20 sf project boat

[chatham]

I have spent countless hours on this site, and I have learned a graet deal about the boats. Thanks to all! After looking at everyboat on line and in person, I think I have finally found a boat that seems to be resonable. I am looking for a complete project so I can customize the boat as much as possible. In shore fly/spin fishing in and around chatham, ma. For all the Cape Cod folks, would it be an option to venture out to crab ledge for tuna on a good day in a 20? Would the fleet wonder what the hell such a little boat was doing out there? Fair to say that the boat will need everything. 71 hull, old trailer and engine. $2000. needs work. The advise that I need is on pricing the boat as it stands, and pricing on some of the larger ticket items to replace. It seems that looking over all the posted info on these boats, hull only can sometimes be in the 1-2k range. This boat seems to be in hull only condition.

ball park price on the following?

new fuel tank
trim tabs
stainless rub rail
new cc
leaning post
wiring
trailer
awl grip inside and out, gel coat on the bottom?
blasting bottom of anti fouling
140 suz.

I am planning on doing all the grunt work, but paying for the cc and having some one shoot the paint inside an out.

I currently own a 2002 dauntless 16 that is great for the family and the beach/fishing. I am looking for a project other than the few houses that I have renovated. Ideally i would choose the seacraft23, but cost is a problem. With limited time offshore, the custom 20 for fly fishing would be a nice option.

Thanks for all your help!

[Ikan Besar]

On the price of the hull, I personally know four members of this site that got their 20' SeaCraft hull for under $1,000. While this was unfortunately not my situation, deals are out there and I tend to see them more often recently than I used to. There have been some pretty good deals on 23's on this site in the past year as well.

Some of the items on your list cost what they cost without a lot of variation in price (engine, trim tabs, etc) but other parts of the list can vary widely in price which makes a "ball park figure" somewhat sketchy. On the center console, wiring, fuel tank, leaning post, and trailer, you can have wide swings in price based on how nice you want to go. As such, a ball park price on those items would be quite a range.

You can get a pre-made tank that will fit somewhere in your boat for fairly cheap or you can get a custom tank to your exact dimensions that will cost more.

An off-the-shelf center console can be had for $200 or you can spend upwards of $2K.

I've seen serviceable leaning posts (new) for sale for $200 and there are those with all the trimmings that cost nearly $1,200.

Do you want a single axle galvanized trailer (maybe purchased used to save $) or do you want a tandem aluminum trailer with stainless disc brakes? You can get the former for under $1,000 and the latter for over $3,000.

Only you know what kind of finished project suits you and how nice you want it to be. The fish you are trying to catch won't know the difference between a $10,000 and $40,000 boat

[warthog5]

Totally agree.

The latest cost on alum fuel tank's is $10gal. Just had one built. + $60 at Grainger for a gal kit of Coal Tar epoxy to coat it. + fuel sending unit.

[thehermit]

71 hull....I saw this boat fo sale in Chatham...How is the transom? Is that on the list too?

[chatham]

thanks for all the info..keep it coming. My plan would be to shoot for the high end on most products.

Pricing on 140 suzuki's? Is preformance acutally a big difference between the 140 and the 115 or is it just the trim motor?

[klaucke]

On the price of the hull, I personally know four members of this site that got their 20' SeaCraft hull for under $1,000.

I got my Hull (no floor) for free. It came w/ a single axle older galvanized trailer. It is VERY EASY to spend a lot of money fixing any boat, especially if you want to do it "right" and make it last. I think I saw the boat the original poster is talking about on Craig's List. It def. looked like a project. As long as you know at least approximately how much work it will be going in, and you enjoy projects, it could be worth your time. But after repowering, fixing all the needs, you could easily double the actual resale value of the boat, IMHO.

If you are crafty you can save a lot of money, such as using and older motor or stripping other boats for parts (I bought 3 other boats to take parts from just to fix mine, not including a rubrail I took off a 4th). For example, in this case an I/O, you can buy an older boat and use the powertrain, and spend maybe $800-1000, or you could buy a whole new/rebuilt I/O powertrain at thousands.

In short, just make sure you do your homework, and caveat emptor.

[Lenny]

I spoke with this guy, he was talking about the hull to deck joint seprating and taking water in.

[chatham]

apparently, it is separating inside the rod holder area up front. I did not think this would be an issue, my plan would be to cut out the deck and most of the liner. I like the way mark's boat is set up with the rod holder aft and most of the liner removed. When people take out the deck, what are most doing about the casting platform. I would assume that this area would be soft like the rest of the deck. Has anyone rebuilt similar to the current boats...deck all one level. Also what is the lifespan of fiberglass. These boats are 30 plus years. With the deck and floor up, does it make sense to had a complete layer of mat/glass over the inside of the hull. I would assume that one of the reasons other than the hull design, the ride quality has something to do with weight placement. When you start removing decks and hatch covers to rebuild out of core vs. plywood, would it be reasonable to add back some of the weight with additional glass below?

[RODMAN]

Crab Ledge is a go with a 20',Been there done it, was a nice ride and a great way to spend the day.Best of all, Did not burn a lot of gas.