BarryCF
Active Member
Well, finally thought to look in the junk folder and found my password reset email
I do not recall the last time I commented here, but it's been years. Still have the same boat, 29 years now. 1983 Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish. I bought the boat in 1993 and we used it on the lake for about 15 years. Then the gimble ring broke and being cheap I waited to do the work myself. At some point I decided paying a small fortune to keep an unused boat in dry storage made no sense, but I couldn't sell her. So, I bought a trailer and found a place to store her outside at a reasonable rate. At that time I lived in a neighborhood on the typical half acre lot with restrictions. At some point I stopped checking on the boat, the cover rotted away, and she got real dirty And equipped with a hornets nest under the engine cover.
New owners of the storage place raised the rates to a level I was not willing to pay now that I have an 8 acre place, so I brought her home and have started the restoration process. After getting a pressure wash and hornet removal she looks OK. The sole is weak in a couple spots so I was afraid the stringers and transom might be rotted. However, so far it looks as though it is only the plywood in the sole, probably from the lack of any sealing where the seats bolt in and 40 years later...
I took off the swim platform today and pulled the outdrive in preparation for pulling the motor. I plan to go back with a bracket and a 300hp outboard. That free's up 3 more feet of space as I have also removed the old fishbox just in front of the transom. As long as I don't find really bad rot. All the screws I took out of the transom were clean and when I put them back in to fill the hole they torque down nicely, so far so good.
Lots of work ahead but I love the boat and it is the boat my kids grew up with. I need pictures of the grandkids on the same boat, and same old man.
I'll post some pics when I figure it out.
I do not recall the last time I commented here, but it's been years. Still have the same boat, 29 years now. 1983 Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish. I bought the boat in 1993 and we used it on the lake for about 15 years. Then the gimble ring broke and being cheap I waited to do the work myself. At some point I decided paying a small fortune to keep an unused boat in dry storage made no sense, but I couldn't sell her. So, I bought a trailer and found a place to store her outside at a reasonable rate. At that time I lived in a neighborhood on the typical half acre lot with restrictions. At some point I stopped checking on the boat, the cover rotted away, and she got real dirty And equipped with a hornets nest under the engine cover.
New owners of the storage place raised the rates to a level I was not willing to pay now that I have an 8 acre place, so I brought her home and have started the restoration process. After getting a pressure wash and hornet removal she looks OK. The sole is weak in a couple spots so I was afraid the stringers and transom might be rotted. However, so far it looks as though it is only the plywood in the sole, probably from the lack of any sealing where the seats bolt in and 40 years later...
I took off the swim platform today and pulled the outdrive in preparation for pulling the motor. I plan to go back with a bracket and a 300hp outboard. That free's up 3 more feet of space as I have also removed the old fishbox just in front of the transom. As long as I don't find really bad rot. All the screws I took out of the transom were clean and when I put them back in to fill the hole they torque down nicely, so far so good.
Lots of work ahead but I love the boat and it is the boat my kids grew up with. I need pictures of the grandkids on the same boat, and same old man.
I'll post some pics when I figure it out.
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