What about this???

[BillPutney]

finally I got it . I hope these will help with the diagnosis

[Capt Chuck]

WWP2
I hate to say it but I have never seen such a self bail mess in my life. That setup is a after market screw up and given the right conditions can cause you to sink

Bottom Line, It appears the bottom has been ground down till you now have a hook in the hull. You need to fill those holes up, take off the faring block, re-glass & true the bottom and run some decent floor drains out the transom as I previous suggested.

Some others (Don Herman) need to chine in here.

[Bushwacker]

You're right Chuck - SeaCraft never built them like that!

Just noticed that axial "step" at the chine! The idea of an axial step is to create a flow separation and trap air much like the lateral steps on the VDH. I have a book by a famous British guy named Uffa Fox, who built some racing hulls with a series of axial steps and wedges in the 1920's. The hulls had about 3 equally spaced steps along the bottom, giving them a "saw tooth" appearance when viewed from the side. The concept was that when a wave forced the forward section of the hull out of the water, the increasing "angle of attack" on the rear section of the hull would create extra lift and force the bow back down, much like a trim tab. I believe the concept worked fairly well and created a very flat running angle.

The problem with this one is that they didn't do it right! You need a sharp 90 degree step in the surface to cause flow separation, not 45 degrees like this one. I suspect the water won't separate, but will just follow the surface and blow right up thru the scupper, especially at low speed! Looks like someone tried to add a wedge to the aft end of the outer panel as well (the hook that Chuck mentions) because the lateral step is gone in that area. That feature will also increase the pressure in the area forward of the wedge, further aggravating the problem of blowing water up thru the scupper! The other small wedge just forward of the scupper is also not original - hard to tell w/o a scale in the photo, but it looks MUCH thicker than the one Potter used on the 20's, which were less than a 1/4" thick.

If you carefully sight down the chine of a 20' hull from forward looking aft, you can see where Moesly DID build in a slight wedge or hook in the outer panel but it's very subtle - the chine drops down maybe a 1/2 inch over the aft 8-10' of the hull. This panel is almost clear of the water at about 40 mph, so this wedge would have no effect at high speed; I suspect it's purpose is to improve with low speed planing and load carrying ability. It may be there on the 19 also. Haven't looked at the 21 or 23.

Bottom line is, Chuck is right, the only way to fix that thing is to rebuild that section of the hull to original configuration which is well proven! I'd also move the scuppers to the transom and maybe cross them also, the way Moesly used to do it.

[McGillicuddy]

Thanks for posting the picture. Weight and bracket are not the culprit. And yep, now I believe your Seacraft is really a fountain . Bushwacker and Capt Chuck are right on. Whoever doctored that hull should stick to pottery . The recessed pocket behind the wedge is effectively serving as a scoop slowing or diverting water right up you wazoo, err, scupper tube. I'll get a picture of what mine looks like tomorrow. The right angle at the back of the wedge Bushwacker mentioned separates the flow of water, maybe creating a pocket of air aft, allowing water to be sucked out. And the hull's straight line minimizes friction enabling the water to flow by with little impedance. The altered pocket you've shown us is definitely the root of your fountain.

It also appears the scupper tube is toast and the seal is gone so you'll probably have a saturated wood block that surrounds the tube which may be corrected like Bushwacker described in his scupper restoration. Whether you plug the tubes from above or not, I think you'll still be taking on water. Consider taking corrective action soon. Good luck.

[BillPutney]

Thanks all I knew I'd get some good fixes from the wealth of experience the site offers.I got the boat in 98 and have had nothing done to the floor drains , so whatever is there came from the previous owner/owners. I know from the previous guy that I'm at least the 4th.At one time there was a fighting chair mounted in the bow on top of the stg. comp. And at on time there was one mounted on top of the motor cover when it was an i/o.Itcame with a spotting tower that folded down also.I have one of the fighting chairs in my stg. bldg.The 1st. owner fished offshore out of Hatteras, nc I don't know about the 2nd. but the guy I bought it from fished the chesapeake bay mainly drift fishing with the wife and daughters.It had 130 screw holes around the cap and console for rod holders/drink holders/forward bimini and such.Your diagnosis about the modification to the bottom fits with this scenario.Believe iy or not the bilge stays bone dry currently.I ran the boat about 160 miles weekend before last from Carolina Beach NC to Myrtle Beach SC and points beyond ,left it in the water for three days and when I hauled it out at the ramp on a steep incline , no water .I do see the concern you guys have down the road if this is not rectified .I greatly appreciate all your comments.

Bill

[seafari25]

WWP2
I hate to say it but I have never seen such a self bail mess in my life. That setup is a after market screw up and given the right conditions can cause you to sink

i was always under the impression that seacrafts were unsinkable ever since my grandfather told the story of when he picked up his seafari25 from the marina which was storing her for the winter. he fired her up, pulled away from the dock and thought something was funny when he tried to get her on plane. he pulled the throttle back, popped open the engine hatch and found she was full of water to just below the engine block. the marina had not put the bildge plug in. the boat had been sitting in the water for over a week like that. that happened in the late 80's sometime and ever since then, i always deemed her as unsinkable.

has anyone ever sunk a seacraft? just curious

[McGillicuddy]

Yeah, they'll sink, rumour has it they'll turtle a while but unless they've been altered dramatically they'll sink under the wrong conditions. I think several of the guys have had the experience and others have come to their rescue. Here's an old post. And they will sink in freshwater faster as I think saltwater offers more bouyancy.

http://www.classicseacraft.com/forum...rev=#Post62437

[htillman]

My 20 did not sink, it turtled, we righted here but she never went down and I do not think she would have.

[strick]

SeaCraft trying to spot fish




strick

[Caymanboy]

In my opinion, the 'wedges' that are on the bottom are the right idea but are the wrong size and in are in the wrong place. They should be a little thinnier and aft further, i would recommend a clamshell installed covering 1/2 the hole, creating a venturie that sucks the water out, right now with them being so far forward it is pushing the water in, the boat is not going fast enough to suck it how, too much bottom hull pressure.