Nice-looking Starcraft has caught my eye locally. It's a '71 hull, nicely accessorized out and with a rebuilt 120 Merc. It would see both freshwater on still water and large rivers, and then also some saltwater up at Puget Sound. Primary use is fishing.

Google says these are well built, good handling boats. Any experiences yay or nay?

Had a Starcraft Supersport 1969 vintage for many many years. Only a 16 footer but nice boat. I've seen many Starcraft around here, all seem to hold up well and owners are happy.

The Starcraft hull will be fine. Need to check compression on each cylinder. Good is 115 to 121,2. Mercury says within 10% of one another but a cylinder under 100 is cause for concern. What model # or name is the boat? powdr

I had a mid 90's, 19', Superfisherman 190, riveted aluminum hull. Bought it new and the only problem I ever had with it was that a couple of the rivets leaked. They fixed it under warranty and never had any other issues. I liked that light weight aluminum hull; it would cruise at 45mph with a 75 hp Merc outboard. Great fishing/family boat.

I don't know. Haven't talked to the seller yet. Supposedly 2nd owner and the motor has been "professionally rebuilt". Here she is-- the Avocado Express!

Had Fishmaster 196 for 7 years now. Best boat I ever had by far. I love the 19* dead rise hull on mine. Rides great even on the waves of Lake Erie.

There would be a big difference between the 2 boats pictured, and where/how they were used.
Id personaly keep looking.

I understand. The one I pictured is the one for sale. I wouldn't want to go much bigger, though a little would be ok. My kids are grown up and 9/10 of the time, it'd be just me alone or with my wife or my buddy.

Id not want much to do with an old rivited hull and an IO that looked nearly as old. Trailer looks pretty rough as well.

If it ran good and was cheap enough......it may get you on the water for a few seasons before you'd have to decide on how much work and money youd have to put in it.

Thanks Mooner. I'm an aluminum sporting-boat noob (my family's boats have been Fiberglas ski boats). Google had told me that the riveted Starcraft hull was pretty good (and that older welded hulls can fail at the welds) but I'm hearing you.

I'm adverse to bad investments and have avoided owning my own boat for that reason <g>. But as you say if I can get in cheap....

I live near a big lake. I'll see if the seller will plunk it in the water for me, if I decide to pursue it further. How fast does a leaky rivet show up?

I'm not an aluminum guy either. My boat is glass. Lots of riveted holes seems sketchy to me on an old boat but may very well be sound and GTG.

Look for any water intrusion or corrosion. Check any area that is cored with wood. Transom, deck, gunwale.......If it is wood core and skinned with aluminum and the wood gets wet, it'll rot and corrode from the inside. Check under the deck and the bilge.

I/O drives need maintenance and the older the drive the more it usually takes. Looks like an early or pre Alpha drive. I have the same one. Impeller and lower unit lube every year or two. Check the bellows. Any wear and they should be replaced. It springs a leak and you ain't gonna stay afloat. I'd want to look at the lube in the drive. Make sure it is sealed and the lube looks good. IE no metal or water. Lots of parts for those drives are available. Rams and trim pump should be in good shape, clean fluid, and obviously no leaks.

Lots of old boats are a wiring nightmare. 46 years of folks adding and removing electronics and wiring.

What type of gas tank? In floor? Make sure it is in good shape. Old tanks leak and can cause issues. Some of those issues can go boom. Make sure the blower is working.

Boat ain't any good if you can't get it to the water and that trailer looks to have some rot. Check hubs and bearings. Brakes, if it has them. You'll want a spare and an extra hub and bearing set is never a bad idea.

My boat is nearly as old. Paid little for it and have enjoyed it the last 5 years from the sound drinking beer to the pacific fishing for halibut. Old and used is always a crap shoot.

Personally, I'd look for something like a 16-18' Klamath or other skiff with a solid outboard. Keeping it simple with boats is always a plus.

I have owned a few starcraft over the years. Overall the hulls have been pretty good but one item of concern for me would be the floor. Most of the ones I owned especially in the 70's and 80's had issues with floor rot. Replacing a floor is a pretty big task depending on style of boat. Just something to check on.

$4,500.00? You really are a fuggn idiot.

I wouldn't pay anything near that. Half, maybe. I know the seller and he's motivated. We'll see.

I have a small 1961 Starcraft runabout. Dang tough boats. It works pretty well. That said, looks to me, like that boat has some issues on the transom, below the outdrive. Looks like somebody is trying to plug a leaky seam. There is a Starcraft forum on iboats.com, that has a wealth of info.

