Aquasport Model Rebuilds, Mods, Updates and Refreshes > Express Fisherman Rebuilds

Aquasport 250 Express - Rebuild -

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UnWired:
Hi guys,
I am new to the forum, but been lurking here for quite some time and impressed by the amount of information on this site. Awesome hangout!

We are the proud owners of an Aquasport 250 Express, with an old Evinrude 300xp motor. The boat itself is awesome and we have been happy with it. I will try to post pictures of it later.

After a long discussion about the best way to go, either sell it and purchase exactly what we want (Parker 2520 diesel), or fix the Aquasport up, we have decided to rebuild our boat completely and customize it. It's kinda like pouring money after money... but then again, that's what a boat is about.

We are going to strip the entire boat this winter and either paint it, or gelcoat it. I have searched the web, but I can't find much about people gelcoating their boats, except here. Painting it seems like it would be less expensive, but when you put your boat on the trailer, it seems it would chip the paint. Gelcoat seems much more durable. Does anyone have any good information on this and what the difference is?

Also in the rebuild plans are a complete custom hard cover and tuna tower...

2nd question, does anyone know, or has anyone heard of adding spray-on floatation inside of the hull for added safety? Is it worth it? When we start rebuilding this thing in a couple of weeks, we just want to make sure we do everything we can. Adding a new Yamaha 4stroke 250 will definitely increase our fuel consumption. That Evinrude is fast, but SUCKS fuel and oil like you wouldn't believe. Last tuna trip, at 70 miles, sucked down 81 gallons of gas and almost 1.5 gallons of 2 cycle oil. Fuel mileage is about 1.5 - 1.7 mpg... horrible. Thanks - Chris - (Unwired)

LilRichard:
Welcome Chris.

As fas as gelcoat vs paint, I think that they are both very durable.  I have seen a TON of boats painted with Imron an the finish does last.  Typically if prepped correctly, there will be no "chipping" like one might expect from an enamel.  However even with gelcoat, if you bang the hull against the trailer, they will all gouge.

I have nothing against floatation foam in a hull, I may add some to mine- but it is a two part mixable foam, not the spray stuff.  The only hazard with foam is that over time it can absorb water.  In order to help avoid that, make sure that if you trim it (once cured) that you paint the exposed foam with a thin coat of resin- otherwise you will have "open cells" in your foam that may absorb water.

One other thought, if you are running those kinds of distances, you might be better served by a twin engine setup... maybe two 140s (suzukis) or 150s (yamis)?  Will be less economical than a single, but hey, you might make it home if one engine has an issue.

UnWired:
Hello lilrichard,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I think sealing it is important to keep water out. No need to take on water without knowing it.

We had originally thought about putting twins on the boat, but my main concern is this boat has a "Wet deck". I thought the wet deck was a great idea at first, but when you stop the boat to catch a fish, 2 people in the back of the boat, next thing you know your feet are wet, cooler is floating and god forbid you get a wave at the wrong time. I don't know if there is a way to fix this or not. It's just kind of irritating when you go fishing and feel you need a wet suit just to catch fish. Does anyone else have this problem with their Aquasports? Is there a way to fix this? There is a transom door in the back, that swings up, but it would just seem to compound the problem if we took a wave overboard.

The single Yamaha outboard should work good. Much less expensive than doubles and it will leave room for the outboard kicker motor we have for trollling. I think we will be replacing this with a small 4 stroke 20hp motor so we totally eliminate the need for 2 stroke oil period. I'll miss that power though.

Does anyone know of a company name, or material name of Gelcoat? I've done some searches, but it's very confusing trying to figure out what I need to find and the process of re-gelcoating a hull.

Anyone else experience with an open transom and that wet feeling you get when you take a wave over the back?


Thanks again.

RickK:
Hi Chris - Welcome Aboard  :!:  :!:
Does your transom look like this?

I was a little leery of this open end too but have not had a problem with it at all.  That's a 250 Yammy on the tail.  I added a 40 gallon tank to the bilge area right in front of the motor (the 3'x4' deck access in front of the engine in the pic above) and that added about 350 lbs to the aft end of the boat when full and I noticed that she sits a little lower in the water then.  Still no "Wet deck" effect except for our lab shaking off :roll:
You didn't mention the year of the boat but maybe you are carrying a lot of water somewhere that you don't know about? Foam, stringers?  You'll find out when you tear into her.  
Don't be shy, all questions will be answered here, whether you really want them answered or not :lol:,  so ask away.

Again, welcome aboard Chris.

JimCt:
Hi Chris!  Nice to hear you're hanging onto the AS.

For off-shore work I'm a fan of twins or at least a reasonably sized auxiliary kicker.  Always nice to have redundancy when you're out there all alone and the sun's going down.  Other benefit if you do any amount of trolling is you can shut the main engine down and run on the small motor.  Fuel consumption is reduced dramatically.

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