osprey 17 transformation

[scyharris]

Hey guys, these are the pics I promised.  Acquired a free 17ft that was slightly used and abused.  After almost 2 years of tinkering here and there I finally finished and let me tell you it is a fishing machine!!

Here are the first pics after bringing her home.  The wife was thrilled (ha ha):



Notice the duct tape is hiding a certain four letter word.  Also,there are stick people visible doing the four letter word!!











And here are the after shots.  Feel free to ask me any questions about the work.











Hope you enjoy the pics.  You KNOW how rare these 17ftrs are on this site!!

[GoneFission]

Nice work - you saved her!  Good turnaround job.  

[RickK]

Ditto on what GF said - good job  8)

[Miguel]

Nice work!!!.  The narrower console results in a lot more free space.  I like it.

[SnookinGood175]

How many gallons is that livewell??  I only have the small one in the front of the console and was looking at putting a livewell seat in.  Does the extra weight affect the performance at all?

[scyharris]

Snookin,

The friend that helped me with some of the work (now out of buisness) made those leaning post/livewells.  Mine was the demo that he had kicking around the shop.  They came in 2 sizes: 20 and 40 gallons.  The one that I have is 20 gallons.  As far as performance goes it is hard to tell.  When I did the overhaul you will notice that I moved the console forward a few inches in anticipation of the extra weight from 160 pounds of water back there.  Under the console contains the three batteries.  One group 27 for the house and two group 24's for the trolling motor.  I have only had it out on the water 4 times and the best speed is 39.5 on gps.  That was with me (215) and one friend (160) and 20 gallons of gas and 160 pound of water.  Any more questions please feel free to ask!!

[Miguel]

What motor do you have on her?

[scyharris]

Sorry about not including that info.  It is a late 80's Evinrude 100hp commercial motor.  It was gone through by a friend and myself and runs really strong.  Even keeps the mosquitoes at bay!!

[ANTIBLING]

If anyone is interested in a leaning post/baitwell like that, I know a guy who makes them. good job on turning that boat around  

[Marcq]

Wow dude, that small console makes her look huge inside, I like it. Looks like you redid the transom too,with a different shape. Late 80 Aqua ?

Great job

Marc..

[scyharris]

Yeah I did have to replace the transom.  When I did I decided to raise it from 20 to 25 inches.  At that point I had the freedom to shape however I wanted.  I chose that shape because, as you said, it was used in the later model years and it looked a little less likely to allow water over the top.

[davis74]

Great job. Did you paint the floor yourself if so how did you do it?

[scyharris]

I did redo from the rubrail inward.  It was pretty easy.  Sanded everything with a 36 grit disc on a fairly large pad and then myself and a friend re-gelcoated the entire inside.  You will notice that we did the webbing also (looks like many of the skiffs on the market that are trying to keep the cost down.)  Because I was not really concerned with asthetics  it was the perfect solution to cover up much of the staining and wear.  Should last as long as I have the boat.  Plus, I am not concerned about getting the deck bloody!!!

[davis74]

How is the webbing done? Thanks

[scyharris]

I am far from an expert, but if I remember correctly (anybody can chime in), we added an ingredient to the tinted gelcoat that made it really stringy as it was coming out of the gun.  Once the desired consistency was achieved it was shot um up rodeo.  We layed a white base coat followed by two coats of alternating blue and gray.  It really added a non-skid texture that is pretty easy on the feet.