My 1975 SeaCraft 25' Seafari rebuild thread

[flyingfrizzle]

Well, after reading all the positive attributes about the 25's I decided I would like to add one to my collection. I was wanting something I could take the family out on and do some overnighting and camping on and she as plenty of room for it. Also with the 25.5 degree deadrise she will not be a slough in the ruff water either. I plan on doing some offshore fishing and trolling in her when not being used for family time. It has been said that the 25' hulls are a "drivers boat" so it sounds like she will be fun to captain once I get used to the way it handles. Thanks to a member on the CSC board for a great deal on the purchase of this project. She has now found her way back home to NC. Far as I know from the history of the boat, she was here in Morehead city, NC back some time ago then went to Alabama. She last ran and was use in Alabama then she was sold to an gentleman in Massachusetts as a project boat. She sat in MA for some time and then she was sold to me and came all the way back to Newbern, NC about an hour from where it sat at a decade ago. She is in fair shape over all but in need of a restore. The transom is rotten and the hull bottom has some minor blisters but nothing that cant be fixed. I will start by replacing the transom and cleaning up the bottom of the hull for paint. After a lot of research and deliberation I have decided to hang an outboard(s) on a bracket to the hull. I will try to move weight forward and get the balance back best I can but with this model liking weight forward so much I will most likely mount a ballast tank and add enough anchor chain in the front to get the ride to a quality level. Im not planning on doing a full restoration on it yet due to the family wants to camp out on it before this year is over and I also want to get started on the full restoration on the Race boat soon as well. I will get the Seafari useable then once the race boat is done next year I will do a full teardown on the 25'. Most likely I will get the transom done, fix the bottom blisters, barrier coat the hull, and then will spray a color on the bottom/sides of the hull. All of the insides of the hull, flooring boxes, cabin repairs plus the rest of the hull will have to wait for a full restore later after the family has some fun on it first!

A few pictures:

This is in MA while loading it for the trip home:



Sitting at a gas station on the trip home: