1981 V20 Restoration

[Dana A]

Newbie here, Been waiting at the door to get in!
Had my son come home and tell me his friends father had a boat in his back yard that he'll give me. Asked whit it was and he said a 20 ft wellcraft, I told him I would have to take a look at it as I had one a year ago (70's ctr console) that sunk to recover the 150 suzuki 4 stroke on it, that boat and decks transom were a sponge and told them I dont want that boat.
I went and looked at the cuddy my son was offered and decks were solid, transom, questionable. Hull and liner are almost flawless just highly oxidized
Cleaned it out, brought it to the shop and dug deeper and deeper and deeper.
Great winter project for my son and his three pals (all 22 yo) during these trying times, they said were game.

they've been to the shop 5 out of 7 days a week after work doing the work (ok about 2/3 of the work)


Plan is Seacast Stringers and Transom (and every other piece of wood in the hull
Were planning on a 25' transom or option of full transom and bracket
Pics I've seen with brackets they seem to squat with the engine weight further back. would love to hear from someone who has driven both variants
(planning on a 200 yami 2 smoke)

Larger fuel Tank planned, I will say they slapped these boats together.
Fuel tank was foamed in (factory) almost 4 inches off center at an angle where I was able to suck 6 gal of unusable fuel from the tank with the boat level

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xCBOzW9EZ8&feature=youtu.be

[Dana A]

Pics and video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xCBOzW9EZ8&feature=youtu.be (https://studio.youtube.com/video/1xCBOzW9EZ8/edit)

[phatdaddy]

Nice hull, looks like u have a great project ahead. Your labor situation sound ideal for all parties involved.

are you going to recore the deck with ply or use a composite?
keep the pics coming

[XXL]

Pics and video
https://youtu.be/1xCBOzW9EZ8 (https://studio.youtube.com/video/1xCBOzW9EZ8/edit)

Might just be me, but I couldn't get the link to work.

[Dana A]

Try https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xCBOzW9EZ8&feature=youtu.be

[Dana A]

Have not got into the deck yet, The original gelcoat on the decks is in excellent condition with no cracks or soft spots. looks like they sealed the decks fairly well.
Am thinking putting it back in as is leaving us the option of using the hull to build it as a center condole down the road. If I were to do the decks I'd probably go with coosa
focusing on the hull for now.
Boat was trailered most of its life and given to the neighbor who just let it sit at the woods line for who knows how many years
My thought was to use this as a mooring holder and something the boys could use as their beater. The boys got all the wood removed from the hull yesterday and we started to align the transom cutout. original plan was to pour the transom without removing the liner, (the reason for the cut out from the rear)that changed when I saw the rot going into the stringers. most dont realize that the rot in the transom is a fungus and will migrate thru any wood connected to it, not to mention the bugs
Hull has only one coat of bottom paint on it, will be redone in shark white

[phatdaddy]

What s the status of the merc 150? Just wondering, few guys on here still running that vintage motor always looking for parts.

[Dana A]

I was going to use it but the power trim is shot, ram, motors, etc
The rest of the motor looks good, turns over, was fogged before it was put away. Has 1100 orig hours on it. part it out I guess
Had to cut it off the boat was going to bolt the powerhead to my bench and see if it fires up lol I know a lot of guys on the lakes love the old mercs too
Havent got to it yet, sitting on a pallet since I took it off dec 7th lol

[Destroyer]

Looks like you're well on your way to bringing her back to life. :clap: Only comment I will make is about the transom. Most people do not realize that it's curved, not straight across, so they cut away the back glass and leave the interior part of the transom sandwich like you did. (Which is exactly backwards from the way it should be done which is to leave the outside and just cut the inside glass). Damage is done, so no way to change it. Just be careful when building the new transom, try and get it back as close to original as possible.

[Dana A]

Funny you say its backwards, get into 30-40 footers and trying to do it from the inside is backwards. Not a problem at this end on alignment.
Got 4 skill saw blades same as the one used to cut it, tabbed in with 8 blocks.
Dead balls on! will remove, fasten form for building up transom, glass it then reinstall tabbing it back in place between the blocks then removing the blocks and tabbing the rest.
Making some headway as we pulled it from the woods 30 days ago today, into the shop 12/6 and the hull is now wood free

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[XXL]

Link works, thanks

[steplift20]

What year is that motor? It looks like it has the clam shell cowl , if you are going to sell it let me know

[Dana A]

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It’s available. Power trim is junk and mounts were cut to get it of the boat7966

[Dana A]

Figured I'd give a quick update in pics, Transom poured with SeaCast
Very impressed with the SeaCast

https://youtu.be/HPZaBuK5OIw (https://youtu.be/HPZaBuK5OIw)


This is our primary boating activities



https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9gwmc0MwlO55p54ALvpASA/videos





(https://youtu.be/HPZaBuK5OIw)

[SkunkBoat]

nice work.

