Hi Everyone,
I just wanted to introduce myself and my new boat - a 1967 StarCraft Seafarer 14 with a 3.5 hp Johnson.
The backstory is that the original owner used this boat for fishing on Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. My father in law bought it from him in 2003 to go fishing with my mother in law after their last child (my wife) moved out of their house. After using it very briefly (the motor, which they bought new in 2003, has less than 4 hours on it), they had to give up on that plan for a variety of reasons. By the time I came into the picture in 2010, the boat had already been for sale for a few years without success - the local boaters in their area apparently have a profound loyalty to flat bottom jon boats. Fast forward to last summer, and I was talking to my FIL about how we could take our toddler fishing, or we could take her out in our boat (a 16' Old Town canoe), but we could not take her fishing in our canoe because it wasn't stable enough, and he gave us his hard-to-sell StarCraft on the spot!
As a practical matter, my first task was to rebuild the trailer for the 800 mile Interstate trip between far southern Illinois and Maryland, so I just got it home this weekend. While I was at it, I completely stripped and repainted the trailer with ZRC cold galvanizing in an effort to get a few more years out of the current trailer before our local salt water eats it and I have to buy an aluminum replacement.
Considering that she's 50 years old, the boat is in pretty good shape. My plan is to use it for fishing and cruising in the protected creeks and coves on the Chesapeake and Maryland's Eastern Shore with my wife and daughter. Money is tight, so for now my refurbishment activities will be limited to those things that I need to get it titled and registered in Maryland (mainly getting the trailer to pass inspection), recommissioning the motor, projects that I can do with materials that I already have, and a good cleaning. The transom should be OK for the little Johnson, but I'll replace it before hanging a larger motor back there. The wood needs to be refinished and some of it needs to be replaced, and a few rivets near the stem need work - it looks like it was sealed sometime in the last millennium. But day before yesterday, when it rained steadily all day and put four inches of water in the boat (my tongue jack is getting delivered tomorrow, until then I'm using my Hi-Lift for drainage), the only leaks were a few slow drips forward.
All told, it should be a nice boat for gunkholing around the protected parts of the Chesapeake, Sinepuxent, and Chincoteague Bays and catching some fish!
John
I just wanted to introduce myself and my new boat - a 1967 StarCraft Seafarer 14 with a 3.5 hp Johnson.
The backstory is that the original owner used this boat for fishing on Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. My father in law bought it from him in 2003 to go fishing with my mother in law after their last child (my wife) moved out of their house. After using it very briefly (the motor, which they bought new in 2003, has less than 4 hours on it), they had to give up on that plan for a variety of reasons. By the time I came into the picture in 2010, the boat had already been for sale for a few years without success - the local boaters in their area apparently have a profound loyalty to flat bottom jon boats. Fast forward to last summer, and I was talking to my FIL about how we could take our toddler fishing, or we could take her out in our boat (a 16' Old Town canoe), but we could not take her fishing in our canoe because it wasn't stable enough, and he gave us his hard-to-sell StarCraft on the spot!
As a practical matter, my first task was to rebuild the trailer for the 800 mile Interstate trip between far southern Illinois and Maryland, so I just got it home this weekend. While I was at it, I completely stripped and repainted the trailer with ZRC cold galvanizing in an effort to get a few more years out of the current trailer before our local salt water eats it and I have to buy an aluminum replacement.
Considering that she's 50 years old, the boat is in pretty good shape. My plan is to use it for fishing and cruising in the protected creeks and coves on the Chesapeake and Maryland's Eastern Shore with my wife and daughter. Money is tight, so for now my refurbishment activities will be limited to those things that I need to get it titled and registered in Maryland (mainly getting the trailer to pass inspection), recommissioning the motor, projects that I can do with materials that I already have, and a good cleaning. The transom should be OK for the little Johnson, but I'll replace it before hanging a larger motor back there. The wood needs to be refinished and some of it needs to be replaced, and a few rivets near the stem need work - it looks like it was sealed sometime in the last millennium. But day before yesterday, when it rained steadily all day and put four inches of water in the boat (my tongue jack is getting delivered tomorrow, until then I'm using my Hi-Lift for drainage), the only leaks were a few slow drips forward.
All told, it should be a nice boat for gunkholing around the protected parts of the Chesapeake, Sinepuxent, and Chincoteague Bays and catching some fish!
John
