bulletbob
08-11-2012, 07:41 PM
About 2 months ago, I paid a full $900 for a 1987 Sea Pro 18 CC.. Very nice hull, never painted, and in overall nice shape.. has a Galvanized trailer that needed lights and tires, and someone removed the blown Force, and cobbed in a 1972 100 HP electric shift Johnson, and controls.. That will be changed to a more modern engine in due course.. The old hydro electric, starts, runs good, and shifts good... for now..
You don't see many clean 18 ft CC boats around here in upstate NY for $900, So I grabbed it even with the weirdness.
It is a very ODD design... I hope Sea Pro got them right in later production. This is a very early Sea Pro.. First of, Its a nice deep wide, beamy 18 footer, weighs 1500 pounds.. However the designers made the gunwales about a foot wide, all the way around the boat, cutting off 2 feet of interior. In all my years I have never seen such an in efficient waste of material and space. What could the designers have been thinking?..
Second there is NO storage anywhere on the boat.. None.. There is a " bait well" on the foredeck thats about 18 inches by 12 inches, by 6 inches deep.. Absolutely useless.
The only storage on the entire boat is in the flip over style cooler seat.. Oh yeah, there no drain in the seat either.. You fish out any water in there with a cup.,,, Not even a shelf in the console....
Third, and to me the weirdest thing of all.. There is NO onboard fuel tank, and there never was.. There is no vent anywhere, no holes in the console or in the hull for a filler, and no sign of a tank ever having been installed anywhere on the boat... I guess they wanted you to bring 3 or 4 or maybe even 5- 6 gallon tanks...Remember, this is a good size 18 footer that could easily take a 125 hp, although I will likely go around 75 HP, as I am not into speed, and usually just bring it to plane and a little more... If you put a 115 on it, you would think it would need a 30 gal tank. a 20 at minimum.
Anyway, as i said it was cheap, and in good shape, with a good hull, and nice clean lines, but WHAT could these guys have been thinking?.. Building an 18 footer with no storage anywhere, foot wide gunnels that protrude directly over floor space around the entire boat, and NO fuel tank.. Any comments on this?... bob
You don't see many clean 18 ft CC boats around here in upstate NY for $900, So I grabbed it even with the weirdness.
It is a very ODD design... I hope Sea Pro got them right in later production. This is a very early Sea Pro.. First of, Its a nice deep wide, beamy 18 footer, weighs 1500 pounds.. However the designers made the gunwales about a foot wide, all the way around the boat, cutting off 2 feet of interior. In all my years I have never seen such an in efficient waste of material and space. What could the designers have been thinking?..
Second there is NO storage anywhere on the boat.. None.. There is a " bait well" on the foredeck thats about 18 inches by 12 inches, by 6 inches deep.. Absolutely useless.
The only storage on the entire boat is in the flip over style cooler seat.. Oh yeah, there no drain in the seat either.. You fish out any water in there with a cup.,,, Not even a shelf in the console....
Third, and to me the weirdest thing of all.. There is NO onboard fuel tank, and there never was.. There is no vent anywhere, no holes in the console or in the hull for a filler, and no sign of a tank ever having been installed anywhere on the boat... I guess they wanted you to bring 3 or 4 or maybe even 5- 6 gallon tanks...Remember, this is a good size 18 footer that could easily take a 125 hp, although I will likely go around 75 HP, as I am not into speed, and usually just bring it to plane and a little more... If you put a 115 on it, you would think it would need a 30 gal tank. a 20 at minimum.
Anyway, as i said it was cheap, and in good shape, with a good hull, and nice clean lines, but WHAT could these guys have been thinking?.. Building an 18 footer with no storage anywhere, foot wide gunnels that protrude directly over floor space around the entire boat, and NO fuel tank.. Any comments on this?... bob