[nymack66]

Excellent work, you are on your way to a lovely Boat :clap:

[Dana A]

Got started on the stringer pour this week, went well but a messy job. putting continuing on hold due to the cold temps not going to try to keep the shop 80 degrees when its going to be 9 out
added a pvc wire chase, moving the batteries forward of the fuel tank


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[Dana A]

To cold to pour or glass so it been triple check the leveling of the hull, stringer alignments/heights etc
Happy with the transom height, 24 5/8 right where we wanted it to be.
Have to say these kids are rocking it!




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[Dana A]

Got back into the hull over the weekend now that the temps have come out of the teens at night.
How much seacast does it take to do a transom raise to 25" and stringers on a V20 ?
10 5gal pails,
Figured it to be approx 10,000 cubic inches (little under, 9700 ish)
However we came up about a gallon short due to me not informing the mathematician to figure the spine of the hull into the equation.
The block of wood in the stern for the bilge pump was torn out and the area was built up with seacast and glassed in.

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[Dana A]

Fits like a glove ( not OJ’s)

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[Pipe_Dream]

Fits like a glove ( not OJ’s)

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Wow, very good!

[Dana A]

Started playing with the liner, little modification to marry up to the transom
Stringers had 1/8 to 1/2 inch gaps filled with goop before we pulled the liner.
Workmanship in the hull looks like it was started on a Monday and finished Friday afternoon. liner was a different team ! Set our forms on the stringers with the liner in, put in temporary now till the next batch of seacast arrives
encasing the rod compartments in glass too
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[Dana A]

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[nymack66]

:love: One of the best V for 2021 for sure when you are done with this baby. I have to do my stringers one day, they a-ok for now

[Dana A]

A lot going on and not much time to post
Got the stringers done to height after putting the liner in for measurements, back off last night and hull moved into glass bays for capping off the stringers today
Have decided to rework the liner too since were in this deep, pulling all hardware off it, new bulkheads and more.
Restoring original teak.





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[Dana A]

Did a test area of bringing back the original gelcoat. first pass on the gelcoat with 400 in the picture, will most likely go to 800, then 1200 and then to 1500 (or more) if needed. The 400 seems to bring the color back about 80%.
Nice thing is they were not bashful with the gelcoat back in 81, pretty thick




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[Dana A]

A few more from yesterdays progress. I just love the quality of the 80's teak




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[Dana A]

Had her in for a fitting and sizing Sunday
Working the oxidation off on the hull and think paint job on the liner might be in order


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[billfish16]

Looks great!

[Dana A]

Boys are cranking away on her I'm doing the initial sanding above the waterline till I get down to 800 then Ill let them at it. below waterline for now for them.
Had to pull them off the wellcraft to do the bottom and buff the hull on the big boat to get it in, They banged it out in an afternoon.
12:30 am think ill head home now lol getting to be a habit


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Some of our videos for your entertainment
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9gwmc0MwlO55p54ALvpASA

[Pipe_Dream]

Nice!

[Dana A]

Modified the fuel tank size to the maximum we were able to get in thru the factory opening gaining 10 gal now a 70 gal tank.
one addition not on the drawing is a second ground tab by the fill
Be here the end of next week.



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[billfish16]

Boys are cranking away on her I'm doing the initial sanding above the waterline till I get down to 800 then Ill let them at it. below waterline for now for them.
Had to pull them off the wellcraft to do the bottom and buff the hull on the big boat to get it in, They banged it out in an afternoon.
12:30 am think ill head home now lol getting to be a habit


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Some of our videos for your entertainment
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9gwmc0MwlO55p54ALvpASA

What a nice looking boat with a beefy keel. I bet she rides well in the snot.

[Dana A]

Working on bringing back the original gelcoat
400-600-800-1000 then 1500 grit and one quick pass with some compound to find any holidays as I call them
Whatcha think?

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[nymack66]

:clap: man that looks great, I love the color, I went with White during my restoration just because it was my first time with Gel, now shoots I can do any color..Lol nice work keep it up.

[Dana A]

:clap: man that looks great, I love the color, I went with White during my restoration just because it was my first time with Gel, now shoots I can do any color..Lol nice work keep it up.

