The boat thread

It seems we have quite a few boat people on the boards. I've seen Curtis' thread where he rehabbed a boat, and the jet boat Toyman01 put together is fairly well known. I'm not sure that we need a specific forum for boats, but maybe having a thread to collect boat musings might be popular, so here it is.

Anyhow, what kind of boats are others playing around with? Please feel free to embed a link to a larger thread; it may help to keep track of all of the different water projects people have going on. I'll go first.


I currently have a 2000 Key West DC 20' with a Honda 130 on it. I've put in some work on the boat, but it needs some more- it's 21 years old, after all. I've been thinking about downsizing/laterally upgrading to a slightly smaller boat (around 16-18'), but I keep talking myself out of it. Most notably because I have to sell this boat to get another, and the way the market is right now, that's not a guarantee.

I'm thinking I should at least get it presentable and fix the few cosmetic issues it has. I may spin off a thread on the boat.

I don't have a picture of it handy, but it looks almost exactly like this:


 

I'm one coat of clear on top of this and steering hardware away from being ready for spring on my boat project.

Can it tow a skier ? no!

Can it run for more than 15 minutes? No!

Can you bring a friend ? No!

Can you turn right ? No! 
Will it be immensely fun anyway? Heck yeah! 
 

Build thread for those interested.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/the-least-practical-boat-you-can-buy/178555/page3/

I have a 1996 Key West 1720DC with a Yamaha 85. It has been a good boat over the years but it's not my favorite. I'm not a fan of outboards so my son and father use it a lot more than I do. I don't have any good pictures of it that I can find. This is just before hitting the Dragon on the way home from Tennessee several years ago.

I bought this guy last fall. It's a 1985 Shamrock 20' Cuddy. Build Thread Here. https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/toyman-is-bringing-the-irish-yet-another-boat-thre/174304/page1/ It will be moving to the front of the project list this week. Hope to be installing the new engine in a couple of weeks. It's getting a reman Ford 302. I'm in the process of converting it to a close cooling system so I don't have to run saltwater through the brand new block. I've never owned a straight inboard before so it will be a learning experience. 

And most of you are familiar with the Jet Boat. The build thread for it is here: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/jet-boat-something-different-cheap-and-fun/90477/page1/

In reply to 1SlowVW :

We are going to need some video of that guy in action. 

In reply to Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) :

Shouldn't be a problem. Plan is to test late may. The river is currently turning from a liquid to a solid.

Might as well put this here.  I am currently boatless. 

In reply to Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón) :

28' Sea Ray I've owned since new. (42 years) The thing I love about it is all the teak woodwork inside. Teak isn't as readily available anymore and the new versions of that while costing well in excess of $100,000 more only have a few token pieces of teak.  
  Plus how versatile  it is.It will do 40 mph ( clean bottom,  fresh prop)  plus I've had 23 people on it watching fireworks.  I taught both of my daughters to water ski behind it. 95% of the time it is slow cruising just above idle.  
Lake Minnetonka is very big with a lot of interesting places to go to.  Fine restaurants and diverse lake shore.  A walk across my front lawn. Remove the canvas, untie the ropes. I'm cruising.  
 My other boat is a little 16' foot pontoon we bought  for my wife a few years ago. 

1973 Chaparral 15 with the original 85HP Evinrude. This is actually the first hull form that Chaparral ever sold, starting in '65.  I bought it from the original owner about 3 years ago and have done a lot of work on it - complete rewire, almost complete hull buff out, replaced the stern side logos, remade the front seats, and added SeaDek padding to a lot of it. Of course, these photos are all before that work, LOL. 

She's a great little boat. Transom is solid and dry. Floor was "replaced" by the PO who was a horrible mechanic. He dropped a sheet of carpeted 3/4 ply on the inside but I suspect he never cut out the original soft floor. I've never had the plywood up, but I suspect the old floor and probably some stringers need replaced. It works fine as is though, and I store it inside out of the rain, so it should be fine for as long as I want to run it. 

Oh, here's one with the new front seats, on our friend's dock just off the ICW at Creighton Narrows on the GA coast:

EDIT: I just realized the first and last shot are taken standing in exactly the same spot 2 years apart. First one is at low tide, second one is at high tide, LOL. The sailboat in the background of the first has since moved on.

Here's Boaty McBoatface the day I bought her. She is your typical late-70's, $500, side-of-the-road, ran when parked boat. I decided that I wanted something small that I could take the family out on the water in, and a COVID winter project. I saw some newer $3,500 boats out there, but I assume they all need a floor or $1K in parts, making them $4500 - $5K boats.My goal is to gut this thing and do all the work myself and end up with a solid boat for around $3,500 total.  

So far so good, hoping to have her out no later than Memorial Day Weekend. Build Thread

The Honda 130 on my Key West seems underpowered. It'll move the boat once it's on a plane, but getting on a plane takes forever. The Engines and hulls were in a transition phase around that time because "heavier for the same HP" 4 stroke engines were starting to get more popular, but the hulls were still designed for 2 stroke engines. 

So, it isn't so much that my boat isn't doing what we need it to do, it's more that it could do it better with less effort. I've seen some 2006 18' Sea Hunt Escape dual consoles that seem to be exactly what I'm looking for, but it seems a lot of other people like then because they're gone within days.

