Toyman is bringing the Irish! Yet another boat thread.

I have 3 boats already. One that is junk (20' SeaRay), one that seldom gets used (JetBoat), one I hate (17' Key West).

So it was time for another boat. It's Shamrock time!

I have been looking for a small inboard boat for 10+ years. They were all either too far away, too expensive, or too junky. This popped up on FB Marketplace Friday so I went to look at it.

It's not perfect, but it has good bones, ie no rot. Needs TLC, mostly paint and cleaning. The PO started the process and then his wife told him to buy a new boat. 

It's a 1985 Shamrock 20' Cuddy. 302 Ford inboard. Sitting on a mostly new trailer. Shamrock was famous for their "Keel Drive". Basically meaning the boat has a keel to protect the running gear for use in shallowish water. Should be a fun cruising/fishing rig for the wife and I. Too bad it won't fit under the boat shed I built a couple of years back. 

More to come after I get it to the house. 

Serious top on that thing.

Is that... concrete on the rudder?

In reply to Shadeux (Forum Supporter) :

That is a zinc anode. It is used to keep galvanic corrosion from eating the props and rudders.  That particular one is mostly used up and will be replaced.

Edit: There should be another one in front of the prop. It looks to be missing which is what caused the pitting on the prop hub. 

I like where this is headed. Gonna need to change the site name to Grassroots Motorboats though.

After my Starcraft is finished I think I'm going to follow your JetBoat formula but with another vintage roundabout. I get giddy just thinking about it.

sure looks like that top might hinge aft, no?

maybe not easily, but may get it into your shed?

stylngle2003 said:

sure looks like that top might hinge aft, no?

Not yet, but that may well be in the plans. 

Uhhh... the 17 foot Key West, is it a center console? I have a 20' dual console, and I've been debating down sizing.

In reply to Brett_Murphy (Forum Patrón) :

It's a Dual. My son and father have taken over that one and are using it a fair amount.

Nice. Those old Shamrocks seem to pop up regularly. Theyre one of the only real inboard boats I see listed regularly in those sizes at that age. I've always wondered that they were like to run. What's she weigh?

I made it to the house. I was kind of amazed that the trailer brakes worked. I don't know that I've ever owned a boat trailer with working brakes. The salt usually destroys them pretty quickly. 

I got all the extra parts unloaded. Like SanFord this one was someones abandoned project and came with a bunch of extra parts. 

Lots of teak trim. 

A full set of deck panels.

Spare engine cover and cuddy storage box.

Dash panel and door. 

Through hull and shaft seals. 

Replacement shaft. 

A set of exhaust risers. 

And some miscellaneous engine cooling parts that are probably junk. 

Much like SanFord, I again bought something without a test drive or even firing the engine so the second order of business was figuring out how to get water to the engine and seeing if I was right about the honesty of the PO. 

Three pumps of the gas and it fired right up and ran perfectly. 

Sounds like a V8 running through 3" exhaust and no mufflers. 

More to come. 

Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) said:

I have 3 boats already. One that is junk (20' SeaRay), one that seldom gets used (JetBoat), one I hate (17' Key West).

So it was time for another boat...

What's the story with the jet boat?  I ask because I've been casually shopping them in case my in-laws' pontoon gets sold.

In reply to Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) :

That video reminds me of my grandparents' old cabin cruiser, idling at the dock on Lake Lanier in GA back in the 70's. And the smell of a carb'd V8 running rich.  IIRC, the engine in that boat was a Chrysler. 

In reply to nderwater :

The JetBoat has been languishing behind the shop due to the drive needing to be resealed to the hull. That's on the list of things to do over the next couple of weeks. It's going to be headed to the family farm to be used in the creeks around there.

With the large crowds and the face mask requirements of car racing, I'm going to shift my focus to more solitary forms of recreation. Boats and camping should fit the bill for that. 

ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) said:

Nice. Those old Shamrocks seem to pop up regularly. Theyre one of the only real inboard boats I see listed regularly in those sizes at that age. I've always wondered that they were like to run. What's she weigh?

Book shows them at 3100 pounds dry.

I have no idea about handling. Give me a outdrive, outboard or twin inboards and I can put it anywhere you want. However, I've never run a single inboard. It should be a learning experience. I'm going to try to get it in the water Saturday, so I'll let you know then. 

That idle alone...phew, love it!

Yeah, someday I'm going to make a bad decision about an inboard V8 boat just because of that sound. 

In reply to ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) :

My Key West has a 85hp Yamaha on it. As trouble free as a engine could be. 24 years old and still looks like new. I just hate listening to a outboard all day long.

