1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

[BSnB]

The Admiral and I have been searching to replace my little Cuddy cabin boat with something we can weekend on. I've finally settled on a 1987 Chris Craft Amerosport Express Cruiser. To briefly describe the boat...it is 28 ft at the waterline and a little over 33 ft LOA. It is equipped with twin inboard Crusader V6 engines, a head, a galley, a booth w/table, a V-berth and a lot of neglected fit and finish.

I intend to restore and improve this boat to better than new appearance and make her seaworthy and reliable. (with all the iboater helpers I can find)

Before I post pictures, let me say that I have a contract on the boat subject to a sea trial. I am buying the boat through a Broker and I will have a Survey done, if for no other reason than insurance requires it (thank God).

I say "thank God" because tomorrow we are scheduled to do our second sea-trial. The first did not go so well...

We had previously inspected the boat on its' trailer parked in the yard of its' owner. Dingy, dirty, faded colors, unusual color choices and styles inside. The Owner...let's call him "Homer Simpson"...had planned on using the boat with his wife for cruising Lake Michigan and the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers until she got ill. Despite appearances it looked to be in decent mechanical shape and the Admiral was hooked on what could be done with the decor.

We arrived the following week prepared to do a thorough sea-trial to find Homer at his slip with the boat opened up and apparently ready to go. The Broker..let's call him Captain America...was with us and we proceeded to hail Homer from the gate. He approached and then needed to go look on the boat for his gate key while we were let onto the dock by another boater. We surprised Homer a little when we strolled up alongside the boat and asked if we could board her. Re-introductions completed, Homer appologized that he had not had the time yet to take her out because the brakes had failed on his tow vehicle as he was backing her down the ramp into the water. He proudly described how he quickly put the vehicle into drive, to reverse his decent into the water and, when sucessful in that, proceeded to repair the blown brake line so that he could safely back the triple axle trailer and boat weighing around 8000 lbs back into the water. His frail wife holding the brake.

Shaking off that story, we toured the boat pushing button and operating equipment, looking in the engine compartment and finding everything to be somewhat in order. Captain America was ready and so were we and so we asked Homer to start the engines. With the blower still off, I was surprised to watch Homer turn the key to start the Starboard engine followed by the Port. The port died and before he could try to start it again, I asked that Homer show me the blower switch...which worked.

Setting a fast idle to allow the engines to warm up, I began to assist Captain America with the lines. The engines idle nice, water exiting the exhaust, no blue smoke, we're ready to go.

Facing bow up-current in the slip with little wind and port to shore some 40 feet away, Homer proceeded to back out of the slip pulling the starboard stern out, catching the bow in the current so that we are now facing the concrete retaining wall and is left with little choice but to back his way out of the slipway. Crabbing the boat bow down-current, Homer manages to avoid all obstacles, including the brand new 45 Sea Ray Aft Cabin tied at the end of the pier and put stern to the current, point the bow to the big lake and just manage to also proudly avoid the long Fountain power boat stuck on the sandbar just off the end of the pier.

While giving us a tour of the area as we slowly motored toward the big lake I asked questions about throttles and steering and safety equipment and life jackets. Hitting some turbulent water at the harbor entrance, we talked some more about life jackets and safety equipment and the operation of the head.

Finally clearing the harbor entrance and moving into the calmer waters of Lake Michigan, Homer advances both throttles to the stops and away we go, bow up, big wake, no plane...the port engine sputters and dies...


(to be continued)

 

[stackz]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

Before I post pictures, let me say that I have a contract on the boat subject to a sea trial.

boo that man!! always post pics. regardless. boats are so unique that even if you dont buy this one, doesnt mean it wont spark a passion in someone else.

though, the story so far is decent

 

[BSnB]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

Might be sideways, but Homer would accept that.

 

[BSnB]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

hmmmm...still gotta figure out how to post pictures. A common problem it seems.

 

[BSnB]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

Our first look....

 

[BSnB]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

The prior refurbishing project....

 

[ingalp01]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

She has very similar lines to my Chris Craft... I like the look of her... The current Captain's ineptitude aside, what is your overall opinion of the boat???

 

[BSnB]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

I like the lines as well as she looks like she'd ride pretty dry in rougher weather. I like the layout as well. The cabin area is all forward of the helm. No mid-cabin under the helm like in some newer boats. Instead, that space is all engine compartment with large hatches through the weather deck below the helm. Great access to the engines!

 

[BSnB]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

Before I give everyone the wrong impression of Homer...I wouldn't call him inept, but if he didn't have bad luck, he'd have no luck at all! I enjoy his company and he's been more than fair throughout this purchase process.

(back to the story)

...Homer advances both throttles to the stops and away we go, bow up, big wake, no plane...the port engine sputters and dies...

