I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by...
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied...
John Masefield

I needed a boat. It doesn't have to be a tall ship, but I did need to answer the call of the running tide. I wanted to fish, I wanted to waterski, I wanted to explore that portion of our planet covered with water...

As in many of the things I do, I wanted an all-purpose boat. I could afford only one, so it had to do everything I needed. Also, as in many of the things I do, I was willing to invest time and labor instead of cash. I'm a real DIY sort of person. If I can build it, restore it, or repair it and save some money I will gladly invest the effort.

Remember, I'm not an expert boat builder or restorer. I'm not recommending any course of action. I'm just reporting my experiences for your amusement and/or information.

This wasn't a sponaneous decision. It has been underway for 30 years. When I was 15, I ordered the boat-building catalogs from Glen-L and Clark and memorized them both. I've been thinking about (planning) building a boat ever since. The time was never right (there wasn't money, there wasn't space, etc.).

In the past few months I decided that the time had to be right. I seriously investigated building my own boat. I really wanted a power boat about 24' long. I wanted to be able to go offshore in the Gulf to fish for snapper and other fish. I needed a boat that I could trailer. I wanted to be able to pull water skiers, I wanted to be able to spend a weekend or a couple of days on the boat...

When I seriously considered building a boat that would fit my requirements I realized that it would cost $3-4K just to build the hull and it would take several months. The project would be satisfying, but it might not be cost or time effective.

I discovered that there are lots of used (sometimes abused) boats for sale for very low prices. If I could buy a fiberglass boat with the hull in decent shape I might save a lot of time and money. Since my comparison was against building the hull myself (which would be expensive and time-consuming), I was really looking at "project" boats. I expected to replace all the wiring. I expected to repower the boat. I expected to re-do the entire interior. All I really needed was a good, solid hull...

I started searching the classifieds. I looked at every boat listed for sale on the internet for four months (literally, I searched every web page that includes classified ads for boats for sale). I spent a lot of time on Ebay. Many of the ads on Ebay have pictures and are more satisfying than some other web pages listing boats for sale. Please don't buy a boat on Ebay without serious consideration. I bought a boat knowing (assuming) that it was nothing but a rebuildable hull. The seller I dealt with was completely honest about the condition of the boat, but an unscrupulous seller could easily take advantage.

I finally found the boat I wanted, at a price I was willing to pay, and the adventure began....

The boat I found is a 23' 1972 Uniflite Open Sport Fisherman model. Although Uniflite is no longer in business, it is a company with a proud history. At one time the largest manufacturer of fiberglass boats in the U.S., a major fire and the economy of the 1980's resulted in the end of this company. While they were in business Uniflite enjoyed a reputation for excellence in the quality of construction and seaworthy-ness of their designs.

In fact, there is still substantial interest in Uniflite boats. There is a useful web page at UnifliteWorld. A Uniflite owner in California provides some useful comments about the boats. The reasons for the good reputation of the company (and their boats) are made clear in this article from Pacific Yachting. Parts are still available and there are companies that specialize in restoration.

One company that has lots of experience with Uniflite boats is Padden Creek Marine. They are located in Bellingham, WA where Uniflites were originally built. I have not done any business with them, but I spoke to them on the phone. Even though I'm not a customer, they were very gracious and willing to spend a lot of time discussing repowering classic Uniflites. I really appreciate their help.

This level of interest in boats from a company that's been out of business for 20 years is a real testament to the quality of the boats.

On Christmas Eve I was checking the new listings on Ebay and there it was. This boat had been listed several weeks before (in fact I had bid on it) but it didn't sell and had been relisted. It was 1200 miles away, but the price was right, it was the right boat, and I had enough time off from work to go get it. So I bought it.

Then I was faced with the reality of driving 2400 miles to go get an old boat on a trailer of unknown condition. It's an adventure right? I'm a self-sufficient DIY guy. I can do this can't I? It turned out to be all the adventure I wanted. The drive up was easy. Picking up the boat and making the transaction was easy. Getting the boat home was exciting. The trailer was in pretty sad shape. I had taken lights with me (duct taped them to the trailer) so I had lights on the trailer. I went directly to a tire store and had new tires put on the trailer. The brakes were not working or easily repairable, so I decided to just be careful (the boat weighs ~4000 pounds, I was really hoping that other drivers wouldn't do anything stupid right in front of me because it would take some time to get the whole rig shut down).

Not far into the return trip I had to pull off the highway and find a welder to repair/reinforce the trailer. (If you need any welding done in/around Lebanon, TN look up Fritz Wilke at Bavarian Welding. He's a nice guy and really helped me out.)

Despite everything I got the boat, truck, and myself home intact.

