My 1975 SeaCraft 25' Seafari rebuild thread

[flyingfrizzle]

Well, after reading all the positive attributes about the 25's I decided I would like to add one to my collection. I was wanting something I could take the family out on and do some overnighting and camping on and she as plenty of room for it. Also with the 25.5 degree deadrise she will not be a slough in the ruff water either. I plan on doing some offshore fishing and trolling in her when not being used for family time. It has been said that the 25' hulls are a "drivers boat" so it sounds like she will be fun to captain once I get used to the way it handles. Thanks to a member on the CSC board for a great deal on the purchase of this project. She has now found her way back home to NC. Far as I know from the history of the boat, she was here in Morehead city, NC back some time ago then went to Alabama. She last ran and was use in Alabama then she was sold to an gentleman in Massachusetts as a project boat. She sat in MA for some time and then she was sold to me and came all the way back to Newbern, NC about an hour from where it sat at a decade ago. She is in fair shape over all but in need of a restore. The transom is rotten and the hull bottom has some minor blisters but nothing that cant be fixed. I will start by replacing the transom and cleaning up the bottom of the hull for paint. After a lot of research and deliberation I have decided to hang an outboard(s) on a bracket to the hull. I will try to move weight forward and get the balance back best I can but with this model liking weight forward so much I will most likely mount a ballast tank and add enough anchor chain in the front to get the ride to a quality level. Im not planning on doing a full restoration on it yet due to the family wants to camp out on it before this year is over and I also want to get started on the full restoration on the Race boat soon as well. I will get the Seafari useable then once the race boat is done next year I will do a full teardown on the 25'. Most likely I will get the transom done, fix the bottom blisters, barrier coat the hull, and then will spray a color on the bottom/sides of the hull. All of the insides of the hull, flooring boxes, cabin repairs plus the rest of the hull will have to wait for a full restore later after the family has some fun on it first!

A few pictures:

This is in MA while loading it for the trip home:



Sitting at a gas station on the trip home:

[flyingfrizzle]

I got stated on the 25' by getting it off the trailer and on blocks in the yard. I got the transom skin cut off of the core in one full piece so that I can use it for a pattern once I get ready to cut out the new coring that will be going back in it. The wood was so rotted the inner skin came right off of the wood core and was easily removed once cut from around the rear of the hull. The ply wood is almost gone. There is a little left that is intact but not much. This will make it real easy to replace. I will finish removing all the old core then clean up the remaining wood from the outer skin.

Pictures of the transom before it was cut:



Picture looking down between the two pieces of ply wood:





The transom with the inner skin removed:



The inner skin out of the boat:

[kmoose]

And so it begins.... I am very excited for you and am looking forward to see it evolve.

[gofastsandman]

You are a sick Redneck of the highest order. I think I saw a Furry Hat launch into orbit just North of home here. Yep, second stage premature ejection.

I think Mayor McCheese just melted.

Or maybe someone dropped a tab in my beer.

Well done Frizzz...

With a wicked hahhhd shot to the green monstah.

Slacker Air is almost alive...

Mmm,
Bugzzz

[Bushwacker]

Good to see another Seafari 25 on the way to becoming operational!

This is a situation where using Coosa in the transom would make a lot of sense to help with the CG issue. If it was a single I/O, it might have made sense to keep it an I/O, but with twin I/O's, I can see why you'd want to go with a bracketed outboard! I'd try to minimize bracket setback however!

[seafari25]

Hey FF,

Great to see another 25 being brought back to life!

I can attest to the fact that she is a great camping boat as that is what I primarily use our 25 for (although I haven't used her in about 4 years). Your family will love it!

If you're planning on a full camper top, I would suggest adding a screen on the rear curtain as well as a screen to the cabin hatch. This will allow a nice breeze through when anchored into the wind, while keeping those skeeters out at night. We used Velcro to attach the screen to the perimeter of the hatch. Cheap and works great.

Looking forward to performance with the bracket and outboard.

Good luck with the restore.
Brandon

[DonV]

Looooking good Frizz!!

[cdavisdb]

Nice boat, Frizz. You are going to love it, fabulous camping boat. Two can sleep in the cabin and the deck accommodates one in the center or two in a barely queen size double side to side behind the galley. With outboards you might have room for more. Very comfortable with thermorest mattresses. I got back yesterday from a month aboard mine, slept on the deck and loved it.

Think hard about the outboard thing. The boat has a considerable roll that will be made worse by outboards.

When you get around to canvas, look at my initial thread. Lots of pics of my canvas. The way its designed, you can mix and match panels to produce different shade patterns. Very useful when its hot.

I'm starting to lose count. Isn't that 7 25s on CSC? We gotta have a regatta.

[Terry England]

Originally Posted by cdavisdb

Nice boat, Frizz.

Think hard about the outboard thing. The boat has a considerable roll that will be made worse by outboards

I'm starting to lose count. Isn't that 7 25s on CSC? We gotta have a regatta.

Frizz, Go Cautiously. Conner's right. I had a good friend in Clearwater who pulled a couple of pushrod 6 cylinder Volvos out of a 25 Safari and put a bracket on it with two 200 Mercurys. The thing would go along and just roll over on one side because someone walked around, then trim, trim, trim, nothing - then it would roll over on the other side. Weird! It was very difficult to keep it "upright".
I think the 25's like "Iron in their belly". They'd be happier with a Cat 3208 amidships with a surface drive, I think. If you stay with the outboard plan, see if you can find some K-Planes. That might give you some stability, underway.

Conner, we need a more complete report on the Bahamas than where you slept, for Gosh sakes! I'm glad you were not with Lewis and Clark or you'd come back with a report that said "Lot's of dirt west of the Mississippi". WTH (heck)

[cdavisdb]

Have patience, my son. It'll take a few days, I'm exhausted.