Jumping in with Both Feet on a 20 Seafari

[SailorChlud]

The exciting news of the week for the refit of the Seafari is the find in a barn, no less, of an old Chris Craft cabin door that is the right size for my cabin! Seems to be solid mahogany, with hinges and hardware attached.

Scored for $80.00, including a door jamb to match, an aluminum hatch, a 4x8 sheet of fiberglass laminate that is perfect for my bulkheads, an aluminum step and stainless grab rail for my jump seat, and an 8 inch round deck access hatch. ALL for 4 double sawbucks! Whoo Hoo!

[Dogbomb]

That's a major score! Vintage wood looks so cool when it's cleaned up.

[Vezo, Part II]

Yep! Barn find, for sure! Nice score, Bro!

[Sparehead]

Your project is coming along nicely. I recently picked up a similar boat so the pictures are quite inspiring. The transom job looks very nice. It's hard to tell looking at the pictures of the transom from the inside. Will all four bracket bolts now be accessible from outside, is there still room for the bottom two underneath the well, or will you have to modify the splashwell?

I hadn’t yet come across that hull plate maker, so I had to bookmark that one. I find the whole manufacturer’s maximum HP rating a bit confusing. I understand the ratings varied quite a bit. My beat up 1970 tag shows 140HP but from what I’ve read other boats with the same dual outboard transom cut came with ratings up to 240 which I think was meant to cover two 115 Mercs. I think the later 70’s rating were up to 175 for a single on essentially the same hull (minus the stringer change in ’73 which essentially deleted two vertical sections of glass in its design).

I’d like to eventually repower with a newer 150 but I’m not sure what that means for insurance or CG compliance. Does anyone know if it would be a no-no to just have a new tag made with one of the higher HP ratings for this hull?

[SailorChlud]

Actually, Sparehead - I am not sure about the bolt locations myself. They may or may not be accessible under the splashwell. I will not be mounting the motor, a local Evinrude dealer will be, and I really won't have that answer until later in the spring. I will try to take photos of whatever we do and post them at that time to give you an idea.
As to the sticker, I had a new sticker made up at https://www.garzonstudio.com/boat/capacity-decal.html

I cannot tell you what to do regarding the max HP but I believe Fr. Frank can help you with a formula for that.
Good Luck with your project, and post some photos!

[SailorChlud]

The weather this weekend is wild - we had over 60 degrees today, and the same is forecast for tomorrow, so what to do? Some painting. Finally got the last of the primer on the hull covered up by 2 coats of Pettit Black.

With that we can now proceed to the bulkheads. Here is the transom finished (except for the rubrail).

[Dogbomb]

She looks fantastic! Congrats on the good weather.

[SailorChlud]

I took advantage of today's 65 degrees to rip out the indoor outdoor carpeting in the cockpit rod holder shelves. then I installed two new cup holders where there had been extra rod holders, and remoed the trim at the bulkheads to prep for installing bulkheads.

Then, since the weather was so nice my son and I laminated the fiberglass skin to the bulkheads in preparation for installation next week or so.

[Dogbomb]

Great progress! Those bulkheads are going to look nice.
One question, though: Why is it warmer there than here? :-/

[SailorChlud]

Can't figure that out either - we set a record yesterday, by 4 degrees!