An introduction....

[todosier]

Hi all,

I’ve been lurking here reading up and enjoying the photos for the past couple months. I’d been looking for a 20’ SeaCraft for a couple months when I found this one – the boat will be a fishboat used 99% on Long Island Sound and will be a trailered. I’d seen several 20’ SFs, but when I saw this Seafari I bought it on the spot – love at first sight, I suppose.

Boat is a 1972 and I can’t see that any major work has been done on it. Floors are all soft, transom a bit swollen, but boat seems to be in great condition for almost 40 years old, my plan is strip to the bare hull, close in transom, raise floor, add a bracket, etc… a total refurb. I’m planning to start to tear it apart in February, and I’m actively accumulating ideas.

I know there are several boats here of the same vintage. Anyone have any commentary on this particular boat? Interesting features, quirks, etc???

T

[Fr. Frank]

Somebody's already glassed in the cabin windows.

[todosier]

I was wondering about the windows too... I pulled the carpet back inside the cabin when I bought it and there is not a patch, so it came from the factory that way. I've never seen one without windows, was that an option?

[Bigshrimpin]

I have a 72 seafari with a bracket. If you add a bracket . . . there is no reason to raise the floor. Just check the scuppers and do spot repairs on the floor.





If you like fishing . . . removing the teak door allows you to put 128 quart igloo cooler in the stepdown area for the cabin. The extra weight up front is nice and it keeps the decks clear in back.

[todosier]

That is good information on the floor on a Seafari. Do you think it would still be okay with one of the larger 150 hp 4 strokes, I'd like to keep my options open as to power.

The floor is toast, there isn't a solid place in the cockpit. Has anyone pulled the cap and liner on a Seafari, I haven't seen one?

[Bigshrimpin]

Todosier - Check your PM's. I would recommend limiting your outboard motor section to around 400lb or less . . . Even my motor 200 merc (2.4L) at 360lbs keeps the bow light. Fuel economy is still around 3.5mpg. One nice thing about the seafari is that you can sleep in the cabin and be fishing at your honey hole at the crack of dawn . . . or fish hard all night long, take a nap and motor home in the AM.

[Bigshrimpin]

Has anyone pulled the cap and liner on a Seafari, I haven't seen one?

Don't do it . . . it's not worth the effort. Don't even remove the cap. Just trace the existing floor, remove the plywood bulkhead supports and cut out the rotten section of the floor. What you are talking about doing is a HUGE ammount of work and glass work. Do the cost out on a spreadsheet . . . tally up the numbers and decide what is worth the $$$. Your going to need to split a drum of resin with someone (20 gallons or so) to do what you are talking about.

[todosier]

Thanks, I replied to your PM, let me know if you didn't get it.

Thanks for the info - 400# limits the motor choices a bit more than I'd like, but sometimes you can fight Physics. I'd like to have the 4-strokes in the running (other than the 140 zuke) to be able to comparison shop when the time comes.

Would raising the floor a bit and adding tabs do it? What are the other downsides?

[Bushwacker]

Not a bad looking Seafari considering that nothing appears to have ever been done to it! Congratulations on choosing the most versatile model in the entire SeaCraft line! It'll do everything the other models will, plus a lot of things they can't! Can't run as fast as an old 21 or even a 23, but it's a lot easier to trailer! Gel coat looks to be in good shape; with a coat of Poly-Glo it'll look like new! Also doesn't seem to be much pitting on the windshield. I suspect rubrail was replaced at one time as most 72's I've seen have the aluminum rail. I replaced mine with one I got from SeaCraft in the late 70's. Bought my boat in 1975 w/o engine, put a new 115 'Rude on it, and have been able to keep it pretty much original except for a repower in 2006 and the galley seat I got off of another Seafari. The old motor was still running fine but after over 30 years I was tired of all the noise and smoke and ready for some newer technology!

I've seen some Seafari knock-offs without cabin windows but yours is the real deal and the first I've ever seen without them. Also it looks like your windshield doesn't open? Also looks like it never had the coaming bolsters because your forward rod holder is drilled for 4 rods. Mine is only drilled for 3; the area where the top hole would be is covered up by the coaming bolster. Maybe it was a stripped down model - they had to cut the opening for the cabin windows, so that would have saved money, as would the non-opening windshield. Does yours have the baitwell under the stern seat on port side?

I agree with Tim/Big Shrimpin on the cockpit floor. Just use a cut off wheel to cut thru the upper skin to get to the rotted wood. If you carefully study the '69 Boating Magazine article on the Seafari, you'll see that the hull has 4 fiberglass stringers that were installed about halfway thru the lay up. The inner liner was bonded to the top of the stringers as well as to the sides of the hull, so it would be a bear to remove! If you stay with a light motor and a short bracket with lots of flotation like Tim's, there's no need to raise the deck. However, if you're considering a heavier motor and a longer (30" setback) bracket like mine, I'd raise the deck a couple of inches, since you're gonna tear it up anyway. I'd use balsa core like original or structural foam instead of plywood to save weight, although you could use plywood under the seats like the original. SeaCraft raised the deck a couple of inches starting in about '73 or '74. The Hermco bracket is the only way to go if you want it to be self bailing because it has largest flotation tank. The waterline on mine at rest with full fuel and bait well is about 1/4" below top of the scupper tubes, with nobody in the boat, so it's still self bailing, but not by much! If you just raise the area with the non-skid, that would leave a nice gutter around the edge leading to the scuppers. AND I would NOT consider any 4 stroke heavier than the 140 Zuke, which weighs about the same as my E-Tec (427 lbs). These boats were designed in the mid-60's when the heaviest motors were about 300 lbs! Most of the 150 4S's are close to 500 lbs when you include weight of the cowling and fluids! The further you get above 300 lbs, the more you're gonna screw up the balance, ride and low speed planing ability of the boat! I did exactly that with the new motor and bracket on my boat! Finally got it to ride and plane as well as it did with the old 115, but it took a 4-blade prop, a Doelfin and trim tabs to get there!

Also, your cockpit step down is big enough for a 70 qt cooler without removing the cabin door. That's big enough to handle most of the fish I catch and it's light enough to lift up on to the main deck, where it makes a great place for divers to sit when they're putting on tanks. I put it in the stepdown when running in rough seas because it can't slide around and it keeps weight forward to help the ride.

If you'll PM me with your e-mail address, I can send you files of Seafari brochures and a comparison spreadsheet I put together on all the 150 HP outboards. Denny

[BigLew]

The materials alone and the first hundred hours of sweat equity is worth more than you would pay for a decent 20' CC w/ another engine!! Don't be "not smart."