I recently bought an 82 starcraft 16' riveted hull. she doesn't leak a drop, and the decks had recently been replaced so the interior is great. it sails across the water like a greased fart and the deep hull and vertical sides are comfortable with the wife and kids on board. I wouldn't own a fiberglass boat but that's just me. I paid $2000 for mine a month ago with a 60 horse johnson that runs like a swiss watch. see if you can test drive it first if possible. otherwise get some muffs and have the guy run it in the driveway before you settle on a price. that's what I would do anyway. not sure if the inboard has it's own cooling system or how they operate, might not be able to run it out of the water. if that's the case then insist on testing it, and watch when you pull the plug after leaving the water. if it leaks, proceed with caution.

Good advice and info, thanks CO1135!

I've been too busy to explore this any further. Picked up a big new customer and it's been a hectic 6 weeks or so tooling up for their work.

On the very bottom of the hull near the drain plug what is that black paint doing there? Something is up
I can assure you a boat of that vintage will need maintance IE a steering cable trim lines maybe a bellows kit etc

plan on it

That alum boat sitting on a roller trailer for 40 plus years not sure about that


Hank

Bought brand new 18' Starcraft Holiday 1989 had leaking rivets afer 2 months whole boat had to be re-riveted.....still had some leaking even after that never again will I buy a Starcraft

Good to know, thanks!

Even if it was free, a 47 year old boat seems like a purchase with a lot more negatives than positives.

Even under the best of circumstances, it seems as though boats are always needing something that costs more than you'd think and a boat that is in the twilight of its operational life seems like it could easily become a bottomless money pit to repair and maintain in a safe operating state.

I'm not particularly risk adverse, but the saying that a boat owner's two favorites days are the day he buys it and the day he sells it, didn't happen without a good reason.

lol, yeah boat stands for "Break Out Another Thousand" I'm sure there's a reason for that as well.

A lot of people who have no idea about boats, buy boats. Then rarely use them or maintain them, then piss and moan when it doesn't work right. They can't fix/maintain it so they have to bring it in to a boat shop where they pay someone else to do it for them. When they reflect on the 2-3 times of year they tried to take it out vs how much money it cost them is exactly where those sayings come from.

I use my boat on average 2-3 times a week, often more in may/june. I winterize it correctly, pull the batteries put it under a tarp and in storage for the winter and every spring go through it as I'm putting everything back in place. I have never had an issue I wasn't able to identify and remedy myself. broken wires, trailer wiring eaten by mice, spun prop, impeller went bad, fuel line plugged, cooling water discharge plugged cracked fuel lines you name it. oh, and always change the lower unit oil once a year and check it monthly during the fishing months. in addition to that stuff keep an eye out for symptoms of something bad starting to happen.

in my opinion the biggest threat to boats are ignorant boat owners.

CO1135, I find no fault with your analysis. Boats are, put simply, kind of nuts. But then again, they are BOATS! How cool is THAT?!

Short of going deep into the engine I'll be doing all work myself and I take pretty good care of my stuff. Plus I enjoy doing so- which if I'm reading you correctly, is more than a little important. The work of life, is to do good work. I fully expect a boat to provide ample opportunities.

That Starcraft is out. I'm currently leaning 14'-16' open, deep-keel, aluminum with an outboard. Like a Smokercraft or similar. Keep this simple but get some real utility. Buy it this winter when boats are cheap and have it ready for the spring salmon runs in the tidewaters of the big coastal rivers in my AO. Hey, it get my buddy and on the water; we'll see where it goes from there. There's been numerous boats in my immediate family for decades (I've avoided owning them because, well, they are kinda nuts) but I've heard the many things that go wrong and been there in person to experience many of them... On top of that, I'm sure Lady Luck has a couple new ones saved up just for me. Honestly-- it'd be much less interesting to me if it was easy!

personally I'd never own an inboard unless it was huge and had a mainspace and I was a commercial fisherman, not very likely. the one Bgunn has is a beauty, I'd love something like that one day. don't be afraid to get a "project" boat and spend a lot of time getting into them and tearing it apart. I've been a member on tinboats.net for a few years and learned a lot from those guys. I've even flipped a few boats that I've bought right, knew what to do to spruce them up and sell for a profit. keep an eye on craigslist daily and be ready to pounce when a screaming deal comes up. most people want a turn key project, but if you like to work with your hands, problem solve and have a little time here and there to put into it, it can be a really fun hobby! I bought a small tinny a year ago, took the electric start motor off and put on one I got that ran great and paid next to nothing for. replaced the wooden bench seats with high quality plywood my kids and I stained and varnished one weekend and made my money back 3 fold, and kept the better motor! so it can be done, and a great way to learn on smaller stuff. if you buy them right you can continually upgrade and keep upping your investment until you get into the boat you want to hold onto. at least that's how I've done it. price them out, use KBB or NADA and stick as close as you can to it. shop around and be willing to wait for the right deal. I've seen lots of folks start looking when they need/want a boat and jump on whatever is available. fall is the best time to buy of course if you have a place to store it for the winter, which is also a great time to work on them to be ready for summer. with a little research and patience you can learn a lot in a small amount of time and have fun doing it. feel free to PM me if you like if you have any questions.