I'm the new owner of a 38' Commander Sportfisher!
Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2016 9:30 pm
I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself and let ya'll know what I sort of fell into! I just bought a 1966 (titled, but not delivered until 1968) Chris Craft Commander 38 Sportfisher! I ran the info on the hull number with the Mariner's Museum (it's only maybe 20 minutes from my home and where the boat is docked), and it looks like it is one of the few surviving Sportfisher models! The boat's Hull Number is FFA384003. The boat was repowered in 1988 with dual Marine Power, Inc 454's. The boat was used to take just a few short trips, and the owner had some kind of a medical emergency which placed the boat on the back burner. It has sat for ~5 years.
Believe it or not, the motors still fired up (with a lot of work). They have under 240 hours on both motors. The boat also has some sort of a Kohler marine generator. The interior hasn't been altered much (if at all), and everything seems to work. The batteries needed replaced, but all necessary equipment is functional! All navigating lights functioned, and the steering gear actually is in great shape. We motored her home to a slip just a few blocks from my home to work on her.
I have so far had to fix a lot of random odds and ends, but it seems that most components are working perfect. I am replacing several pieces of glass that were broken out and replaced with plexiglass. I'm also working to replace the exhaust boots since I've already found 2-3 nice sized cracks from dry rotting. The bilge stays pretty dry. It's actually pretty impressive how well this boat has weathered 5+ years of sitting. I even got outriggers, all lines, and 20 or so life jackets. The flybridge looks a bit rough, but EVERYTHING was functioning aside from the steering cable (that snapped when we were doing control checks to get the boat home). But, everything is there. I can rebuild most anything as long as I have something to work with. The aft deck needs replaced, and there is some cabinetwork that needs to be done. But, it doesn't look like much else needs to be done!
I do have a few random questions. Right now, it looks to me like there are three different bilge pockets. The front bilge poccket pumps straight overboard. I also seen a Jabsco diaphragm pump in the Engineroom bilge, and another below the aft deck. Do the Diaphragm pumps pump overboard or are they just used to consolidate the water? Also, how is the genset designed to be used? How do I fire it up? It's a pretty hefty Kohler genset, and looks like it could very easily be original. I can't find a control panel on the unit, and only have a selector below the help to select between Shorepower and the Genset. How do you light off the genset? I've operated many different gensets over the years, but this thing has me kind abaffled. Also, I have a few freshwater connections back aft. One has a regulator, and the other is just a female connector to hook a hose to. How should the freshwater system be laid out? What should I do to slowly and carefully pressurize the system and see what we have? I'm pretty capable mechanically and electrically, but tracing out every single wire and pipe is proving to be a ridiculous challenge. I also didn't get any manuals related to the boat. I have manuals for several things that the owner had previously installed, but nothing more. And, the gentleman I bought the boat from was 85 years old and couldn't remember many of the specifics of the boat. He owned it for 25 years, and you can tell he knew this boat top to bottom at one time. But, his mind isn't as sharp as it once was. I purchased the boat for a very reasonable price, with the caveat that it is 100% as is where is. But, I figure that if I'm going to rebuild everything and get it functioning again I might as well do things right!
This head also has a PAR Electroflush head with a Lectra San treatment system. I have not been able to get the Electroflush system to work, and can't get anything to light up or do anything with the head. Do any of you have the orignal info as far as what the breakeers in the breaker boes are supposed to be wired to? Like I said, there are no labels and I really don't want to bug the gentleman that sold me the boat. He already feels bad enough not remembering even how to hook up the shore power. I don't really want to make him feel worse.
I'll try to upload some pics here if I'm able. Believe it or not, she's really pretty clean overall. There are still a lot to do on her, but I think we're getting there. I have a diver buddy of mine coming by in a week ro so to clean the hull as best we can without hauling her out. I realize that we need to haul it out as soon as possible, but I really don't have the time to get it hauled out. If all goes well, I'll have her hauled out sometime this winter to get the hull stripped and repainted.
Thank you in advance for any help you guys can give.
~Will Courtier~
Believe it or not, the motors still fired up (with a lot of work). They have under 240 hours on both motors. The boat also has some sort of a Kohler marine generator. The interior hasn't been altered much (if at all), and everything seems to work. The batteries needed replaced, but all necessary equipment is functional! All navigating lights functioned, and the steering gear actually is in great shape. We motored her home to a slip just a few blocks from my home to work on her.
I have so far had to fix a lot of random odds and ends, but it seems that most components are working perfect. I am replacing several pieces of glass that were broken out and replaced with plexiglass. I'm also working to replace the exhaust boots since I've already found 2-3 nice sized cracks from dry rotting. The bilge stays pretty dry. It's actually pretty impressive how well this boat has weathered 5+ years of sitting. I even got outriggers, all lines, and 20 or so life jackets. The flybridge looks a bit rough, but EVERYTHING was functioning aside from the steering cable (that snapped when we were doing control checks to get the boat home). But, everything is there. I can rebuild most anything as long as I have something to work with. The aft deck needs replaced, and there is some cabinetwork that needs to be done. But, it doesn't look like much else needs to be done!
I do have a few random questions. Right now, it looks to me like there are three different bilge pockets. The front bilge poccket pumps straight overboard. I also seen a Jabsco diaphragm pump in the Engineroom bilge, and another below the aft deck. Do the Diaphragm pumps pump overboard or are they just used to consolidate the water? Also, how is the genset designed to be used? How do I fire it up? It's a pretty hefty Kohler genset, and looks like it could very easily be original. I can't find a control panel on the unit, and only have a selector below the help to select between Shorepower and the Genset. How do you light off the genset? I've operated many different gensets over the years, but this thing has me kind abaffled. Also, I have a few freshwater connections back aft. One has a regulator, and the other is just a female connector to hook a hose to. How should the freshwater system be laid out? What should I do to slowly and carefully pressurize the system and see what we have? I'm pretty capable mechanically and electrically, but tracing out every single wire and pipe is proving to be a ridiculous challenge. I also didn't get any manuals related to the boat. I have manuals for several things that the owner had previously installed, but nothing more. And, the gentleman I bought the boat from was 85 years old and couldn't remember many of the specifics of the boat. He owned it for 25 years, and you can tell he knew this boat top to bottom at one time. But, his mind isn't as sharp as it once was. I purchased the boat for a very reasonable price, with the caveat that it is 100% as is where is. But, I figure that if I'm going to rebuild everything and get it functioning again I might as well do things right!
This head also has a PAR Electroflush head with a Lectra San treatment system. I have not been able to get the Electroflush system to work, and can't get anything to light up or do anything with the head. Do any of you have the orignal info as far as what the breakeers in the breaker boes are supposed to be wired to? Like I said, there are no labels and I really don't want to bug the gentleman that sold me the boat. He already feels bad enough not remembering even how to hook up the shore power. I don't really want to make him feel worse.
I'll try to upload some pics here if I'm able. Believe it or not, she's really pretty clean overall. There are still a lot to do on her, but I think we're getting there. I have a diver buddy of mine coming by in a week ro so to clean the hull as best we can without hauling her out. I realize that we need to haul it out as soon as possible, but I really don't have the time to get it hauled out. If all goes well, I'll have her hauled out sometime this winter to get the hull stripped and repainted.
Thank you in advance for any help you guys can give.
~Will Courtier~