Fr. Frank's '72 Seafari for sale, reduced to $4895

[Fr. Frank]

'72 Seafari. Potter built, '91/'02 Merc 150, "new" rebuilt 1.64 ratio lower unit in May '07. 15hp Montgomery Wards kicker motor. dual batteries, new fuel tank in October'04, new cabin cushions in '04. New tall lounge/sleeper seats in '07. Comes with in-dash VHF, Matrix fishfinder w/GPS, galvanized tandem axle drive-on trailer.

Engine completely reman'd in 2002 to 190 hp, only about 150 hours use since, but it's a carbureted engine, and gets about 3.2-3.3 mpg average. It's been on just one boat ride since May, but I've started it on the hose just about every week.

Cruises at 32-35 mph, top speed about 48 mph when lightly loaded at 5700 rpms. (*with new lower unit, was 52mph at 6150rpms with old lower unit w/ Bob's nose cone)

No soft spots in the deck. Transom recored in '85, no flex in it. Needs some gelcoat or epoxy paint, and a bunch of minor cosmetics.
Click the thumbnail photo for a slideshow of photos

[Snookerd]

Father Frank, say it aint so..........upgrading??

[NoBones]

Ditto on Danny,
Forgive me Fr. Frank, but this BLOWS !!
You're not going to ClassicArk.com or something
like that are you
See ya, Ken

[Fr. Frank]

You're not going to ClassicArk.com or something like that are you?

No, I don't do wooden boats.

I'm not upgrading, nor am I giving up on SeaCrafts!
My difficulties are financial. I resigned from my last church two months ago to take a sabbatical and finish my current doctoral degree, and unfortunately, the church I left has not paid the monies it owes me to the tune of several thousand dollars. (It was already months behind)

As a priest, I never made much money, and have always lived close to the margin, regardless of my advanced degrees. (My salary was only $32K. I have never focussed on the money. I made more money managing marinas back in the 80's)

So I'm trying desperately to come up with a way of paying my mortgage and feeding my family without incurring any debt. I've also got my house for sale, and a bunch of other stuff. You can see the "for sale - waterfront" sign for my house in the 1st pic of my boat.

So now I'm looking to sell my good running SeaCraft, and find a basket-case Seacraft to replace it. I may go get that other Seafari that was $400 if it's still available.

Pray for me or wish me luck, whichever you're inclined to do.

[Tarpun]

I'm praying and wishing you luck. Very sad to hear. Good price on a nice boat. If I could afford it I'd jump on it myself. I allways wanted a Seafari since I saw my first one. Hang in there.

[peterb]

Father Frank,

You are one of the backbones behind this great web site. You write creative prayers for us all of the time.

I will say a prayer for you tonight.

Hang in there brother.

Peter

[lost2a6]

Fr.Frank, The way I see it is if all of your stuff is paid for and you sell it then all it's going to do is buy you a little time, then you're still going to be in the same boat except no SeaCraft, house etc. Tuff it out and try to keep everything. Get rid of the stuff that you owe money on. It's not going to cost you anything to let your boat sit until more monies starts to come in. Just pretend that you don't have it to begin with.

[Fr. Frank]

lost2a6 said

Get rid of the stuff that you owe money on.

I hear you. Problem is my debts are not saleable, except the house (up for sale), and my truck (not selling my wheels). I still owe on my student loans from my last three degrees. I only got my BA 10 years ago, and since then I've added a masters, and a doctorate. and I am almost finished with my second doctorate. I got off light, too. The average educational debt for going straight from BA to a doctorate is over $120K, I got off for less than half that because of scholarships.

It's my house that's killing me. I built my house at the wrong time, (right after Katrina), and the materials cost was nearly $70K more than bid prices, which were made before Katrina. Add in the 40% increase in labor costs in construction here in our area, and it increased the cost of building my house by a whopping 70%.

I must, however, admit I went overboard in some aspects of design and construction. (I designed my own house.) My house is 2 story, 1830 sq.ft. Cape Ann/Cracker style, and yet is engineer certified to 160 mph wind loading. (except for the roofing shingles, which are only designed for 130 mph.)

My 2nd floor and my roof are all made from a unit-truss design, and have 5/8" go-bolts from the roof down through the foundation on every truss unit, on both ends. My house is wood frame, but the smallest exterior framing is 2x6, and corners and headers are doubled 2x12, except around the breakfast room.

Initial bids and estimates came to $165K. Actual construction came to $262K. Appraised value is $387K as of 10/2006, including $65K for waterfront land. But truthfully, in today's market in this area, I'll be lucky to get out of the house for the quarter mil I owe plus real estate fees. That's taking a $70K loss on the house and property.

Real Estate in Citrus County has taken a bigger hit than almost anywhere else in the state, with the average home resale price dropping 22% from spring of '05 to spring of '07. New home prices have fallen even more, by almost 30%.

So I've got to sell the house, because we can't afford it on just my wife's income, and I may never see the $$ from the church. That's just a fact of life.

SO, in the meantime, I still need to find a way to pay mortgage, lights, insurance, food, truck pymt, etcetera. Thats why I'm selling my Seafari. It might pay the mortgage and utilities for 2 months.

[nestorpr]

Man, that's really sad to hear. When I was laid off the first time, 4 very good friends from Charleston (where I used to live) got together and each sent us $200. That $800 helped tide us over until the new job started and I got my first paycheck. None of my bills were late and I can't thank those friends enough. I don't want to offend you but if you don't mind, I'd like to return my friend's favor and send you a few extra dollars I don't need right now. What goes around comes around I always say! Send me a PM if you agree and God bless.

BTW, where's Citrus County?

[Ryan]

Hang in there Fr Frank, youre not the only one feeling the pinch lately. I'm sure were all feeling the effects here in SLOW sunny fl, hopefully we will all pull through this slow time unscathed. Whatever happens please dont you forget that many of us here appreciate your contributions to csc