Brooks Reid 1975 Seacraft

[Brooks Reid]

I'd like to say hello to everyone on the Classic Seacraft forum. Thanks to everyone for all the wealth of information on restoring Seacraft boats.
I live in Miami, FL and I purchased my new 1975 Seacraft in June of 1976 from Layson Marine in Homestead FL. for my 26 birthday. I have been fishing and diving for as long as I can remember with my dad and his friend who owned a Seacraft in the 60's. I always wanted a Seacraft and after owning a few other boats, with my dad's signature, I was able to finally get a brand new, red, 20SF. I had been drooling in Layson Marine's boat a few years and had visited the Seacraft factory in Homestead several days to see how the boats were constructed. At one point I was considering buying another boat and what struck me was how the other boat salesmen kept touting their boats were "as good as a Seacraft". That pretty well convinced me that Seacraft was the standard to compare all other boats to and I was going to own a Seacraft. Well, I got married, my wife and I raised 3 boys and have done a lot of boating with our 20 Seacraft. In 2003 I decided we needed a bigger boat so sadly I sold my Seacraft to a friend of a friend. I bought a Pursuit 2470 the same year. The new owner of my Seacraft told me he was going to completely restore and customize the boat. My thought was great but that boat did not even need restoring. I had kept it in my garage since it was new and it was in great shape. Here is a picture of my 1975 Seacraft when I sold it.

[workinpr0gress]

Great Read, welcome aboard. That baby looks like it just needed a little buff and puff when ya got rid of her.

[Brooks Reid]

Cut to 2010. I reluctantly decided to sell our Pursuit 2470. It was a great boat but kids are grown, gas more expensive, not being used and needed to pay bills. Summer of 2012 I started looking for another boat. I wanted something 18-20ft that was cheap. Just something to get me across Biscayne Bay. My budget was 3-5K. We looked at a lot of boats but just could not find anything that we liked. My oldest son started looking at used Seacrafts ads and asked about our old boat. I decided to give the new owner a call and it turns out that he wanted to sell. He told me the restoration project was a disaster and he had lost a lot of money and the boat was never completed. The boat had been sitting half finished, uncovered, in his driveway for 8 years and he never even got to use it. When we went to see it we were shocked.

[Capt Chuck]

It's amazing what 10 years of neglect will do to a boat. It sure WAS a beautiful SeaCraft. I hope you or someone can bring her back to drool over once again

Welcome to CSC

Capt Chuck

[Brooks Reid]

After seeing the boat my wife and I decide to keep looking. I loved that Seacraft but it looked like the guy that did the restoration work destroyed it and I did not want to get into a project. I just wanted a boat I could get it and go for a while. But my oldest son kept coming back to the Seacraft. He was convinced it wouldn't take much to bring it back and most of it was just dirt. So I called the owner and I ended up buying back the boat I had sold him 10 years ago. Funny thing was the boat was still registered to me. He never changed the title! So my Seacraft is still a one owner boat. The previous owner was a huge Seacraft fan and Classic Seacraft.com fan. He had high hopes of posting glorious pics of his completely restored classic Seacraft on this forum when the project was finally complete. Unfortunately the guy that he chose to restore the boat was not the best choice and the workmanship was poor. Although I have a list of the things that were supposed to be done (from the previous owner), unfortunately there is no way of telling what actually was done except for the obvious. I do know the transom had work done, the hull was painted yellow/white, splash rails were added, the windshield was replaced but cracked from an accident, the rub rail and the fuel tank were replaced. Parts of the deck were worked on and the console was cut narrower but never completed. All controls, electrical, gauges, wiring, lights, accessories, etc. were stripped. The original Seminole trailer was lost and the boat now it sits on an old Arrow trailer (no longer in business) with flat tires and broken parts. The outside hull has some problems but looks OK considering it has been exposed to the direct FLORIDA sun for almost 10 years. The inside hull was painted but being directly exposed to the sun and elements has taken a toll on it.

[workinpr0gress]

Originally Posted by workinpr0gress

Great Read, welcome aboard. That baby looks like it just needed a little buff and puff when ya got rid of her.

Yikes, I can't imagine the mixed emotions you had after seeing it recently.

[Brooks Reid]

Had to pump up the tires with fix a flat to get it home. No license, no lights, no strap, pulled out of his driveway and there was a cop who was busy writing a ticket. Pass him by and he looked up at me in disbelief. I waved and he luckily he did not follow. Once home we started cleaning off 10 years of dirt. That's my oldest son Kevin in the pics. Found a rats nest inside the engine cowling. Turned the flywheel and it was not seized thankfully. 1993 Mariner 150HP only had about 50 hours on it when I sold it but had not been run in 10 years. Transom was raised to 25" and Jack plate was installed. My guess is that it was supposed to be used to compensate for the 20" shaft. Unfortunately it would never work because it was mounted too low to hook up the steering or tilt. Just one of many numbskull blunders I encountered. Used some bleach to clean up the inside not knowing how it would effect the unknown paint job but nothing else would cut the stains. Lots of problems found. The console was chopped to narrow the width and put back together with spit and gum. It was a mess! I removed the console and took to a fiberglass guy in Homestead for estimate to repair. The cost was prohibitive and he told me replacing might be a better way to go. I was able to find a console that should work on really nicely from Release boats in Homestead.

[Brooks Reid]

Here is a couple of pictures of the console I got to replace the original. The console had been sitting under cover in the shop for a few years and was dirty but in good shape. It was slightly narrower than the original and had an insulated ice box seat and plenty of room for instruments and stuff.

[Brooks Reid]

After pulling the console off and more cleaning it was time to take a look at the fuel tank. The previous owner told me the the fuel tank was replace with a larger tank and should be like new. But after 10 years of sitting in the sun I knew we had to take a look. We pulled the tank cover off and it looked OK. The aluminum was painted white, dirty and tarnished. The area of the deck directly aft of the original tank had been cut out to accommodate the larger fuel tank. After the larger tank was installed the deck was glassed in. We decided to take the boat to a shop to have the tank pressure tested. As soon as pressure was put to the tank a lot of water started coming out around the fuel sender. At that point I decided to replace the tank. Removing the tank required cutting the deck back. This was the first time I put the saw to my Seacraft and I was a little nervous. We cut back a section and with a lot of coaxing managed to remove the tank. The tank was not mounted securely and the white paint on the tank was peeling everywhere and there were a few spots that looked problematic. I took the tank to Sunshine Marine tanks in Miami and had them do another test just to be sure. BTW Sunshine is a top quality shop that makes marine fuel tanks for Contender and SeeVee boats. They are a family run business that does excellent work and really cares about their customers.
Surprisingly my tank passed inspection. Oddly the sender gauge was the wrong size for the tank. It would have made the fuel gauge read a half a tank even at empty. Blunderhead strikes again! I debated whether to keep the tank or replace it but finally decided to replace it. Sunshine built me a brand new shinny tank the same dimensions. I did make one sight change and that was to make the tank 1/2" less height in preparation for PVC strips mounted under the tank.

[77SceptreOB]

Look familiar?? We bought our SeaCraft "new" in April 1977 from Layson Marine too..