Ms. MAK 20SF

[slowJEEP]

I picked up my first SeaCraft the other day. I'm up in the panhandle of Florida and drove about 1400 miles round trip to Hobe Sound in south Florida. I asked the dude what the deal was with all of the raven stickers and he said he liked ravens...








The hull was re-gel coated two owners ago and the topside got a second coat of Awlgrip non-skid from the last owner. New fuel tank and hoses and it is sitting on a way too big float-on trailer.

The Jeep wasn't thrilled about pulling it but fortunately most of Florida is flat.




It was supposed to be a 1978 but after getting it home and actually looking at the title and HIN, it is an 88'. I was dissapointed that it wasn't a Potter hull but I really like the 25" transom and the scuppers that run out the back instead of through the floor.

It came with a carb'd 150 Mercury that had no known issues. They disabled the oil injection and ran 50:1 premix so now it goes through spark plugs a little faster. On the ride home, I noticed that there was a big crack in the foot. It is totally shot so I bought one from a dude on the screamandfly forum.

I can't remember the justification but, I decided I needed a 175 Optimax. Same weight, roughly, a little bit more horse pressure and much better economy. I sold the 03' 40hp 4 stroke efi off of my skiff for 3k and found a 2001 Opti a few hours away for the same price!

So off came the 150



I was too cheap to buy a mercury specific lift ring and thought about getting a 1 1/2-16 bolt and welding something up but those threads aren't common and the optimax has a proud flywheel bolt that would require hollowing out the bolt. So, I spent a few hours of my precious time fabbing a bracket. All to save 45 bucks...(35 on ebay)



The little cosmetic aluminum plate on the transom was cracked so I pulled it off and found what I thought was a terrible repair job. Looking closer it looks like filler that the factory put at the hull and liner junction. I chipped some out and was pleased to find happy composites. Thoughts?





Unless the 150 sells in a few days, I'm going to stick with the cable steering and no jackplate.

I don't dig how these short little boats look with a bracket so I was thinking of running a 6" setback jackplate and building an engine cover like the one below. The setback would allow for full tilt/jack whilst the cover is in place without the cover having to excessively protrude into the cockpit.



I think the covers take some getting used to but seems like a good way to quiet down the opti and provide a work surface all while closing in the transom.

[ct9amr]

I love the Jackplate on my 23ft. The boat is so much more versatile for inshore and offshore.
Moving it up to run offshore also helps the MPG's a little as well.

[mrobertson]

I'm not 100% sure, but i don't think an original 1988 Tracker SC would have the vents in the hull.

My 1989 20 SC does not have vents.

[slowJEEP]

Glen - I have a jackplate on my skiff and couldn't live without it. I'm hoping it'll be as useful on this boat.

MrRob - Think they were added in? I kind of expected a SeaCraft logo in that spot. Keeps the bildge a little drier perhaps. Or wetter if it's listing...

[RUSTYNTABATHA]

Congrats on the SeaCraft and what are you asking for the 150.. Keep your eye peeled for a gulfcoast meet up too..

[slowJEEP]

2k on the 150 once I get a good foot on it.

Glen - What make jack plate are you running on your 23?

My buddy is trying to sell me his Paralift. At about a foot, the setback is a little excessive but it'd get me jackin for half the price of a new one from Bob's.

[ct9amr]

Mine is a Bob's jackplate since I live in the same area they are made and sold.
It is great piece and I recommend it. I also have the boarding latter attachment for shallow water.

[slowJEEP]

I'm still debating how I'm going to go about the transom fix. To get a better look of what was under the deck, I unscrewed the CC and gas tank cover. The guy before me replaced the tank and hoses but used a quite a bit of junk from Lowes (treated 4x4s, great stuff, zinc plated shelf brackets and screws, and to round it out, a door mat under the tank).

The deck seems surprisingly solid considering all of the holes from the CC and the two holes for wiring chases that have exposed the core.

I'm surprised how light they made the CC. I thought it'd be a good place to cut down some weight while I'm in there sectioning out 6 or so inches but it uses less plywood core than I expected.

[slowJEEP]

Aft end of the tank and a corroded bookshelf bracket.



The brown in the bottom half of this picture is the box stringer and the lighter colored stuff on top of it is the putty they used to join the deck/liner to the stringers. It seems pretty hard. Anyone have a feel for how difficult it would be to separate the two if I were to pull the cap to fix the transom?



Pardon the fat finger on the left, this is a shot of fore end of the gas tank hole. I presume the tank is sitting on that roving. Seems like a big space that isn't being utilized.

[martin]

Hey that looks good.. It looks like there is a poly tank in there.. Man how big is your tank...?.. I do belive that poly is sufficent for stregth especially when using coosa board.. You need to be careful on the weight..i over built my tub and platform and the weight of the bracket is around 170 its a little heavy i would have like 150 But it was my first bracket...take your time laying glass dont put to many layers on at atime the transom angle at the front of the tub will want to sag and pull away. It did for me.. So just becareful ther.. Strick and hermco definitley build some really nice brackets.
My platform is glued and tabbed to the tub with epoxy and cabosil... It was an big pia especially when the acces ports are 5 " debating on taking it to 6" so i can reach in and access the compartments