I'm hoping a I/B will have the advantages of a I/O without the maintenance.

Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) said:

ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) said:

Nice. Those old Shamrocks seem to pop up regularly. Theyre one of the only real inboard boats I see listed regularly in those sizes at that age. I've always wondered that they were like to run. What's she weigh?

Book shows them at 3100 pounds dry.

I have no idea about handling. Give me a outdrive, outboard or twin inboards and I can put it anywhere you want. However, I've never run a single inboard. It should be a learning experience. I'm going to try to get it in the water Saturday, so I'll let you know then. 

 

I grew up with single inboards. Mostly Chris Craft . A few cabin cruisers but also some runabouts.  
The propeller pushes against the rudder and you can swing the bow pretty well sideways away from the dock especially if you have the stern line wrapped around a post on the dock.  if you use a slip line and careful throttle control  you look very slick.  
Backing is a whole other  trick entirely.  You may turn the rudder but water thrust is going through the propeller which pretty much straightens the thrust and sends it down the keel. So it will back decently straight  but turning is a very slow process. You basically need the rudder full over and only slowly will it deviate from  straight back. 
I restored a Chris Craft 17 foot inboard  model called the Rivera with a KBL engine. That's a Hercules model K ( Flathead 6 ) with 3 down draft carbs. The sound that has at idle will make you fall in love.  Well that and the ride.  
My other love is the Chris Craft Cobra. 1955 Chris Craft made a single bench seat model with a big Fiberglass engine cover and tail fin. 
3 engines.  The 19 foot had a KBL  the 21 foot had either a 331 Chrysler Hemi with  dual 2 barrel carbs or the Cadillac crusader with two 4 barrels.  ( the more powerful version) 

I remember driving one of those as a 7 year old.  Throttle wide open it seemed like 1000 miles per hour. My dad hanging onto the seat yelling at me to slow dow son!!! And my Uncle yelling  go-go- go!!! 
 

single engine inboards also tend to have prop walk when backing.  You can use that to your advantage if you can get used to it. 

In reply to mad_machine (Forum Supporter) :

Only in one direction and when the rudder is hard over. 

Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) said:

In reply to ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) :

My Key West has a 85hp Yamaha on it. As trouble free as a engine could be. 24 years old and still looks like new. I just hate listening to a outboard all day long.

I'm hoping a I/B will have the advantages of a I/O without the maintenance.

I'm interested to read more about it as you go!  I completely agree with you on the outboard function vs. V8 rumble.  I'm fortunate I don't have to deal with saltwater at this point in my life.

So, the plan is to hit the water for the first time Saturday morning. 

With that in mind I have been taking care of some stupid stuff that the PO had done. Like the battery switch that was floating above the transmission on a small zip tie. Or the engine cover hinges that were held in place with machine screws threaded into fiberglass. Or the hydraulic trim tab line that was assembled wrong and dripping oil in the bilge. 

I also verified that all of the important systems work. 

Since it's going to spend a couple of days in the water, I also went ahead and changed the zincs on the rudder and added one to the prop shaft. 

The guy was as honest as the day is long, but he wasn't a mechanically minded guy. He's got some hokey crap going on that I will be fixing. 

Not much worth taking pictures of. 

The old rudder zinc was pretty well done. 

It started life looking like this. 

There should have also been a zinc on the prop shaft. There wasn't so I added one. 

There will be another report forthcoming after the maiden voyage. Fingers crossed. 

I get to borrow a very nicely restored 22’ Lyman inboard from time to time.   Once you figure out how it backs down (typically they walk the stern to port) you’ll pick it up pretty quickly.    The rudder has almost no effect going astern but you can compensate by short bursts of forward leaving the rudder turned to starboard to pivot the boat.  It’s possible to turn the boat around in a little more than a boat length going from astern to ahead with a little practice.   

Good luck with it, I’ve always like the looks of those.   

My grandfather only made me promise him two things.

One was to never fire his .45 ACP Colt revolver that he was issued in WW I.

The other was to never buy a gasoline powered inboard boat. 

Make sure you vent the bilge every time you fire it up. Also, having seen how the previous owner didn't really understand a lot about boat maintenance, I recommend you make sure that the proper spark control parts are being used on the engine (starter, alternator, backfire suppressor, etc.).

I still really like shamrocks, I hope this is a great boat for you!

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

I've been playing in or with gas powered boats for 50 years. This is my 3rd V8 powered IB or IO. Blowing up only happens to the careless and the ignorant. Lucky for me, I am neither. Thanks for being concerned enough to pass on the warning though.