1972' Seafari 25 Rebuild Project

[Glaucus485]

Hello and thank you for the opportunity to be a part of the site!! I have officially "Stepped" into the family.

Introduction: I live in North Florida and grew up in Miami fishing/lobstering/spearfishing in the Biscayne bay area with a routine summer trip to Bahia Honda State Park camp ground. I have very fond memories of fishing on a 1974' - 23' Potter Seacraft (still owned by my dad ...since the late 80s) which is a treat every time we go out in it. Geographically it made the most sense to own a "shallow draft skiff" (Crystal River to Cedar Key) so I started with Classic Aquasport 222 as a fishing flatform that the whole family could also fish from... of which I have a few now. However, the itch to fish offshore for Mahi, Sailfish, etc. in the Keys led me on a search for a hull I could take to the keys with the wife and the boys (now 1 & 3 yr old's) to enjoy. Without further ado ....

Project:
I introduce to you my new (to me) 25 Seafari Project! I remember seeing a hull only project of a 25 Seafari for sale years back and really contemplated taking on the project but just wasn't ready for such an undertaking and the weight sensitivity seemed intimidating (this was about the time Sancha was listed for sale...i think). However, now having done fairly substantial fiberglass work on a classic aquasport, I am ready for such a project. I am actually planning on making it a CC but I am slightly on the fence with the classic rare nature of the hull.

Current State: Boat was a demo model used for Volvo Penta and showcased their Duo Prop Design (Outdrive is an 83' and the only thing that came with the hull (motor was removed prior to sale). Prior seller indicated that the boat sat for the last 31yrs. It was sitting in a field and slightly buried on a trailer from sitting for so long. Gelcoat on the hullside is actually in good shape but the gelcoat above the shear line inside the boat is in really bad shape. Most of the bottom paint came off with a pressure washer. The stringer structure seems really solid but all the bulkheads are rotted. The stringers are seemingly hollow which is different from my other Aquasport 222/240 hulls that are typically foam filled. However, the stringers are built like tanks! Very solidly built!

More to come...on to photos!!

[Glaucus485]

Some Photos when the previous owner took ownership in approximately the 4th quarter of 2021 for good measure ...

[Glaucus485]

Some Photos when i took delivery 12/31/2021...

[Xcomunic8d]

Welcome.

I’d go after bulkheads and tabbing first. Raising your deck might be a good consideration and check your hatches for water logging. Betting that transom is bad too. Looks like much of the demo work is done.

I have lots of pics and just wrapping up my rebuild. And templates or whatever you might need. I wanted to keep the outboard too. The weight calculator here and my dealer talked me out of it. Never wanted the cc here. Conditions are too rough. Its your property but it breaks my heart.

The deck space I’ll agree all day on. Deck space and fish storage are a couple of pain points but some simple solutions out there.

[Glaucus485]

Thank you!

Most of the tabbing to the tops of the stringer /bottom of deck etc look to be in good shape. The bulkheads seem to be accessible. However, the one up front is not other than through the hatch. Deck is solid but struggling to figure out how to reuse and make storage space within the deck.

[Xcomunic8d]

You can access the farthest one up in cuddy like I did by cutting out a section to get to it and glassing it back in. It’ll make a loud bang as tension is released. Then you’ll have to wrangle it back in. I used jacks, weights, blocks of wood to wedge, clamp, and hold it together to glass back. Can’t tell I was there. I’m kind of wishing I’d taken cap off to do this but didn’t have ability or knowledge back then.

I’d also go back in time and put pvc tubes in bottom to act as drain tubes for water. Again something I learned through this process.





Here’s how I got to one fore of fuel tanks.

This is a decent sized space perfect for dry bags or batts. I’m going to put a hatch in here.





Storage:
I can’t find any space under deck for meaningful storage. That’s part of raising decks and why I’ll miss outboard idea. I have plans to put stuff under the cabin sole, put a hatch in there and under my grates by the cabin door.

Mid is out due to fuel tanks, aft is out due to engine, sides aft will take lots of work for very shallow access. I’m using coolers stored in cabin underway. and fish bags stern. I’m also going to put a swim deck on and use that area somehow.

I keep it pretty simple underway. Ditch bag, food bag, lure bag, ice cooler, fish bag. That’s about it.

Here’s my plan when I was going outboard.



But the guys talked me out of that. I’m going to but a teak engine cover there with sound/thermal insulation on inside. But I’m losing a huge storage space.
There is lots of room in the cabin area. Look there. It originally had shelves on both sides of interior

[wattaway2]

The early safari had a combination sink/stove/cooler /seat option for the port seat . I’ve seen pictures of and was amazed by its enginuity .I would think with a bit of thought doing something similaron the starboard side seat a lot of storage would be made available.I’ve seen some amazing tackle stations in small center consoles.

[Xcomunic8d]

Yeah. I was looking at that once upon a time too.
Blue heron did something similar but all his pics are gone now.



The cabin port side has a flip up compartment for head and a cushion on top
Starboard cabin has a door lower and a shelf above. I plan to put a camp stove in storage that I can utilize on long trips on deck and I have a perc. Coffee maker for my overnight trips.

I looked pretty hard at those above but decided I’d save deck space. And have stuff I can move around.
I thought about flip down storage, transom storage, deck storage, I’ve given up and going to make original work for me and once I boat for while make changes.

Biggest things are the teak racks and adding gaff holders in cockpit on sides for me. I got rid of my fighting chair and will probably replace with teak rocket launcher table.

As you noted storing above seems much easier than storing under.

[cdavisdb]

Welcome Glaucus,

Lotta work, but its a great hull.

I'd go very carefully with the center console idea. That requires removing a lot of weight forward and will substantially change the cg in a bad direction. Especially with an outboard, it will be very difficult to get the cg right and that is much more important in this hull than other Seacrafts.


There is a huge amount of info in these forums. Strick and BlueHeron both published extensive rebuild threads. Me too. You are already hearing from our Hawaiian brother

Ask and you shall receive, really good information.

[Capt Chuck]

Quote """"" I'd go very carefully with the center console idea. That requires removing a lot of weight forward and will substantially change the cg in a bad direction. Especially with an outboard, it will be very difficult to get the cg right and that is much more important in this hull than other Seacrafts"""""""

Thats' why Potter never had the 25' CC hull in production. He told me one day " We just couldn't get it right"