New to Me - 1972 20' Seafari

[John3325]

Hello all,

Just picked up my first Seacraft, 1972 Seacraft Seafari that I bought off a fellow classicseacraft member (thanks again Alan!). Has a 2000 Yamaha 100 HP Fourstroke and a continental aluminum trailer under it.

Needs a little bit of work but I am pretty excited to get into my first seacraft. From what I was told by previous owner, the boat was converted from an I/O by Bigshrimpin, and then purchased by the previous owner who added a custom aluminum bracket that is on the boat now.

Picked it up today and couldn't wait to get started on getting it ready. I already tried a fiberglass restorer/wax to bring back the original gelcoat. It definitely helped a little but I am going to try a color restoring and rubbing compound to bring it out more. Besides that I made a couple of backing blocks out of 1/2 marine ply for the outrigger mounts to provide some strength.

Other things on the short list I have planned:

Repair crack in back corner of the port gunnel, install a second battery, install new Raymarine A78 MFD unit, and if I have find the time after that refinish all the woodwork.

I tried attaching some pictures, hopefully they work.

Any thoughts, comments please let me know what you guys think!

[FishStretcher]

Nice score! As a F100 owner, I have some advice to save yourself headaches later: Buy a 10 mm wrench. You will need to drain the carb bowls any time the motor sits for more than 2 weeks. Otherwise you will need to pull the carbs to change or clean the inline filters on the back side of the carbs.

I am curious what you have for a prop. I run a 4B Solas amita in 12-3/4 or 13" diameter by 15" pitch

[Alienor]

Try Shockwave for some mold relief in the cabin

[Sceptre20]

Originally Posted by FishStretcher

Nice score! As a F100 owner, I have some advice to save yourself headaches later: Buy a 10 mm wrench. You will need to drain the carb bowls any time the motor sits for more than 2 weeks. Otherwise you will need to pull the carbs to change or clean the inline filters on the back side of the carbs.

I am curious what you have for a prop. I run a 4B Solas amita in 12-3/4 or 13" diameter by 15" pitch

Hello as the previous owner I can speak of the prop, i believe it is a 4 blade 14X17. The boat will turn 5900 rpms with two aboard, sad to see it go but lifes priorities dictate it. Best of luck to John.

[John3325]

Thanks again Alan, like I said before I am pretty excited to get into this one.

I can confirm the prop size later on today when I get back down to the boat.

Thanks for the tip FishStretcher. I actually work down Continental Marine in Quincy, MA as a part-time outboard mechanic (did it through college and still do some work here and there). I primarily work on 2-strokes, haven't gotten into the four strokes as much but that is great advice draining the carbs even if its a few weeks.

[FishStretcher]

I found out about the tiny filters the hard way, so I thought I'd pass it along. They sort of slip inside the carb hose barb up against the engine block. What a pain to get to, but they don't seem to clog if you are religious about draining the bowls. I *DID* get my motor for cheap because of them, as it wouldn't run right until I fixed it.

So far, mine has been well behaved otherwise- no water pump issues as long as you run it on muffs, the valve lash seems to not wear. I did replace the 14 year old plug wires, and that cured a miss. My mechanic friend says there is a not so well documented accelerator pump that jams. I do have a little bog, but I have never set the ignition advance device properly- the one that works off the throttle cam.

Mine runs ok on E10. It likes non ethanol a bit better if it is really cold out.

And I learned my lesson and run good oil. Marine oil or VR1 with the extra zddp. One year, my non marine oil looked awful after some hard running in July in Buzzards Bay.

[cdavisdb]

Nice to see that boat back on the forum pics. You will love it. I sure loved my 20.

Nasty crack. Any idea what caused that? Anything underneath in the liner or hull?

[John3325]

I think the crack formed from the installation of the gas fill. It doesn't travel "down" so to speak, its definitely just the gunnel.

I plan on bracing it up into its correct position with a bottle jack/block, and glassing it back into place from underneath in bulk to add strength to it. I may even add a few permenant braces under the gunnel so in the future people grabbing it and stepping on it don't re-crack it. Then on top I can sand the area down and use west system to fill in the cracks, and refinish so it looks nice and clean again.

Otherside is still strong, its just that rear section on the port side.

[Bushwacker]

Welcome aboard John! You have the most versatile of all SeaCraft's! Have had mine for 40 years and have made all sorts of neat trips in it! I see that it's also got the galley seat, which is a rare option. I have some .PDF files of a couple of cool factory brochures on the Seafari I can send you if you'll PM me with an email address.

[John3325]

Thanks Bushwacker, I am really looking forward to getting into this one.

Added some backing (marine ply) to the outrigger mount today, didn't have much time to get anything else done.

I did take a look at the prop, its a four blade Solas 12.75 X 17 aluminum. If I remember right, I think Sceptre20 told me it does 36 mph at 5900 RPMs WOT. Not too bad for a 100 HP in my opinion.