maiden voyage

[rockdoc]

Finally got my 70 Seafari in the water for a ride today- my first ever ride in a Seacraft! Very nice, definitely feels like a bigger boat than its 20 feet. I can see where Bennet trim tabs are going to make a BIG difference, they're on my list. Now I have a whole list of new stuff to figure out. The boat took on quite a bit of water in the bilge, got to find out where that's getting in! and, to add to the excitement...the bilge pump wasn't really working!! Yikes! But I got in and out ok. Also, I couldn't get the boat to line up right on the rollers when I pulled it.....I may switch to bunks, don't know yet. But even with all these little problems, what a sweet boat! I've got all winter to get it right. Next step is to get the whole Mercruiser winterizing thing figured out....

Steve

[ocuyler]

Rocdoc.

I have that same boat. You'll probably find that the water is coming in via a thru-hull fitting. I suggest you remove and re-bed each of them. I'm not fond of I/O's, but that will be your second thing to check.

Once you have eliminated the source of the water, you may realize that trim tab are not required. But, of course, nice to have.

Be sure to drain the motor jackets and poke the holes when you remove the plugs. Sometimes, rust chips get stuck in there and prevent the water from draining. Once you've done that, I like to use the winterizing kit available from BoatUS where you fill a large plastic container and hook your "ear muffs" to the water intake and run the motor until she discharges pink anti-freeze. Personally, I do not recommend removing hoses or thermostat as the aforementioned preceedure flushes the block and displaces water.

I also highly reccomend using Sta-Bil in the gas and running it long enough to get it into the carb.

Finally, the very last thing is to "fog" the motor through the carborator. I really think that's it's important to spray in allot and then stall it out with the spray. Change the plugs in the spring... [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[rockdoc]

Otto-
Thanks for your reply! I might not be fond of I/Os either, not sure yet. Seems like a lot more that can go wrong. I bought this boat thinking bracket outboard, but we'll see. I imagine the various thru hulls are gettin kind of old, and re-bedding them (or replacing and rebedding) seems like the next step.

Thanks for all the winterizing tips. I'm just not ready for the season to end yet.....

Steve

[RS]

I fished Block Island yesterday with my 20'. It was pretty snotty, but the boat handles it so much better than any other hull I've owned.

Lots of downside to an IO, but the upside is that the center of gravity is forward in that boat, giving better rough water performance.

Be sure to get the tabs; I've never met anyone in NE that had them and didn't think they were well worth it.

Re: your roller trailer. Be sure not to submerge it too deeply and the boat should center itself when you pull it up.

BTW, an additional bilge pump should be on your to-do list as well. Good luck with it.

[rockdoc]

Roger-

How'd you do at Block Island? That's a place I can't wait to fish, one of the legendary striper spots.

Steve

[RS]

How'd you do at Block Island?
Steve

Big bluefish at the north rip. Tough to get a good drift on the flood because of the wind. SW ledge had medium blues on the troll. Most guys drift eels now, but we were jigging and trolling. No bass, unlike last year at this time. Sloppy seas, generally 2-4s with periods of 3-5s.

[rockdoc]

That seems to be a common problem this fall- trying to get down past the blues to find the bass.

Steve