Lots more work than painting it but this hull was in such nice shape to me it was worth trying to save the gelcoat vs painting
4 on it last two nights sanding the port side. going a little more aggressive on the port side to see what it produces. stay tuned

[nymack66]

Have you ever use this product Aqua Buff? Go with 1000 then 2000 you will be amazed at the results trust me, I did very little sanding if any during my restoration with a cheap buffer from Harbor Freight.

https://www.amazon.com/POLISHING-Compound-Fiberglass-Professional-Professionals/dp/B00N26AMDE/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=aqua+buff&qid=1619548666&sr=8-2

The Best Fiberglass Boat, Metal & Automotive Paint Light Buffing & Polishing Finishing Compound On The Market!

This is results 12 years after the restoration in 2008/09

[Pipe_Dream]

Have you ever use this product Aqua Buff? Go with 1000 then 2000 you will be amazed at the results trust me, I did very little sanding if any during my restoration with a cheap buffer from Harbor Freight.

https://www.amazon.com/POLISHING-Compound-Fiberglass-Professional-Professionals/dp/B00N26AMDE/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=aqua+buff&qid=1619548666&sr=8-2

The Best Fiberglass Boat, Metal & Automotive Paint Light Buffing & Polishing Finishing Compound On The Market!

This is results 12 years after the restoration in 2008/09

That looks great!

[Dana A]

Have you ever use this product Aqua Buff? Go with 1000 then 2000 you will be amazed at the results trust me, I did very little sanding if any during my restoration with a cheap buffer from Harbor Freight.

https://www.amazon.com/POLISHING-Compound-Fiberglass-Professional-Professionals/dp/B00N26AMDE/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=aqua+buff&qid=1619548666&sr=8-2

The Best Fiberglass Boat, Metal & Automotive Paint Light Buffing & Polishing Finishing Compound On The Market!

This is results 12 years after the restoration in 2008/09

Looks great

Were going to 1500 (maybe 2000) then a once over with a heavy duty compound, then Woody's Ultra Gloss fiberglass restoring compound and a coat of Colinites fleetwax and wash it only with Oarpine w/wax.
Good for the season and then some

Have 3 of them on the port side of the hull this evening @ 800 now, hope for the once over with compound by the end of tonight

[billfish16]

Working on bringing back the original gelcoat
400-600-800-1000 then 1500 grit and one quick pass with some compound to find any holidays as I call them
Whatcha think?

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Looks great!

[Dana A]

Pulled from the woods Nov 28th into the shop Dec 7th
Hull is now completely sanded


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[Dana A]

1st coat of bilge paint and our dedicated painter,
Fuel Tank, Foam, Topside primer and paint for the liner should be here tomorrow.
Home stretch now, hoping to get this across the finish line in 6 weeks
June 15 is our goal for launch


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[Pipe_Dream]

:clap:

GO BABY GO!

[Blue_Runner]

Was that hull really yellow all along? I swear that is amazing!

Looking forward to splashdown of you "new" V20!

[Dana A]

Was that hull really yellow all along? I swear that is amazing!

Looking forward to splashdown of you "new" V20!


That is the original gelcoat. I though it was a faded white or beige when we pulled it from the woods

[Dana A]

Decided the hull came back so good we need to paint the liner, windshield pulled.
Gas Tank arrived, aligning for pads and a few other things going on!
And to throw a monkey wrench into todays progress an acquaintance saw what we were up to and said " I have a boat that needs some work, if you want it you can have it for free" 80's 25' Whaler Frontier. went and looked at it.
We now have another project in the works.


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[Dana A]

keeping busy
Tank epoxy painted, foamed in
Transom faired, primed to look for the Holidays
Glad it was the primer as the roller started to come apart with the primer


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[Dana A]

So my concern was moisture in the foamed compartments with it having nowhere to go and would sit in there forever.
Was thinking how to have a channel at the bottom for the weep holes in the bulkheads on the sides.
So we did a test on the two compartments with the foam left from the tank.
Came up with this idea -
Take a piece of potwarp and coat it in wax and run it along the bottom, foam it, let the foam cure then pull it out. Well the foam cured and I couldn't move the rope. Two guys feet on bulkhead giving it everything we had it popped free.
Now have a 1/2 in weep channel at the bottom of the foam.

[billfish16]

So my concern was moisture in the foamed compartments with it having nowhere to go and would sit in there forever.
Was thinking how to have a channel at the bottom for the weep holes in the bulkheads on the sides.
So we did a test on the two compartments with the foam left from the tank.
Came up with this idea -
Take a piece of potwarp and coat it in wax and run it along the bottom, foam it, let the foam cure then pull it out. Well the foam cured and I couldn't move the rope. Two guys feet on bulkhead giving it everything we had it popped free.
Now have a 1/2 in weep channel at the bottom of the foam.

