Re: Steury deck and hull construction?
Today I found myself up in the area of that boat for work today.
For whatever reason I decided to drive by and take a look at the boat.
He had changed the ad to $500 OBO, and made it clear that the motor was bad and that he didn't wish to answer any questions. I stopped buy after work, the owner was in the yard and I made like I was just driving by. The guy right off the back said the boat was for sale, cheap, and it needed to go. I walked around the boat listing every last defect. It told the guy it needed a load of work, the steering was frozen, the seats shot, the motor frozen, and the trailer missing a roller which was replaced with a home made wood roller carved out of a 4x4. When I asked what he thought it was worth he started with the $500 thing again. (If it were perfect I'd have considered it at $500 because I really like the hull shape). I told the guy it just needs too much work and good luck.
I didn't make it back to my car when he started in about why do people come to look at a boat and not even make an offer. At this point I just turned around and told the guy that we were just too far apart on it's value. He kept on about wanting an offer, so I said for $50 I'd haul it away.
I think he thought I meant that I was going to pay him $50, that's not what I meant. Once that was clear, I got in my car. He came over and said it's got to be worth something. I just said, "Sure, but its going to take too much to ever get any money out of it". "Good Luck". He then asked if I would take it away right then and there. I said I have a hitch on the car, if it's got a title.
He then said he'd trade the boat for one of the six packs of beer I had in the trunk.
I left with a boat. Total cost about $9 for a six pack and the company car hauled it home.
The trailer is fairly new, the winch is all busted up from someone forcing it backwards or something. They somehow folded the handle over sideways. The boat's transom is rock solid and seems dry where I drilled it. The deck has been redone but it's sloppy. I can see a single stringer running down the center from the bilge area. The deck they put in looks like someone put in a sheet of fiberglass panel and glassed over that with a layer of heavy mat. It's no wheres near thick enough. They also put back the factory seat boxes which held the original tubular framed back to back seats. The outer hull is perfect, the steering is rope and pulley so Teleflex system will work fine in there. The windshield is nice, very clear and no cracks, and the trim is all clean and not pitted. The soft top is one of those that attaches to the windshield frame so that's not going back either. At 6' 4" tall, that thing just won't work unless I sit on the floor.
It looks like who ever redid the deck bought two 4x8' sheets of fiberglass, cut each to about 38" wide and glassed them in place. They are barely supported in the center along the stringer down the middle. The deck is very translucent too, if I put a bright light under the deck I can see through it like an X-Ray. There is no sign of any flotation foam. None in the gunwales, none under the deck, and none in the bow area. Unless there's a chunk in the forward deck ahead of the footwell, it's got none at all.
The boat is light, light enough that I can lift the bow and walk it uphill into the garage by myself with the motor removed and the axle is nearly all the way back. There's very little tongue weight too. Maybe 90lbs or so at best. I don't think the hull weighs much over 400lbs. The CG plate says it's rated at 65hp, it measures 14' 3" long and is 73" wide. It's a lapstrake design much like my MFG Niagara but has a wider bow flare and the underside is more concave forming a cool looking roll that acts as a spray rail. I'd venture to guess it's a very dry hull. The model is a V415S according to the transom plate. I have a good 65hp Merc here that would make this thing really move.
The frozen motor turned out to be a wrong prop, too big for the spline, bolted tight against the housing. I also noticed it's got new battery cables, a new starter, and a brand new battery. I wonder how much of that had to do with the prop situation. I guess they never tried turning the flywheel in neutral? I put on the right prop, hung the motor in a barrel, put in two fresh plugs and it fired right up. It's just too small for the boat.
It was dark by the time I got home, I'll post a few pics once I get a chance to take a few. It's at work now, I stuck it in the shop there out of the way for now.
It's not build like an MFG, but not bad, its a pretty simple layout but if the transom was bad, I'd be dumping the hull fast. The top cap is one piece, the splashwell don't come off separate like on my MFG. I may add it to my project list since I really like the hull shape. Besides, being only 14' it's cheaper to run than say a 16' boat. I also thought about just using the lower hull and making something custom? I wouldn't mind having a deep open glass boat for back bay use, but I hate to cut up a boat that really won't take much to fix up. The glass on this thing is double the thickness of the MFG, but the hull overall is lighter even by original specs. I'm not sure how they did that yet.
I am fairly surprised that I am not able to find much info on Steury boats other than a few brochures at Fiberglassics. I've yet to find a pic of another boat like this in use.
