20 Seafari

[Seafari78]

I just bought this boat from a friend who went to Florida in 1978 and bought it new...rare one owner craft !!!!
1978 Seafari 20 with 1985 Mercury 200 Black Max, originally came with 140 Johnson
Needs a few things here and there but overall very solid.
Doing some rewiring right now.

[fdheld34]

Welcome to CSC
Very nice find!!
post up some more pics of interior etc!
-Fred

[Seafari78]

added more pics in photo album....pretty sure I got a great deal on this one

[77SceptreOB]

Congrats! Welcome aboard.

More pics please

[Seafari78]

How can I add more than one pic at a time per post ?

thx

[cdavisdb]

You lucky man.

Looks like the original bimini material, some kind of vinyl. Bullet proof stuff, but you might have to restich it eventually.

[Seafari78]

I think it is. he had just had it cleaned and buffed before I went to pick it up. this is a recent pic....paid $1700 for it.

[cdavisdb]

You will find that running fast in snotty conditions, you will want to stand up and get your head above the windshield. I used to unstap and fold back forward corner of the bimini, its plenty strong enough. That can get a bit wet inside the boat, but I was diving and it was warm,so didn't care. Always wanted a zip out hole for my head, though.

I've got a 25 seafari now and set up the binimi so that is not a problem.

[cdavisdb]

Something to watch out for.

The black max engine cowl splits vertically, long seam along the top of the cowl. The damn seal can leak. On really snotty days when a lot of spray is hitting the engine, you may find it starting to cut out, especially a low planing speeds. Bring it home and all seems fine. What the???? You can waste a bunch of money on mechanics. What's happening is the coils are getting wet and shorting out. You can see spark in the wrong place running the engine at night on a hose with the cowl off. I used to tape the cowl closed, which helped, but never did completely eliminate the issue. It won't keep you from getting home, just annoying as heck.

[Bushwacker]

NICE rig! Welcome to CSC! The original navy top on my '72 Seafari had a zippered opening above the helm so you could stand with the top up, shown in the picture below from a late 70's Bahamas trip. A good canvas shop could probably add one if yours doesn't have it. The Weblon material in that original top is tough stuff and it lasted for years. It doesn't stretch like Sunbrella and it's watertight, although you may have to seal the seams occasionally. I also added a sun top to shade the back half of the boat when anchored. Can't have too much shade in the Bahamas or S. Fla. in the summer!

That anchor bracket is a real handy feature on a Seafari! Because of the limited bow access, I had my anchor chocked on the front deck for years, but with a roller bracket and a good hawse pipe, you can deploy and retrieve it much quicker! (Make sure the hawsepipe is centered over the anchor locker so the rope doesn't pile up on the flared part of the hull, and use about 20' of chain which also helps the anchor set quickly!) There are times, like trying to anchor over a good lobster hole, when getting the anchor down quick is a big deal!

You might want to check the bracket mounting to see if there is a backing plate under it, as it can generate huge vertical loads in the deck if you're anchored in rough seas! I epoxied a couple of layers of 3/16" plywood under the deck beneath the bracket and center cleat when I installed mine. I used a couple of thin layers so they would conform to the crown in the deck. Before installing them I installed some 1/2" plywood backing boards under the original bow cleats in the raised "toe rail" area. The bottom of the 1/2" boards were then flush with the rest of the underside of the deck, so I extended the large thin boards all the way out over those boards under the bow cleats. All holes through the cored part of the deck were drilled oversize, filled with thickened epoxy and then redrilled, to keep water out of the core. West Systems says you need 3 coats of epoxy on the plywood to waterproof it, but I used MAS epoxy because it's thinner. If you thin the first coat with about 10% with lacquer thinner, it'll soak into the wood a lot better. Here's a link to my photobucket album with some pictures of my installation. http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z...chor%20Roller/