1975 18' sf

[dginge]

Man that is looking great. How wet was the foam in the stringers? I see the foam exposed in the stern on back Stringer and didn't know how wet it may have been? Was there wood around the fish box thru hole on starboard side bow? Please keep us updated

[dave s]

Surprisingly the foam in the stringers, the wood deck, and the wood in the keelson are dry. Other than the transom, the rest of the boat looked solid, but the previous owner had already cut around the decks, caps, and all the under deck boxes.
Yes there was wood and beige color Potter putty around the front fish box drain and rear through hulls; they were in good condition. Had to use a hammer and chisel to knock off the putty; going to seal the holes and make new ones aft for the water intake and transducer.
I cut the stringers back, mainly to give me more room to work on the transom, but the foam was already exposed. There were some random holes in the stringers with open foam and some rusted nails.
Maybe someone prior tried to make some cheap fixes.
Also looked like some drier whitish color areas in the woven roving around the stringers; might be resin poor or from some damage to the laminate.

[Old'sCool]

Good job and keep the pics coming!! I would like to see pics of the Contender. I love old bracketed ones.

[flyingfrizzle]

Originally Posted by Old'sCool

Good job and keep the pics coming!! I would like to see pics of the Contender. I love old bracketed ones.

X2

[dave s]

Link to my rebuild thread on THT: http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-...contender.html

Pic of her back in water.

[Tashmoo2]

Dave,

I am doing rebuild on same hull as yours. Intersting to see the top of stringers cut and foam exposed the same as mine. I found water in the very bottom of mine all the way forward to bow.

The gap between the top of stringers and bottom of the deck was between 3/4" and 1". I dug out all the old foam and raised the top of stringer so there was about a 1/8" gap between the new deck. I debated raising the deck 2" to make it self bailing. I'm 6'2" and decided not to because my knees did not feel comfortable above the gunnell.

I am going to run my wires from the motor to console using the existing channel on the starboard side. I forgot to measure the location of the opening next to the fuel tank well.
Will you do me a big favor and measure the length of the opening and the distance for outside of transom to aft end of the opening

thank you

[Old'sCool]

Very nice! One of my favorites.

[dave s]

Originally Posted by Tashmoo2

I am going to run my wires from the motor to console using the existing channel on the starboard side. I forgot to measure the location of the opening next to the fuel tank well.
Will you do me a big favor and measure the length of the opening and the distance for outside of transom to aft end of the opening

thank you

The opening length is about 24", tapers slightly top to bottom.

The distance from the aft end of the rigging channel opening to the inside of my transom is 71", so if it was finished with 1.5" core and the inner and outer skins, it would be about 73".

[fishfullthinking]

Dave,

Very nice. I also fish out of Boca and maybe see your boar getting splashed soon. I keep thinking about getting re-finished 18 or 20 but have not come across one yet. I fish 17 mako and get totally beat up every time I go out. 18 is a beautiful boat. Good luck with your re-build.

Gene

[dave s]

Gene, this SeaCraft may not be ready for a few years; it's a learning experience for me, so I'm taking my time to build it as I want to.
If I was in a hurry to fish it, I'd just raise the transom cutout to 25", put it back together as much as original as possible, and rig an old motor.
I like to fish offshore for swords and deep drop, so I'm sometimes over 20 miles out and 30 miles from home, so I'm thinking of making it a small, economical, but capable boat.
Thinking of the closed transom, which then requires some bracket or extension, the raised deck for self bailing, and then more freeboard, and the open layout, with a lot of under deck storage. A newer four stroke motor for the economy would be nice.
My Contender is great, but is bigger than I need, since I usually fish solo, and with fuel prices now, it runs about $200 to fish offshore for the day. And I usually go out 2-3/week, so it adds up.

Here's a pic of a swordfish I caught solo on the 18' SeaHunt last week. If the weather is good, the boat is capable, but it has a flat bottom and is not really built for the offshore fishing I do. With any seas, it pounds and it can take 2 hours to get to the grounds, plus you're beaten up by the end if the day.
I'm hoping the 18SF will be better suited.

You're welcome to fish with me sometime; we'll fish the bigger boat, the 18' Sea Hunt vs. your 17' Mako!