1976 Seacraft Restoration
My friend Joe told me about his friend who had a boat sitting in his barn for the past 20 years and was looking to sell it for a discounted price. I immediately pounced on that idea and went over to the barn the next day. I went with my father; We looked at the boat which was aesthetically in very rough condition but had a solid base to work from. This was the first time I physically undertook a boat project. The fiberglass was chipped; The boat had mold, rat nests, bee hives, rotten wood, rusted wires, stress fractures, corroded fuel tank, and a broken engine. To the average person, this boat was beyond repair but I saw the value in it because it was one of the most reputable boat manufactures in the 1970s and still has a following today that is a small but very strong community.
My father and I were up to the challenge and began the project by towing the boat to our house where I vacuumed out all the debris that had been accumulating for the past 20 years. After that, I began power washing the boat, getting all the mold and neglect off the boat. I began to notice that all the parts and pieces were beyond repair and had to be replaced which then led me to strip down the boat to its base. I was able to do this with a screwdriver and crowbar by carefully removing each of the pieces.
Once it was at its base I noticed I would repair the boat and do the best job I possibly could and began grinding out and filling in all these cracks and chips. I opened up the fuel tank to make sure it was in good condition but once I unscrewed the hatch I was disappointed in the fact that the whole tank was rusted out and had to be replaced. Although, frustrating this surprise was not discouraging because we were determined to finish the goal of getting the boat back in operation on the water. Then I did another round of cleanup and sanded the entire boat down to the bare fiberglass to later build upon. I wanted to raise the transom from 20 to 25 inches in order to accommodate a different engine and when I opened up the transom I found rotted wood and that was just another set back that I had to endure but we were so focused this was just another part of the boat we were able to improve.
It was black friday at this point and I took this opportunity to purchase all the electronics I would need to install in the boat. Then it was on to finish work and prepping for the paint job (a lot of sanding). We sprayed the boat with a white primer, but the we ran out so we turned to a grey primer we had from another project then it was time for the paint. We bought light blue but with the grey primer it came out a different but even more unique color than first anticipated. We then tapped off the outside to paint the inside white and fater that we waited 24 hours to let the paint dry. We then began the process of taping all the edges to prepare for the final coat of nonskid on the deck. This tedious process took us 3 days. Now that everything was painted it was time for assembly we started with the new fuel tank that our friend had made for us. We made sure that all the correct hoses were put together properly and installed a grounding fire to prevent sparks. Then we drilled in the console into the boat moving it up 6 inches in order to distribute the weight of the boat better. After the console it was onto the hardware that only took about 2 days of work.
Then we dropped the boat off at the engine dealership to get an engine but with the covid back up it the engine was delayed for 3 months. We ordered it in November and did not receive it until July. In between this time a good friend of mine wired the entire boat and installed all the electronics and used a CNC machine to make a dashboard. I learned a lot and worked on most of the projects, but also knew when to outsource some projects to experts. Overall this was a great experience for my father and I and we can not wait to start our next one.