 

Seems like that was a rough era for design vs power. I looked at a couple Whaler DCs that bascially had the same issue. And trying to repower anything that was originally 2 stroke is a nightmare. If my 85 dies and I have to go 4-stroke I'll be looking at 60s or maybe 70 that weigh the same. I know HP ratings changed from crank to prop and all that, but still...

What's the weight / passenger ratig on your KW20? Seems like when I looked at one it was lower than it seemed like it should be...

I'd like something a little bigger because every lake here is crawling with wake boats and looks like a washing mashine on Saturdays.  I'd like a big enough boat to hang out with another couple on the lake all day without feeling cramped too.  I really want a late model tritoon about 22' long with a 200HP but prices in the last year have gone from stupid to no-way-in-hell.  Honestly, the 10-15 year old boats are selling for what the new ones were at the end of 2018.  I don't mind buying used, but not at the prices going today. 

This is our pile. Sea-king from the early 60's I think, haven't been able to pin it down. Motor is a 75hp Johnson from 1956 if I remember right, with that fancy electric start. Belonged to my wife's parents and then given to us. Completely reglassed/ new interior in the early 80's, taken to the lake once a year. Her brother took it to college, where I met her. We used it quite a bit, stranded us too many times to count. Fun fact, it has a small leak when stopped, so we drain it when up on plane by pulling the plug. Not easy to do when it won't run. The steering wheel has come off at speed also, that was interesting.

Hasn't been in the water since 2004, probably unregisterable now (no hull placard and bill-of-sale is two owners out of date) interior is now rotted after the cover died. It was a lot of fun while it lasted. We are looking for a newish boat for this summer.

In reply to Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón) :

My brother has a Whaler of that era with the Honda 130. It has the same problem. 

ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) said:

What's the weight / passenger ratig on your KW20? Seems like when I looked at one it was lower than it seemed like it should be...

 

6 people / 900 pounds
1500 fuel/engine/gear

Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón) said:

ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) said:

What's the weight / passenger ratig on your KW20? Seems like when I looked at one it was lower than it seemed like it should be...

 

6 people / 900 pounds
1500 fuel/engine/gear

right, I think my 15 is rated for 1200lbs total. It just seemed like there should be a larger delta. Of course, Chaparral was started with smuggling money, maybe there's a reason for the high rating....

ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) said:

Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón) said:

ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) said:

What's the weight / passenger ratig on your KW20? Seems like when I looked at one it was lower than it seemed like it should be...

 

6 people / 900 pounds
1500 fuel/engine/gear

right, I think my 15 is rated for 1200lbs total. It just seemed like there should be a larger delta. Of course, Chaparral was started with smuggling money, maybe there's a reason for the high rating....

The smaller than you'd think delta in the cargo between the newer 18s and my older 20 is one of the reasons I'm looking at changing boats.

ok, I will play.

My Montgomery 17

My all wood Gp14 from 1964.

And my almost finished skin on Frame Kayak.  All it needs is the wood oiled and screwed into place around the cockpit and the rubrails.

And now to finish my CLC Expedition Wherry.

Here’s part of our fleet, picture from last summer.   On the left, a 1988 22 foot Cruisers Inc cuddy with a 260 Hp Mercruiser that we bought when it was 10 years old.  With a true deep V hull, it’s the all weather boat we use to get to our family property on an island in a large lake.  On the right is a 17 foot classic Boston Whaler Montauk from 1989.  We’ve had it since 2007 and repowered it with the 90 Hp Evinrude in 2012.  It’s a hoot!

In reply to mad_machine (Forum Supporter) :

I love the sounds of a wooden hulled sail boat. It screams elegance in the most refined tones.  

In reply to 11GTCS :

That whaler with a 90 must scoot.

I saw this thing on Marketplace. It's a 16' Wahoo. Luckily it's a few hours away and too much money, because this would make a great platform for a skinny water fishing skiff. If it had popped up when I still had the project jet ski, I'd have made a jet boat out of it for SURE.

 

Here's mine:

Here's a thread about the mast coming off the day before this photo was taken. 

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/dads-aging-and-still-being-a-dad-nc-hobie-sailboat/142495/page2/

The epilogue is the sail blew out the day after this picture was taken.  My wife and I with our three kids sailed around the lake last summer, but for some reason no one seems jazzed about launching from the beach anymore.

In reply to 1SlowVW :

It absolutely does!  43 on GPS with just myself, the ETEC is a direct injected 2 stroke torque monster so it gets there quick too.  Awesome hole shot and it pulls waterskiers really well.  These older hulls perform best with a lightweight engine,  I also have it mounted way up on the transom with a stainless performance propeller designed to run high.    The advantages of owning a classic Whaler are a wealth of online resources of people who know exactly how to set them up, I just followed their lead.   

$500 '78 Sleekcraft Aristocrat

Now with new interior.

In reply to Apis Mellifera :

I'd love to go for a ride on a Hobie, some day I'll have one.

Our family is lucky enough to have lakefront property on Lake Huron (Point Clark, ON) but the beach in front of our cottage is not suitable to launch and store a rigged H14/16 for the summer on our property. I picked up a 50 year old 15' Albacore last year though to learn the lines on and am looking forward to getting back in the water with it. I'm a bit jealous though sailing along the beach and seeing some of the neighbors cats sitting there ready go, I'll have to try to poke one of them and see if they need some crew. Hopefully I can get a good picture of the boat rigged and sailing this year (once I replace the OLD shrouds).