Got me a 71 SF20 now what do I do?

[poco]

New to me and my first post! 1971 SF20, I had been on the look out for an affable boat for years in Sarasota and of course I moved to North Alabama where a cubby would be better and I came across this lady in central TN. It was just to good of a price to pass on and I have a few jobs this summer that require me to be on the water.

I knew nothing about SeaCrafts before finding this boat and feel really solid with my purchase after reading all the love they get. The boat seams fine overall, runs and floats but despite spending most of my life on the water I know very little about fiberglass beyond the most basic repairs.

The previous owner said when he got the boat the deck and the transom where rotted so he pulled the cap and replaced the deck with pressure treated plywood and sent the tank off for a " chemical" clean. The only soft spots on the boat are the hatches.

Honesty I think its pretty set but the hull could do with a bit of gel coat repair and paint and the deck has gel coat cracks all over and is super chalky.

My question is this .....the boat will currently be running up and down the TN river 6hr+ a day on a few multi night trips so no ocean for now .... I have about $2500 I can put in to repairs. What would be the best direction to go with it and im not looking to do a full rebuild yet.

The only thing I would love to do is put a tank below the deck as mine is the center console and it eats up soo much space plus the batteries tucked next to the tank and all the wires feels sketchy as hell. I'm pretty sure thats all beyond my skill level and im not sure if my local marina is up to it for an affordable cost.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated !

Thanks