Another newbie member

[svQuest]

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm going to need it. We got this boat pulled out of it's mud hole yesterday and it wasn't until after I posted this message it finally stopped raining enough here to get out and take a good look at the boat.

Looks like I'm looking at a transom rebuild. Cap is about 20% off and any wood I can see is delamed. Plus I'm getting differenent echos when I tap it w/ my special screwdriver....

The wife will kill me for sure now. You see we've also got a Choey Lee 41 cruising sailboat boat that we picked up after it was flooded in Hurricane Ike that's not back together yet. I'm starting to pay for more in storage for boats that I can't use....

Oh well, she wants a powerboat to ski behind and tool around the bay so she'll probably be more interested in this one getting done quicker.

[lumberslinger178]

welcome aboard post up lots of pictures

[Road King Cole]

Welcome to the site. I also sold a sailboat to get a power boat. We thought it would be less work...

From the sounds of it, this boat and motor needs overhauling. I don't know what your experience is, but you may want to look at finding a similar year V20 that doesn't need as much work and use this free one for parts.

I heard a saying, "there's nothing more expensive than a free boat"...

That's just my 2 cents as I wouldn't have the experience, time and back to be able to restore something like that. But if you search this site, you will see that this has been done before and I am sure it would be rewarding...

Good luck!

rkc

[svQuest]

Ha... I certainly know the 'back' issues. As I'm growing older (but not up), it's more effort to do things. Plan early....

As for the sailing, we won't give that up. We actively race about 50x a year (currently winning our Wed night 6 month series). But there are a number of times that we just want to go drop a boat in the water and have a fun day. To do that with a racing sailboat is like saying 'Honey, let's take the NASCAR out for a Sunday drive', it's just too much work.

So to that end I picked up a 1990 Pro Line 20' CC with a 1.4L OMC Sea Drive (let's see how many folks know that one) and restored it. But it's just not big enough or enough HP to do what we want. We'll sell it, use the money and a friend of mine and I will rebuild this one. I've already shown him the site and after reading about the pouring a solid transom, we were both like, 'wow, that makes it easy' as we've rebuild a couple with wood and were planning on doing this one that way already.

I used to own a Canvas Shop, a Sail Loft and a bottom cleaning service (for boats stored in the water), so working on the boat itself isn't a big deal. Plus I'm saving her from the scrap heap.

I'll probably be asking many, many questions of folks as I go and I'll post pics of the project soon. I'll even start with a set of befores and we'll go from there.

As for the engine, I live on the Gulf Coast (near Galveston) and the motors not frozen and turns well by hand with compression being felt. Yeah, it needs a new starter but we almost got her fired up today. I think new plugs and we'll have the engine running (then we'll mothball it for the restoration).

Thanks again, looking forward to getting her back on the water

[250Sportsman]

Wow, I am looking forward to seeing some pictures! I have to do a complete transom rebuild on mine also so...if you could get some pictures of that too that would be awesome. Sounds like you have a wealth of experience so this project will be fun and will turn out beautifully.

[Road King Cole]

svQuest,

Sounds like you know what you are doing and what you are getting yourself into.

Sorry for being a little "apprehensive?" about your plan.

Please keep us updated on your project!

Thanks,

RKC