Pulling back on the throttle and slowing the boat to idle speed, Homer works to restart the port engine. He's successful in getting it to fire up, but it immediately sputters and dies. Floating and drifting in neutral now, Homer proceeds to lift the hatches over the engines to inspect, realizes the Starboard engine should probably be off before he jumps down between them to check things out. Drifting slowly toward the breakwall, Homer shuts down the engine decides that the problem is a clogged fuel filter. With apologies, he says that he doesn't have his tools to change this filter and that he'd been meaning to add a fuel/water separator, but hadn't gotten it installed yet. Limping back toward the harbor entrance on the remaining engine, Homer is berating himself for not putting more than 8 gallons of fuel in the empty Port tank. He suspects that because both tanks had been drained dry for the winter, that the fuel loosened up some gunk and mixed with some water and that caused his problem. I ask how much fuel he put in the Starboard tank and am told he threw in 10 gals. I'm hoping the remaining engine doesn't quit.

Passing two Marine Fuel stations on the way back to the slip, we happily arrive. A light breeze blowing from the Starboard, nose into the current, Homer slowly turns to Port to enter the slipway. Nearing his slip he spins the wheel hard Starboard to nose in and throttles up the remaining Starboard engine which caused the bow to swing out rather then in. With Captain American on the bow waiting to grab the post at the end of the dock and pull us to, the bow swings away and is caught by the current pushing it further bow out and away from the slip. Still in gear, we are heading straight for the concrete seawall at the end of the slipway. From the corner of my eye, I see that Homer has left the helm and is working his way forward to assist Captain America in stopping the craft before we impact the wall. I'm at the stern of the boat, making an effort to keep us off the boats on that side, I watch as we idle in gear toward the wall with no one at the helm. Thinking quickly, I jump toward the throttles and throw them both in hard reverse. With assistance from Captain America pushing against the concrete, we've successfully stopped our motion mere millimeters from ramming the bow pulpit into the wall. Relieved, I put the boat in neutral and return to my position at the stern as it swings toward shore.

We now find ourselves sideways in the slipway edging ever closer to the shore and the rip rap at the base of the retaining wall. A discussion is underway between Captain America and Homer about the best way to adjust our position to move the boat out and away and get her secured in the slip. There is not much apparent agreement between the two. Homer has decided to pass a rope off the bow to shore and walk the end of it around and down the dock in order to pull the boat into the slip. He begins to do so, handing the end of the rope to Captain America who looks puzzled and somewhat displeased with this decision. Finding the rope too short, Homer passes him first one, then two and three additional lengths of rope so that Captain America can reach the dock. With Captain America now on the dock and Homer walking from boat to boat passing the rope over the top of antenaes and radar arches and dock posts, Captain America finally reaches Homers slip, walks to the edge of the pier and begins to haul on the rope. Ever so slowly we begin to ease toward the slip and safety. Sweat Dripping from his brow, Captain America and I tie off the boat and begin untying and coiling the multiple lengths of rope as Homer retreats to his truck to gather his tools.

Through all this, the Admiral simply smiled and shook her pretty head.

 

[Cap’n Ray]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

Wow! What an experience. I am looking forward to the rest of this story! Can not wait to read more!

 

[BSnB]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

The second sea-trial was a limited success and I'll post those experiences in a bit, but first, I thought I'd post a couple of interior "before" photos. As you can see she's got good bones but she's in need of a face-lift.

 

[25thmustang]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

Great story telling, and a decent looking boat.

If you don't mind me being rude, what is Homer asking for the boat? I'm trying to decide if mine is on point with pricing.

 

[BSnB]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

I sent you a Private Message, 25thmustang. Best to keep what I got private.

That Cruisers boat of yours looks very similar. I assume yours is 29 ft along the water line? You've got Bigger motors than mine, but so far I'm pleased with the low end torque of the T/V6's. Velvet drive is nice and smooth too. I haven't really opened it up yet with fresh gas and full tanks, but she seems to plane out pretty quickly. I tried monkeying around with the trim tabs but I don't have the hang of that yet. She'll get a bottom cleaning (stripping) this fall at haul out and a barrier coat followed by an ablative in the Spring. I don't see any blisters, but the bottom coat is rough. Smoothing that out should help performance as well. I'm hoping that the fuel economy of the V6's will provide some emotional offset to my need for speed.

 

[25thmustang]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

The 29'er I have measures 28'8 without the platform and pulpit and over 32' with it, so a very similar sized boat. Mines also a Vdrive set-up. As far as top end, your probably going to be similar, in the middle 30 mph range. You will get into what the boat likes the more you use it.

Keep us updated when your doing work on the boat! Plus we all love photos.

 

[BSnB]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

With mid-engines and straight shafts, any thoughts on RPM? Top end or cruise. I'm changing the oil on both engines this weekend and we've begun to update the interior. I'll post pictures of the engines and the updates

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

I like the lines of that boat, looks like a dry ride as well. I enjoyed reading the trial stories, a little humor always makes my day!

 

[25thmustang]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

Well I can only tell you how mine performs, but the boats are fairly close in size/style.

Mine with the twin 350s, 9500 lb dry weight, runs about 24-25 mph cruise, and top end was 35 before I did tune ups and rebuilt the carbs. Now, possibly 36-37.

I would put your boat in a very similar performance area, possibly even quicker. I would also highly recommend a tune up on both motors. It made a world of difference on mine.

Post the photos up when you get a chance.

