Any Final Advice?

[CMBarnes]

I am going down to Florida tonight to get a boat surveyed tomorrow afternoon. Any final advice? I have a surveyor and have had the engines compression and lower unit oil checked. So far everything looks good. The boat is a 1976 23'cc. I would appreciate any final advice that I might not get from the surveyor.

Thanks in advance, CMBarnes

[ocuyler]

CMB,

Have a good trip. I would be as anal as posible about the transom and floor panels. Re-doing them is scores of hours worth of work. That's OK if you buy it really cheap. I would also tend to pay more if everything is original and solid.

The next thing is the motor. If it has an older motor, how many hours does it have left dependably? The cost to repower new is at least $14,000. Only around 1/2 of that is added to the boats value.

A decent trailer is worth $1,000 to $2,000.

Have fun and good luck.

Otto

[Matt1121]

CmBarnes-

I've bought two boats out-of-state (Florida & Texas) and hauled them both home to Boston. Both boats were in good to excellent condition but here are my recommendations for you.

Make sure you hire a good surveyor (Brian Stetler in Jupiter is VERY GOOD....www.amarinesurveyor.com) to look over the boat before you fly down. Ask him to take digital photos and include them with his report. Have him check the stringers, transom, floor, gas tank, wiring, engine, electronics, trim/tilt, and throttle/shift cables. Some surveyors only do engine compression tests, some do more extensive engine inspections or have a deal with a marine mechanic who will do it for them.

Also, be sure the surveyor water tests the boat, and everything is in working condition. Make sure he documents whatever is not working or needs replacing and use this as a bargaining tool with the seller. After the survey, I negotiated the seller down $2k by phone/email to cover some things that needed to be repaired. I would recommend that you have a pretty firm price agreed upon before you get down there...you dont want any surprises. If the boat is a total lemon when you arrive or it just doesnt seem right, you DO NOT have to buy it. You can always get on the next flight home or just spend a day or two looking at other boats in the area.

Once you're convinced that you want the boat. Fly or drive down, (make a UHaul reservation if you need one to haul the boat home...talk to me before you do this...I talked them down from $1000 to $387) and then go check out the boat. I would insist on water testing the boat yourself too...1) to see if rides the way you think it should 2) to see if you notice anything the surveyor missed.

Also, be sure to make sure that the trailer is in good working condition (bearings, tires, lights, etc) and your BOAT US Trailer Road Service has not expired. When you get down there go the local Wal-MArt and pick up a couple of sets of bearings & seals, an extra hub, a grease gun, a jack, lugwrench, etc.

All I can say is be prepared...and then prepare some more.

[John R]

CMB - That's a sharp one and if it were me & the survey worked out, I'd buy it and sell the motors and get a single 225 [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] ... But that is a pretty boat - hope it works out for you!

Though like my fellow ma$$hole said, don;t be afraid to run! Good luck.

ED! YER DRIVING WITH ME TO FLA WHEN IT'S MY TURN, HAHAHAHA!

[Matt1121]

John - Your time will come. Damn- if you found a boat next week I would definitely go...just so I can escape this 3 degree weather in Boston..it is freezing here.

Seriously, before you know it, a nice 23 will be sitting in your driveway. And you know what? You'll be the one to get the deal of a lifetime, because you have the used Seacraft market place wired.

Great lakes or bust?

Has anyone recently done some boatyard (non on-line) hunting for 23 Seacrafts in the great lakes region? With Michigan having more registered boats than any other state in the country, I would think that there has to be a few lying around in a boat boneyard or someone's backyard up there somewhere. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think some guy from the Cape scored a sweet deal on one from some nickel & dime marina on Lake Erie... I forget his name.

Also, maybe you can bribe that guy Otto to quietly poke around some of the yards up near him. You never know what is lurking in the weeds (or behind those 8 foot tall piles of snow).

-Ed-

[John R]

Ed - I appreciate but I'm now on hold pending better job security at work - things are tight so I'm on hold again until things tick up at work. Not down & out but seriously on hold. So bad I've only checked BT twice in 3 days [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

[ocuyler]

Matt1121,

Since getting to know SeaCraft in the last year, I've paid attention to every SeaCraft ad or posting and ask at every marina. Most up here reply "a what?". If I see anything, I'll post.

As far as I know, my 23CC that will come online in April, is the only SeaCraft on the Great Lakes. Of course, we would love to hear from any members or visitors to comment on any Great Lakes SeaCraft experiences.

My sea trials this summer showed that the hull is terrific for the steep close headseas we have up here.

Regards,

Otto

[JW-Tex]

Bring your jacket it is cold down here! 22 degrees in Jacksonville this AM.
JW

[CMBarnes]

Thanks for the advice. I have already had the boats engines checked by a mechanic who does not regularly perform services on this boat. Everything checked out well.(I got the report faxed to me) The boat was "redone" in 1998. The motors (twin 200 Merc EFIs) were new in 1999. One of the motors had the powerhead and lower-unit replaced this past October under warranty. The mechanic that looked at them said they were very clean and the compression is not off by more that 2 or 3 psi on any of the cylinders. The motors are on a stainless marine bracket that is attached to a closed transom. All of this was done in 1998. The deck is said to be solid and the gas tank was new in 1998. Trailer is not very old and had bearings replaced in it this past summer. We will see how she looks up close. The surveyor has been reccomended to me by antother surveyor that surveyed a 23' '73 seacraft and did a good job. That boat didn't work out, so I am not afraid to walk away. I'll let the board know what happens. Thanks again for all of the advice, CMBarnes

[John R]

Hey CMB! Yer killing me here. I see you lurking out there right now and I'm guessing that by the lack of you being online here, you picked her up. Very sharp boat & I hope it worked out for ya.

If you didn't get it and it's too painful to think about, just tell me to shut up. However, if you did pick her up - tell us all about it. Right now I'm living vicariously thru the rest of you & I need a fix...

[img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]