2003 Master Angler 20'

[FlyDoc]

I am the somewhat proud owner of a 2003 20' SeaCraft Master Angler with the Lefty Kreh coffin/console and a 150 Yamaha HPDI. I purcased the boat last Feb. and had to drive from Connecticut to Southern Florida to get it. SeCrafts have become very difficult to find in New England, especially this one. In fact the current CT SeaCraft said he would not be able to get me it. Through months of searching I finally found this one at Wolcott Marine in Bonita Springs Florida.

My friend Bill and I planned to drive down, pick it up, spend a few days fishing it around Pine Island and trailer it back to Connecticut. Unfortunately some of the best plans go very bad. We picked up the boat which was only fully preped the day we picked it up. The hour meter read one. The sales manager took us out and I ran her for an half hour or so and we loaded her back on the trailer and headed for the Pineland Marina. We splashed the boat, docked her and went to have dinner. The next day the wind was blowing so we got somewhat of a late start. The throttle seemed a little tight with vague shifting but I was told the day before that the Yamaha controls needed a break in period. As we started out of the channel the engine seemed to be losing power and requiring more throttle then would be expected. With a 10 to 15 kt wind we seemed to be getting pushed all around. I continued to ease it the throttle forward to keep her off of the rocks which lined the channel when we heard a thump and then lost power completely. The engine then began to rev freely but the prop had spun. Somehow we managed to keep it off of the rocks despite the wind. We got a tow back to the marina and docked up. We then had TowBoat help us bring the boat around the docks and haul her out. When we examined the skeg there was a large scratch along its length and the safety bushing in the stainless prop was fried. When I explained the story to people they all said that people hit rocks with their props all the time. As a relatively new boater everyone seemed to discount my story of losing power.

I honestly thought that I would swap out the prop and be done with it, but we decided to trailer her home before we splashed her again. I had called the insurance company before we left just to report the accident. We I got back home the adjuster really wanted the motor checked out. He wanted the lower unit torn down, but I did not really want the factory seals on the engine broken. My friend sent his mechanic over to take a look at things and found the prop shaft had a 3 degree bend in it. $3000 later I had a new lower unit on my boat. He tested it on the trailer and everything seemed to be working well. The following weekend another friend splashed her, idled out of the marina and could not get any power out of the engine. She was running slightly rough as well. I called the mechanic and he sounded a little pissed and came back to take another look at it. He called me at work and told me that he was taking it to his friend with a Yamaha computer. By the time her got the boat there the engine was just stalling. 6 fouled spark plugs and an O2 sensor were to blame.....The cause, some smart ass at the dealer when the preped the boat mixed oil into the fuel tank. The shift cable was also binding secondary to several very tight turns. Another $500 later to drain the fuel tank, Replace the plugs and O2 Sensor, and rerig the boat later I splased her again and things have been good since. The interesting situation is that now one has excepted responsibility for any wrong doings. The dealer in Florida denied the oil in the fuel tank was put in by them. They also stated that SeaCraft had done the Yamaha prerigging on the boat. SOme pissed I called Tracker who informed me that when my boat left hte factory it was sent to Wolcott Marine just as a hull. The rigging was done by the dealer so I should contact them. I called them again and spoke with the head of the service department about the cables who assured me that the cable were installed to Yamaha specs and that they must be defective. I called and wrote to Yamaha who told me that "poor" rigging is not covered. The long and short of the matter is that the boat still shifts very vague. My mechanic thinks it is do to very thin cable and wants to swap them out for thicker ones. He thinks this is because the console in the Master Angler is shifter so far back and the bends are so tight. Has anyone else heard of this or encountered this issue?

The last issue is something that everyone with a 20' seems to face. Water up the scuppers. This is despite the fact that I was told that SeaCraft had raised the rear deck on all the new Master Anglers. Is there anyone else out there with a late model 20' master with this issue too? When you guys raise the decks on the older Potter Hulls what is the depth of the cockpit in the back of the boat. I want to see if this is just a lie. The measurement I am looking for is either from the deck to the top of the cockpit colming, of the bottom of the v to the deck level. Thanks for you help.

Chris

[Capt Chuck]

Welcome Flydoc

I wish your first post were not so disheartening
It appears that your situation is not the first time we have witnessed a warranty issue and blame shifting between the manufacture (Tracker) and a dealer. I wish you the best and unfortunately I feel you have a long haul ahead to get satisfaction

BTW: You might want to read the following thread---> "I have a little problem"

[Bigshrimpin]

FlyDoc - sorry to hear about your troubles. Fyi - the only way to really see if they raised the floor is to measure from the bottom of the vee up. The the old MA's gunnel cap is much different than the new ones. Good Luck . . . I don't know what you're using now but the teleflex 33supreme and cc633 control cables are designed to make really tight bends.

[Mark]

I've spent time in a 2001 Master Angler with the coffin-box and same engine setup that you have and it indeed had the floor too low for good self-bailing. At the end of the day, both people in the boat had to stand on the bow next to the pop up cleat in order for the stern area to drain.

The newer Master Angler's don't have the raised cap like the old ones, so I think the measurement from the floor up to the gunnel MAY give you some idea of whether the floor was raised or not. When my '71 20' was redone, the floor was raised 2.5" and the height of the gunnels off the floor next to the transom is now roughly 17.5".

Sorry you are having so many troubles with the boat. Although this is of no comfort, you are not the first to have issues with one of the Tracker produced boats (as the link provided by Capt Chuck above details) [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[Scott]

Sorry to hear of your woes ...Not a great way to start off with a new boat [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Question for anyone

They also stated that SeaCraft had done the Yamaha prerigging on the boat.

Does Tracker/SeaCraft factory rig Yamaha ?? Can dealers have Yamaha prerigged on SeaCrafts on special request?

I thought they only did Mercury and Honda

[FlyDoc]

Scott,
Here is the foul smelling truth on the prerigging issue. On the new boats the "window sticker" which comes from SeaCraft will state "PreRig Yamaha" or "PreRig Honda." The actual truth of the matter is that according to Tracker the only engine that will be installed at the factory is a 2 stroke Mercury. Some have speculated that SeaCraft lost Yamaha's certification to install their engines. In the Northeast most of the new boats arrive here as unrigged hulls since Mercury's are not too popular in this geographic region. So the answer to the question according to the the factory is that, you can have it from them rigged anyway you want as long as it is with 2 stroke Mercury controls or nothing at all. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]
Chris