1977 23 Restoration

[SnafuFishTeam]

Well guys, this boat might be blasphemy for some you but it’s the most bad ass SeaCraft ever.

After 10 years of running my SeaCraft with a single 200 Yamaha, the transom was shot and fuel tank started leaking. My mechanic said time for a new boat. I went to share the terrible news with my wife and she said just have it rebuilt, I’m not getting beat up on some other boat. Bottom line is, we love this boat. I have been on hundreds of boats in my life and the 23 SeaCraft hands down is my favorite boat. The 23 just outperforms so many bigger boats.

So the 18 month journey began. I am the third owner of the boat with all of the original paperwork including sales receipt from 1977. $14,000 with twin 115 Mercs out the door LOL! I love the original potter hulls and did my best to keep the boat as original as possible. I kept the liner, ribs in the sides, hull vents and was dead set on the original bright lines on the floor. Only four original 1977 parts remain. The compass, console and two aluminum vent protectors in the bow. After some back and forth decided to keep it as it always was, yellow. Exterior is Federal Yellow and interior is Matterhorn white.

Enclosed the transom and kept the curve in the transom, raised the floor 4” in the bow to 2.5” in the stern. Armstrong full floatation bracket. No wood in the boat. 130 gallon fuel tank and 15 gallons of water. Fishbox behind the rocket launcher and bilge access. Anchor locker box in the bow cap. 50 gallon live well in the transom with a second live well plumbed to the box in front of the console. Center console is cored and glassed to the floor moved forward. Fuel tank is 130 gallons moved forward to compensate for the weight distribution. 15 gallons of fresh water behind the fuel tank. All of the pipe work was done by Birdsall Marine. Full Garmin electronics, set of new twin 200 Yamaha Four Strokes and all the other stuff.

Water tested today for 5 hours. Boat is just incredible. Still some items that need to be installed and touched up but very impressed the way the boat handled and sat in the water.
What a difference not having to deal with that splash well and looking at the bottom through the floor of your boat. Best of all, no wet feet with three guys in the cockpit! Love the bracket.

A big thank you to all of the folks on Classic SeaCraft. Such a great resource for the SeaCraft community. I definitely read a million posts on things before and during the restoration process!