"New" 20 with a bracket

zach · #1 12-10-2008, 08:16 PM

Well, after almost exactly one year, the little boat has been completed. This site has been a tremendous help for many of the decisions that had to be made. First off, I did none of the work, and all praise for the quality of work should be directed to Wildfire Marine in Stuart. The hull is a 1972 and I’ve owned it for about 3 years. After a trip to the keys in May of 07 and seeing a plethora of new spider cracks all over the deck and casting platform, I decided it was time to get the boat rebuilt. The deck/transom/cap was rotten (typical old Seacraft) and it was in need of a repower so I decided to take the plunge. I’m a huge fan of the 20 Seacraft and think its about the perfect hull for the south florida area, so instead of buying a new one, I figured I’d have my old one fit to my tastes.

We raised the deck and enclosed the transom. We installed a floatation bracket from Armstrong and added 12x12 lencos. We added a livewell in front of the console and one in the transom. We also reinforced the forward livewell in order to have it double as tank storage. The old 40 gallon fuel tank was replaced with a new 70 gallon (pushed as far forward as possible), mainly for those summer runs to the islands. Dual batteries and oil tank were placed under the console to counteract the bracket.

Rotten Balsa

Raising the stringers

Enclosing Transom

New deck (and transom livewell). The new deck was cured upside down with weights on top to make it curved, thus forcing water to filter to the sides.

Transom is filled in and hatches are built.

Console takes shape. The previous owner "restored" the boat before I bought it (obviously he did a horrible job) but the one nice part was he put in a new console. The console was from the factory and is the console they used on the 20's from 2000-present. I'm not 100% sure it is the same console used on today’s Seacraft 20, but its from the early 2000 era. To add the livewell and retain the lines of the console, Mike cut out the front and extended it.

Bracket and engine installed

Water line with nothing in the boat, marked by the bottom of the blue tape.

If you look closely, you can see the ball scupper above the water.

Dive rack in front of console. Also, forward console access to all wiring.

Final product

zach · #2 12-10-2008, 08:25 PM

Also, while I'm hesitant to post "official" numbers, I will say that I saw 52 mph while only spinning 5350. That was with a Mirage Plus 21p. The motor should spin 6000. We will be raising it a hole or two and experimenting with different props. I'll let you know final numbers when we get them.

CaptLloyd · #3 12-10-2008, 08:35 PM

Beautiful boat Zach!!

Congrats and Enjoy!!!

Oh, and hold on to your hat!

Lloyd

Fr. Frank · #4 12-10-2008, 10:20 PM

Absolutely beautiful!

Old'sCool · #5 12-10-2008, 10:59 PM

Very nice!!

Billybob · #6 12-11-2008, 10:07 AM

Thats beautiful Zach.
You're gonna have a lot of fun with that.
I gotta get me a 20'

Mark · #7 12-11-2008, 04:56 PM

Pretty boat, -Mike does good work.

Blue197320 · #8 12-11-2008, 08:14 PM

nice lookin restore! what color is that? i love the way it looks!

zach · #9 12-11-2008, 10:39 PM

I appreciate all the kind comments and want to again thank everyone who lent their wisdom throughout this process.

Lloyd, the bracket is great, totally changes the boat. Thanks for your help. Not going to lie, I was very nervous about the water line when putting the boat in the drink for the first time with the bracket. I was even more nervous about the boat porpoising when running. Thankfully, it is still self bailing and I experienced no porpoising in the 4 hours that I ran it (with no tabs). A hint of tabs are needed offshore, but when flat I can raise them with no ill effects.

Mark, if you are the same Mark with that pretty 20 in the photo section, then through you is how I found Mike. Beautiful boat, by the way.

Blue, color is ice blue. Boot stripe is a royal blue. Initially, I didn't want a boot stripe, but after looking at the hull for a month without it we decided to add one and I think it came out great.

Blue197320 · #10 12-11-2008, 11:01 PM

the more i look at it the more i see that it has things that i want to do to mine. do you have any other pics of the foredeck now that the gunnels are open? i prefer boats like that and thats exactly what i want to do to mine with the gunnels and keep the front that way. also no bracket either. before and after and maybe during if you have them would be great!!! not no big deal but if you do, then THANKS!