Amazing progress!

[Dana A]

Foamy Friday

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[charlie_the_tuna]

I may have missed this part, but how big is the tank?

[billfish16]

I may have missed this part, but how big is the tank?


#32 Report Post
Old 04-19-2021, 11:17 AM
Dana A's Avatar
Dana A Dana A is offline

Modified the fuel tank size to the maximum we were able to get in thru the factory opening gaining 10 gal now a 70 gal tank.
one addition not on the drawing is a second ground tab by the fill
Be here the end of next week.

[Dana A]

Crazy what a transom repair turns into
After another three week delay due to a movie company filming in the building
Second coat on liner, console,hatches, rod holder inserts last night


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[nymack66]

:clap: That is going to be one fine-looking and solid V when you are done. My V I remove the outside skin and poured it with Arjay, the 'curve or angles" on my transom is still factory, One day I will remove the cap and do restoration like yours, at the same time it is going to go from a Cuddy to CC :bat:

[Dana A]

She's just crying to have her liner put back in


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[SkunkBoat]

Foamy Friday

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I don't see pvc bilge pass thru under the tank?
What about bilge water from anchor locker and fwd center?

Whats your plan?

[Dana A]

Just for you my friend, blends in with the white in the distant pic's

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[Pipe_Dream]

I've been absent from the internets for a while (and what a blessing it's been!) so I just came back and saw your latest pics. Wow, when you are finished she's going to be better than new! :clap:

[SkunkBoat]

Just for you my friend, blends in with the white in the distant pic's

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I feel better!

[Dana A]

Couple nights away from liner going back in

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[nymack66]

:clap: :love: Awesome job, my next project on my V :sun:

[Dana A]

Finally

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[Giorgio]

Beautiful!!!:clap::clap::clap:

[steplift20]

I don't know how some of you guys do it. Taking the whole boat apart and repairing and rebuilding it,that's amazing work . I looked at the first picture when it was buried in the weeds and said to myself, that's a beautiful boat,I love that hull,mine is a 78 and I own her for over 20 years and I still love the hull and look and yours is amazing, I wish I had the knowledge to do what you are doing. You are doing a fantastic/ amazing job , I can't wait to see her when she is done. Great job for a great boat . 2 Thumbs up brother

[Pipe_Dream]

I don't know how some of you guys do it. Taking the whole boat apart and repairing and rebuilding it,that's amazing work . I looked at the first picture when it was buried in the weeds and said to myself, that's a beautiful boat,I love that hull,mine is a 78 and I own her for over 20 years and I still love the hull and look and yours is amazing, I wish I had the knowledge to do what you are doing. You are doing a fantastic/ amazing job , I can't wait to see her when she is done. Great job for a great boat . 2 Thumbs up brother

^^^^ What he said. :clap:

[nymack66]

:clap::clap::clap::clap: Excellent, now enjoy that Boat :love:

[Dana A]

liner capped to the transom and primed, rod box in on port side, pulpit oiled up

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[Giorgio]

Looking GOOOOOOOOD!!:clap:

[Pipe_Dream]

Looking GOOOOOOOOD!!:clap:
Absolutely!

[Dana A]

Final paint stages
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[Dana A]

A little bright work too

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[scook]

Nice work!!

[Pipe_Dream]

Tremendous!

[Dana A]

The in-laws threw a monkey wrench into my labor force by acquiring a new 170 whaler two months ago after hounding me of "when is it going to be done" over and over.
So the boys get out of work now and off in the whaler just about every evening.
Instead of rushing to get it in now we will take our time on the fit and finish over the winter.
Paint work is done for now, new Taco black rub rail is on, Transom is done in white for now as I couldn't quite get the yellow tinted down to match the hull, (got it close but not close enough for me lol will use that yellow to paint the dingy), will start with a white and tint to yellow over the winter to get my match for the yellow transom.
Will post updated pics when the site is fixed

[Pipe_Dream]

:clap:The in-laws threw a monkey wrench into my labor force by acquiring a new 170 whaler two months ago after hounding me of "when is it going to be done" over and over.
So the boys get out of work now and off in the whaler just about every evening.
Instead of rushing to get it in now we will take our time on the fit and finish over the winter.
Paint work is done for now, new Taco black rub rail is on, Transom is done in white for now as I couldn't quite get the yellow tinted down to match the hull, (got it close but not close enough for me lol will use that yellow to paint the dingy), will start with a white and tint to yellow over the winter to get my match for the yellow transom.
Will post updated pics when the site is fixed

Well, for some reason it puts my applause BEFORE your quote instead of after, but anyway thanks for the update. It'll get done and we look forward to seeing more of it.