 

[BSnB]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

As it has turned out, this is not really a restoration thread, so if one of the Admin?s wants to move it, please feel free. ;-)

I do plan to do tune ups on both motors, Mustang. I?ve done an oil change on both engines already just to make sure. Yes, we did buy the boat, despite the challenges of the sea trials. I?ve not posted for a while here because we?ve been working on the boat and trying to enjoy what was left of the summer weather.

(back to the story)

We made arrangements to return for the second sea-trial with Homer. Captain America was not available at the same time as we were, so we took the chance and drove up to Homer?s slip. Raising my voice to gain Homer?s attention, he looks up from whatever he is doing and waves, steps up out of the boat and walks down the dock toward us by the gate. Greetings are exchanged before Homer realizes that he has left his gate key on the boat. He returns with it, let?s us onto the dock and leads us back to the boat.

As we board, Homer explains that he?s rinsed out the port fuel tank to make sure that there is no longer any crud in it and he has installed 2 new fuel/water separators in line prior to the standard fuel filters and replaced both of the filters as well. While inspecting them I notice that he has the flow valve, which controls which tank the engines are drawing fuel from, turned so that both engines are running off of the Starboard tank. Pointing this out to Homer, I ask that he turn the valve so that each engine is running off of its own fuel tank. Smiling and shaking his, head, Homer does so. While still standing down in the engine compartment, Homer explains that he?d forgotten to turn the valve back after installing the fuel/water separators because while he was working on them, the pressure relief valve for the water heater blew out sending steam and hot water all over the engine compartment. The Admiral expressed concern and surprise that he wasn?t hurt! Homer said he wasn?t and chose to look at the bright side?at least the engine compartment was clean! Homer explained that he had since changed the heating element as well as the pressure relief valve and installed an eye hook as well up in the anchor rope locker. The eye hook he installed, he said, because he?d thrown the anchor out earlier in the week, but because the roper was not tied to anything, he lost an anchor. He?d replaced that as well, he said. I?m smiling because I?m gaining a lot of new parts! ;-)

We?re ready to head out and Homer is retrieving the boat keys. Homer is not a fan of the bilge blowers because they drain the battery, he says. I flip the blower on even though the engine hatch has been open, just to be on the safe side. Homer fires up the engines and as we wait for them to warm up Homer says he?s had a tough week and begins to explain.

It seems that his son has joined the Marines and has just spent time at home before being shipped over to Kandahar. He?d completed basic training at Pendelton, come home and then had driven his Jeep Wrangler out to Lejeune in North Carolina. After arriving at Lejeune he and some of fellow Marines took his Jeep out for some offroading and had broken a motor mount. Homer said that he now had to drive down to North Carolina to trailer the Jeep back home for repairs.

Homer went on with his story by telling us that his wife and her Mother had just returned home after driving the Mother?s van down to North Carolina to see his son off. Homer?s wife had gotten an excited call the day before from her Mother. All Homer could tell by overhearing his wife was that something was terribly wrong. He feared the worst about his son until his wife made it clear that their son was ok, but the Mother?s van had spontaneously combusted in the driveway of her house and the Fire Department was on the way. Homer said he felt lucky that it hadn?t burned up while they were on the road.

The engines now warm, Homer said he?d put about 20 gallons of fuel in the tanks and we should be good to go. He began backing out of the slip before we realized that he?d failed to disconnect the shore power. He quickly put the boat back into the slip as I jumped out to flip the shore breaker off and then disconnect the cord from the boat. Off we went again, slowly backing out of the slip, carefully easing the throttles to turn the bow out this time. We eased into the channel and began to slowly make our way out into the lake. While Homer is politely and pleasantly showing us the sights all I can think is?Thank God that the dark cloud that can follow me around is not nearly so heavy as Homer?s.

We've been in touch with Homer since that day. We bought the boat as well. Homer allowed us to keep the boat in his slip for the rest of the season saying that his sailing days were about over. The significant loss of vision in his right eye was making it too difficult. Homer found that he had an electric anchor winch that he'd never had a chance to mount. He gave that to us. Homer offered to let us keep the trailer at his place until we were ready to pull the boat from the water in the fall. I accepted. Homer learned that my wife had never felt the excitement of catching a Lake Michigan Salmon. Homer found his Salmon rod, reel, a lure and a dipsey diver and gave them to my wife so that she could catch a big one. Homer found his old Magellan hand-held GPS unit and gave it to me asking that if I could figure out how, he'd like to have some of his old waypoints off of it.We've since found a new slip and I'm pleased to see that Homer has his sailboat in his old slip. Way to go Homer! The gps had gotten wet and I still haven't been able to retrieve his waypoints, but I have every confidence that Homer can find his way.

May God Bless this man and watch over his son.

 

[25thmustang]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

Great story and congrats on getting the boat to your place! Now the fun can begin.

 

[erwinner]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

You are a very excellent storyteller! All the best for you and your new Chris-Craft. Hope Homer doesn't leave you too many bad surprises. That's a very nice boat you have there. Homer sounds like a good guy, just maybe not one to do everything by the books...