With the boat in the driveway I blocked up the tongue of the trailer so that the boat was level and rainwater could drain out (I picked up a little rainwater on the trip home). I also put blocks under the stern of the boat so that the boat isn't really sitting on the trailer. That makes it more stable and hopefully more comfortable to work on.

I did a little light clean up (it still needs a serious scrubbing) and it was time for an honest and thorough appraisal of the condition of the boat. This is a big project and needs a real plan. I haven't started work on it yet, but I've got some idea of what needs to be done...

I've never liked or trusted outdrives. They are expensive, expensive to maintain, and don't seem to be as reliable as direct inboard systems. I know they are popular and they handle more easily, but I don't like them. Think about it...when was the last time you heard of someone who needed to have their boat towed because their direct inboard transmission failed? To maintain the engine location (and balance of the boat) I'm planning a stern-mounted engine with a V-drive.

Anyone need an old OMC outdrive? It's complete.

Besides refinishing the hull, and repowering, there will be a lot of work rebuilding the interior of the boat. The interior of this boat is huge for a 23' boat. I'm 5'10" and standing on the sole at the bulkhead separating the cuddy cabin the foredeck is chest high and the top of the windshield is above my head. The forward part of the open cockpit is very deep and huge. There's a lot of potential for this space. I'm seriously considering building a cabin to enclose this part of the cockpit and putting a flying bridge on top. I've always wanted a flybridge cruiser. Besides, I need space for a stand-up head (you want to encourage female crew members and passengers - and I want to be comfortable on extended cruises).

Obviously the bulkhead needs to be replaced.

I do like the original control console. I'll try to incorporate it into any modifications I make.

The interior of the cuddy cabin needs a lot of work. In this boat the cuddy was obviously just a space for the head and some storage. Maybe you could get in there if the weather was really bad. I need a bunk that someone could actually sleep in (I could sleep in there if I had to, but I don't want to). I'm going to pull this old marine head and convert this to a nice berth. I'll finish the interior and put a nice padded bunk in there.

The head doesn't have a holding tank anyway. I guess that in 1972 when you built a boat intended for saltwater use you didn't worry about regulations against overboard discharge. Now you have to worry.

You can also see that the edge of the sole has separated from the hull along the port side. This needs to be reglassed. I also want to build a real chain locker with a hatch in the foredeck.

This boat has to be a serious fishing boat too. One of the really attractive features of this boat is this huge aft cockpit. The picture doesn't do it justice, but that cockpit is almost 10' long and 8' wide. Even with this raised area of the deck the rail is still tall enough to keep people from falling over (the gunnel is several inches above my knee). Whatever changes I make to the forward areas, I want to maintain this big open cockpit. There's also a lot of space under this deck. I'm thinking that there's space to install some storage lockers and maybe a live well under that deck.

I can just see Will (my son) and I pulling up red snapper from an oil rig in the gulf...

30 January 2006

I haven't had time to start any serious work on the boat (lots of planning, no real work), but I did get a chance to go out and scrub the interior thoroughly. My crew came out and helped with the clean-up. It was amazing how much dirt (I mean really dirt, like out of your garden) we got out of the boat. It looks a lot better now and I can't wait to get started on the reconstruction.

New Engines!!!

I told you I wanted to repower the boat. I bought this pair of old Mercruiser engines on Ebay (might be the Ebay deal of the century). Yes they were 900 miles away and I had to go pick them up right then (1800 miles is really too far to drive in one weekend, especially if you have a wheel bearing go out in the middle of the trip). But this was what I really wanted. I had given up on having twin engines because of the additional expense. Then I found the auction for this pair of counter rotating engines. These are Mercruiser 215's (based on the Ford 302 block). They were originally supplied as inboard engines (what I wanted) and came complete with the Velvet Drive transmissions.

I can hear some of you saying "He's crazy! Those will never fit! That's too much horsepower for that boat!" I can hear others saying "Cool, twin V-8's! 430HP!" My son Will (part of the cleaning crew) says it's great...two engines so it will go twice as fast. I'm quite certain that the "more power" gene is on the Y chromosome.

Yes, this is plenty of engine for this boat. I've done some rough measurements and I think these engines will fit. I'm going to install them as direct inboards (no V-drives). Since the twin engines will use smaller props than a single large engine the engines don't have to sit as far forward. The 302's are lighter than Chevy or Dodge engines of similar horsepower. The engines will sit in about the location where the fuel tanks are now and the new tanks will go into the stern where the current engine is. It will be a little more weight than the boat currently carries, but I think it will work

This page was started on 2 January 2006. The restoration of this boat will clearly take several months (at least). I'll try to update the page(s) as the project progresses. Please check back.

Cheers,

J. Kelly McCoy

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