[Dana A]

Looks like you're well on your way to bringing her back to life. :clap: Only comment I will make is about the transom. Most people do not realize that it's curved, not straight across, so they cut away the back glass and leave the interior part of the transom sandwich like you did. (Which is exactly backwards from the way it should be done which is to leave the outside and just cut the inside glass). Damage is done, so no way to change it. Just be careful when building the new transom, try and get it back as close to original as possible.

I'll go back to the second day of becoming a member of this site and Destroyer's above post not knowing I may be a little bit above average in the DIY arena.
Thank you Destroyer as that post was a big motivator for me to make the transom as perfect as possible.( almost like a "I'll show him" I've been carrying since December - LOL) Don't know how any hours I have into it but probably 3-4 times what I should have. If I were to do it again I would pull the liner and cut from the inside but at the time it was just going to be a transom job with no plan to pull the liner.
When we aligned the cut out panel we built a jig screwed on to the panel on the outside to keep the curvature while glassing the extension to make it a 25" transom.

Quick walk around last night
https://youtu.be/0IBxbw3GrCE

[billfish16]

Wow!!!!!

[scook]

Good grief - that’s some beautiful work. Now begins Destroyer’s career as a motivational speaker:clap:

[Dana A]

Finally went in July 17th, 1 year and 1 month late due to a major medical issue that raised its head last Sept, mis diagnosed as Diverticulitis, changed doc's Jan 1st and was diagnosed Prostate Cancer , stage 4b. Jan/Feb I could hardly walk. Had my last (6th) cycle of chemo July 15th 2 days before launch but battled thru this **** got it done.
I can fix a lot of **** but had to bring in some outside help on this one. Have a great team of doctors, a very aggressive treatment plan ADT/Hormone/Chemo all at once and so far the results are outstanding!
Most of my time since diagnosis was researching treatments and I'm gona fix this **** just like I did the boat!

Enough of that back to the boat
My son now hates the 2021 170 Montauk now that he has his V20. I feel the same way. V20 hull is the ride. I told the family why dont we get rid of the whaler and find a center console V20 and do it up. they looked at me like I had 6 eyes in my head.
I think the kids are on their 3rd tank of gas (70gal tank) Water sking,wake boarding, fishing, cruising.

Video of seatrial

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ukx1FCFn3NU

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[Dana A]

lets try again

[Dana A]

try again

[phatdaddy]

Great job,Dana. Looks like the classic she is

[Giorgio]

Looks great nicely done.

[Pipe_Dream]

Awesome! :clap:

[Blue_Runner]

Damn, man glad you are doing well! The boat looks incredible. Love the nice clean look. You did an amazing job!

[billfish16]

Amazing work!!!!!

[Dana A]

I’ll let you guys know first. Boat is going to up for sale. Haven’t figured a number yet but as it sits now we have right around 15k in materials and parts ( including motor).
New project on its way as of Friday when we were notified we won the bid
Here we go again. Had a little insider info on the new diesel that was put in sept 2020. Less than 100hrs on it and the gear. Nanni dealer pickled the engine and gear. All mechanical and electrical no grinding glass yea.

https://www.cooperss.com/assets/detail?name=marine&id=29430

[steplift20]

You did a fintastic. Job but what I can't understand is after all that beautiful work and the turn out is a great looking classic boat my question is this
How can you sell her? I have a friend that does the same thing. Buys a car or motorcycle in need of repair and when he gets it done,he sells it. I could never do that, you should enjoy that beautiful vessel . Just my opinion
Great job you did on your boat by the way.

[Dana A]

Really don’t want to part with it, not part of the master plan but don’t need 3 boats. Have 3 in the warehouse at the moment with the 4th on the way.
Have. 2021 170 montauk that was hardly used since the wellcraft went in back in july. Told the in-laws we should flip the whaler and keep the wellcraft. Answer was no on parting with the whaler. In law pressure that one will have to go.
Then last night they say “ you shouldn’t sell the wellcraft until you know the new boat is good. I’m like wtf! My original plan before acquiring the fortier was to do a v20 custom ctr console and flip the whaler. That didn’t go over well either.
Nothing but compliments over and over on the v20 over the summer so I guess we’ll wait till spring on marketing it.
First time with a v20 and with all the 19-24ft boats I’ve owned over the years this is by far the best riding 20ft hull I’ve been in. Even the kids hate the whaler ride now

[phatdaddy]

I've had my boat over 30 years now and the most common comment I've heard


"I used to have one of those, best riding boat I ever had, wish I had never got rid of it."