I’ve decided to try and educate myself about Sea Skiffs in general and my boat in particular in order to fill the time between now and when I actually take ownership of the boat. Hopefully this will temper my anxiousness but it may just add to it.
Last Wednesday I stayed home from work with a nasty cold – which turned into a perfect opportunity to lay in bed with my iPad and scan the interwebs for all things Sea Skiff.
First, I found an original sales brochure on EBay, naturally I bought it. Below is the cover and the page for the 20′ Sportsman –
The 20′ looks like toy next to that 37′ Corinthian on the cover. I wonder if anyone still has one of those? I’m happy to have the brochure – I also have a brochure for the 1961 model year. I’ll explain why…
Before my sick day (maybe the third I’ve taken, ever) I discovered the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia (link) has an archive for Chris Craft. The museum will provide a scanned copy hull cards, similar to a car window sticker, if you have the hull number of the boat. They also have much more available – turns out they have all of the design drawings for this boat (for a fee). As a designer and someone who creates design drawings myself I will likely end up buying at least some of these drawings.
Well, I obtained the hull number from the seller. The boat was advertised as a 1961 and before I contacted the museum I did an eBay search on “1961 Sea Skiff” and found a 1961 brochure – of course I bought it. I then contacted the museum and they got back to me quickly with news that the boat is in fact a 1962. I’ve since found out that the telltale visual difference between the ’61 and ’62 is the the window frame – 1961 is the last year the frames were made in mahogany. Chris Craft began using aluminum in 1962.
The hull card also told me something else very important – the original motor is a 283 V8. For non-motorheads that’s a small block Chevy V8. General Motors made many thousands of these engines during this era – 283’s were standard issue for Corvettes from 1954 to 1961. The 1962 Vette was the first model year for the 327, which shares many traits with the 283. It takes a knowledgeable eye to see the differences, aside from obvious nameplates. Having a 283 makes maintenance a little easier – it won’t be too hard to find the majority of parts should I need them for a rebuild.
Continuing my education efforts, I wanted to find a manual for the motor. Chris Craft was pretty good about providing documentation on their motors – and I knew I could find one. Back to eBay I went and again came up successful. I found a CD of PDFs with the various 283 manuals, service bulletins , etc. Coincidentally, the three purchases I’ve made on eBay for this boat are my three lifetime eBay purchases. I’ve never needed eBay until now.
I got the engine manual and immediately wanted to determine one thing: does the motor have a generator or an alternator. Remember, I haven’t seen the boat aside from a few exterior photos so I don’t have a visual of the motor yet. Using the engine number from the hull card I was able to determine the motor has an alternator. Good news. Replacing an alternator is cake compared to rebuilding or finding a generator. Another item of interest is whether or not the motor has a thermostat. I’m about 99% certain it does not. Not a huge concern. But those early season runs on Lake Huron may run cold.
That’s all for now. I’m currently working on figuring out where and how to store the boat. A winning lotto ticket would simplify the effort.
62SeaSkiff 