything except the trim cylinders an the tilt mechanism was bad maintenance, or(the engine) bad advice from a mechanic who was supposed to know what he was doing, but didn't.

Fuel economy: varies a heck of a lot, not sure why. Light load, 3 kmpg. Heavy load, around 2 kmpg. That's with a single 5.7, TB fuel injection, volvo duoprop. Tankage, 100 gallons, figure about 93 usable.

[pelican]

Originally Posted by cdavisdb

On I/0s in salt water: Up north, with short seasons, apparently you can get away with leaving them in the water for the season. At least, so I'm told. I would not have an I/0 kept in the water year round in Florida, not even a Volvo.

On a trailer or lift is a different story. I'm a fan the the I/0. It does have more maintenance than a modern outboard and you do have to be fairly anal about maintenance. but it usually rides better, normally has better torque, you can work on the engine yourself and that old car engine will warn you before it quits, if you are listening. The key is good maintenance. Do that and an I/0 is an extremely reliable system.

"On I/0s in salt water: Up north, with short seasons, apparently you can get away with leaving them in the water for the season. At least, so I'm told. I would not have an I/0 kept in the water year round in Florida, not even a Volvo."

could you explain to me why ? and,what's the emphasis on ""volvo" ?

[cdavisdb]

Florida is hot,fouling rate is horrible in summer, all the nooks and crannys in an I/0 are hard to properly antifoul to start with and once hard fouling critters attach, a diver can't get to all of them, lots of boats have stray current problems from their lousy maintenance, I/0s are aluminum, which can be bad news in salt water, especially warm salt water with even a little bit of electricity around, unless you are much more careful than most folks, including me. If you antifoul an drive, you better be damn certain that the applier knows not to use copper bottom paint. That happens down here waay more often than you would believe.

One doesn't have to be around very long to realize that I/0s (or outboards for that matter) don't do well kept in the water in Florida. Not to say it is impossible, just damn difficult.

Volvo: I'm not absolutely sure its true any more, but in times past, at least in Florida, there was little doubt that Volvo drives were more durable, much less likely to quit on you offshore. Volvos can be a pain, damned expensive parts, hard to find competent mechanics and sometimes the engineering is just crazy, but they are very very tough. That includes everything up through the 290 drive. I hope its still as true for the sx drive (what I have now).

Connor

[pelican]

Originally Posted by cdavisdb

Florida is hot,fouling rate is horrible in summer, all the nooks and crannys in an I/0 are hard to properly antifoul to start with and once hard fouling critters attach, a diver can't get to all of them, lots of boats have stray current problems from their lousy maintenance, I/0s are aluminum, which can be bad news in salt water, especially warm salt water with even a little bit of electricity around, unless you are much more careful than most folks, including me. If you antifoul an drive, you better be damn certain that the applier knows not to use copper bottom paint. That happens down here waay more often than you would believe.

One doesn't have to be around very long to realize that I/0s (or outboards for that matter) don't do well kept in the water in Florida. Not to say it is impossible, just damn difficult.

Volvo: I'm not absolutely sure its true any more, but in times past, at least in Florida, there was little doubt that Volvo drives were more durable, much less likely to quit on you offshore. Volvos can be a pain, damned expensive parts, hard to find competent mechanics and sometimes the engineering is just crazy, but they are very very tough. That includes everything up through the 290 drive. I hope its still as true for the sx drive (what I have now).

Connor

outboards are aluminum,right ? outboard brackets are aluminum too,right ?
does just the aluminum from an outdrive attract these problems ?

neighboring boats - poorly maintained neighboring boats,just a florida thing too ?

in good ol' new jersey,most boats i service are in the water from april to december,that's 9 months - the water temp,it gets into the 80's here in the summer- i have quite a few clients with stern drive powered boats,in excess of 10yrs old,boats have had ZERO problems with drives,as well as hydraulics on the drives...

copper based paint,antifouling paint,on an aluminum surface is a recipe for disaster - pople often overlook this,boat mfg's often overlook this as well - it facinates me...

it's been my experience:

stern drives,the problems are often "self inflicted",meaning,lack of maintnance nothin wrong with a stern drive power system,my own sea craft's I/O powered - what's that tell ya ?