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Below is the story sent to me in Eric's words
Eddie,
As I'm sure you can tell from my previous e-mail, I love to talk about my Mako. It's a 1982 224. Most people around here don't appreciate it because it isn't a Contender, but a few do. I'm sure anyone who visits your page shares the same passion. So here is my story.
I saw an ad in the local classifieds for a 23 Mako. No year was given and the guy was asking $3500. I went to his house and discovered why it had not yet sold. While he was coming home from his last outing, he was rear-ended. The collision had snapped the motors off and knocked the boat off of the trailer (that is what caused the large scar on the port bow in the pictures). This also tore up the transom pretty well. All he had with the hull was a ratty looking full hard top. He claimed it was a $3000 hard top, and 15 years ago it probably was. He obviously did not have the means to repair the boat, so I offered him$1200 for the hull only. He gladly accepted. Luckily, both of my roommates at the time worked for a local boat builder (Negus Marine in Mobile, AL). He brought the boat to the lift at Negus, and we happily took it off of his hands. My roommates had just finished a 1974 20' SeaCraft and were excited about the larger project.
The main structural damage was to the transom, but there were some pretty good cracks on the bow and the floor above the gas tank was as rotten as one could get. The console was a hodge-podge of wiring and old gauges, so we just tore everything out and started over. We gutted the entire boat of all wiring and rigging and went to town. We filled in all of the existing speaker and lighting holes along with the external battery switch holes as seen in the pictures. Next, we replaced the rotten floor with3/4" marine plywood and glassed it over, finally applying a new coat of Devoe sealant paint. We must have sanded the hull for two weeks and then primed her up, went back with spot putty and sanded again. As you know, 90% of the paint job is in the prep work. We primed it one more time, applied spot putty one more time, and it was time to paint. The hull was painted for a good 3 months before we got inside.
The paint is all Imron. The hull color does not exist. I picked a color based on a chip and it turned out to be too dark. Jason Bennett, who painted the boat, added what was left of a pint of Hatteras white and we went from there. There are 3 coats on the outside as well as the inside. We used Imron 508U for the interior. I told the paint shop that I wanted "hurt your eyes white" and that is what they suggested. The original interior color was the standard "cat-shit brown" that Mako was so famous for in their older boats, so it took some serious sanding to get the deck ready for paint. We mixed Grip-Tex with the Imron for the non-skid. One major mistake we made was rolling the floor instead of using the gun. There are two spots that came out a little thin, so don't use that method.
I kept all of the teak, it takes a little work, but its worth it. I have seen several that used Starboard, but it doesn't have the character of teak. For the major glass work we used woven glass mat, and for the small stuff we used regular glass mat. All of the epoxy and fairing material is West System. Again, a little pricy, but worth it.
The boat is powered with a 1993 Johnson 200. This is a little under-powered, but due to budget it is what we could get. Before we hung the motor, I had the tank pumped since it had sat for about a year when I found it. It only cost $100, but was well worth the investment.
The boat is wired with two batteries. I have (1) 1000 cranking amps and (1) 750 cranking amps. They are run by a Perko battery switch that is mounted to the hull inside one of the aft compartments.
Future plans include closing the transom, going to a bracket and stepping up to a pair of 150's or 175's. I added a T-top last March and decked it out with all of the necessary electronics. All of the gauges are Teleflex Sportsman series and the steering is a Teleflex No Feedback System. The boat does not pull an inch. We went with Morse controls for the throttle and finished it off with 1" thick teak washboards.
This thing is definitely a labor of love, but I wouldn't part with it for the world. I plan to finish the boat when my motor gives out. I figure if I get through this year, I'll have gotten my money's worth.
Thanks for you interest,
Erik Nelson - Moblie, AL
Scar from being knocked off of the trailer.
Putting her on a temporary trailer.
Waiting for the work to begin.
Patching some of the damage from the collision.
Patched and primed
