1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

[BSnB]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

I like that space too lil buggy. If I lay down, the crack hits me right about in the crack, LOL. I will create some filler piece that I can stow away most of the time, except for when I might want to sleep on deck.

...and you are right about the RGB lights. now I can install them.

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

wooooo,,,, cant wait for the blinky blinky

 

[BSnB]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

Spent some time on the water this weekend. The benches are working out great! I added a couple of rod holders to my radar arch and the Admiral and I went Salmon fishing. I hadn't finished the wiring for my downriggers and so decided to try using a couple of Dipsey Divers. After trolling for about an hour we hook up on a King Salmon and almost before I can put the engines in neutral, I see the fish clear the water in a great splash! Line peeling off the reel, I reach for the controls telling the Admiral that I'll back up to the fish. I realize in the excitement that I've not gotten both engines in neutral and before I can do it and before I can tell the Admiral to let the fish take line...PING!!!!...the line snaps leaving that beautiful fish to swim off with all of my tackle. Love the damn benches though......grrrrrr, grumble......

 

[BSnB]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

Heading back in to buy more Dipsey Divers and lures I hear my name called out on the radio. It's my slip neighbor, who I'd just met, calling out for me. He has a brand new Bayliner with guests aboard and he's about 6 miles away from the dock. We found him anchored in about 7 feet of water off a private beach and he can't get his brand new fuel injected 5.7 POS started.

I will tell you that there is almost nothing better than looking back and seeing that new Bayliner at the end of a rope being towed back to port by my mechanically sound, strong running, partially renovated old Chris Craft....sweet!!!

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

congrats on the salmon fishing,,sounds like you had some fun, at least you got hooked up( that is one for the win column).
and i agree there is nothing better than to be the tow vehicle,,,especially when pulling a newer boat. it seems that outa all the boats i've seen being towed this season,,,, only one was not brandy new:facepalm:,,

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

Man, you both better knock on wood after saying those things,lol Just catching up with your thread man, the benches had to have added some great seating options back there,great job.

And yes, it is maddening when you buy new gear and lose the gear and a nice fish the first time out with it. The river is very unforgiving here with lots of things to snag when trolling, but also flip side is those structures are good fishing spots,lol Happy boating man.

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

knock knock,,,,,,,,,,,lol

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

i'm paying for it now,,, alternator went,,,, new ones pully is the wrong style:facepalm:! i'm grounded, lol

 

[25thmustang]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

I had my first tow yesterday. A 25' Larson with a full crew had the steering go. I hooked them and towed to the close by ramp. A few hours later they were on the water with the issue fixed. That was good to see they salvaged the day.

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

mustang, thanks for saving someones day. i'm sure they appretiated it,,,,

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

Ok, its time to light this thing up!!! Any updates?

 

[BSnB]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

Work has been busting my chops for the past couple of weeks. Rather than lighting, I've been working on installing 2 Cannon Mag20 downriggers. i've mounted the swivel base on each to a gimbel mount that will slide into my flush mount rid holders. The wire couplings on one of the downriggers was bad. I've looked on-line for replacement Cannon wire sets and found that the pricing on those was awfully high. I read about a guy (on another forum) who picked up a wire set for connecting trailer lights. NAPA had them for less that half the cost of what they wanted for the Cannon. I'll finish soldering the wires together today and run my battery leads and finish the install on Friday (pictures then). Lighting will have to wait until the fishing gear is set. We picked up a nice 14 lb Coho last weekend on a Dipsey dragging an orange spoon. Fun, but I really need to get these downriggers mounted.

The seats added a great deal of comfort and seating to the boat without really taking away from the open feel of the deck, which I like. They don't dismount as easily as I'd hoped though. The brackets that I used hold the bench very securely to the transom, but the male end attached to the seat itself is made with a little metal pimple at the center of the flange that matches to a dimple on the female receiving mount. Partly because of the curve to the transom setting the brackets at a slight angle to each other and partly because of the pressure exerted by the cushion against the transom these bracket pimple/dimples tend to bind, preventing the seat from coming up and out. I've buffed the pimple down some, but I'll need to grind more off before this process works easily enough. Also, the swing in legs worked out well but I find I want a little more height at the front of the bench. The legs I have are 12 inch, which puts the bench just about dead level...maybe a slight fore to aft incline (feels that way anyway). I'm replacing the legs with 13 inch posts which will give a slight fore to aft decline. I tested the feel out using some dowel rods and it made a surprising improvement...especially when you lay down.

Gone fishing!

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

great catch man, glad to hear the seat tweeks are working out. and then the downriggers,,,, that will be sweet for sure.
enjoy and for the love of iboats get some pics of those fish

 

[kylejb2663]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

Hey Chris Craft guys, got a quick question for you- What are you guys running for WOT RPMs and Cruise RPMs..? I'm having some issues with mine where I can't get one motor to go above 2400 RPMs and the other motor will not go above 2700RPMs... Replaced the fuel filters on both sides... I'm guessing tune up and Carb rebuilds may be needed...?

 

[lexusbajo]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

i've got twin 5.0 mercurisers an cruising is about 3200 and WOT is just shy of 5k. my 89 Amerosport 284 hit 41 MPH @ WOT per gps (i dont have speedo)

 

[BSnB]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

My twin 4.3's run WOT a little over 4000 RPM. Cruising is about the same as lexusbajo...3200 to 3500. I"d say a tune-up and carb-cleaning for sure, kyle.

I'm impressed by that 41 MPH, lexusbajo! I'm lucky to get 30. An extra .7 Liters per engine makes a big difference apparently. I really think I should get more RPMs out of mine and more speed. I've done the tune-up. I've sprayed the carbs with cleaner. I need to change the fuel/water separators again i think, but even with that, I think I should be getting 4500 or so and maybe mid/upper 30's MPH with straight shaft twin inboards.

 

[BSnB]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

it's been HOT, HOT, HOT....so I bought a Portable 8000 BTU Air Conditioner. I just cant justify $1500 for a built-in water cooler (put a hole in the bottom of the boat) Air Conditioner.

The portable measures a little over 25 inches high, about 24 inches wide and 14 inches deep. it has a 6 inch exhaust hose to dispell heat out the back of the unit and a flip down blower vent with 3 fan speeds, remote controlled, at the top front of the unit. Right now I've got it sitting under the galley table taking up space, with the exhaust hose stuck out through the hatch to exhaust the heat. There has GOT to be a better way!!!

Behind the Head is a closet that looks big enough to hold this thing. The closet sits below the Helm station. Above the closet there is an access door which provides access to all the helm wiring and inside the closet itself there is another small door on the left to allow me access to my shower sump pump. Running above that sump pump is an exhaust hose for the bathroom power vent. Soooo...I've got space, I've got power and I've got an existing exhaust hose...how hard could this be???

Challenge #1...the closet door is too small to simply slip the portable AC through it and into the space. Cut the door bigger?...break up the plastic cabinetry of the portable so it will fit?? I wish I knew more about ow these things operate. If I did, I'd think about separating the thing into its component parts and reassembling them inside the closet. Wish me luck!!

 

[BSnB]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

The water's nice off the beach....


...and you can't beat the view at sunset

 

[BSnB]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

Best of all is a Salmon "Hat Trick"

Coho


Steelhead


King (Chinook)


...and YES, my wife ALWAYS catches the big ones...

 

[BSnB]

Re: 1987 28' Chris-Craft 283 Amerosport

I have a couple of old fishing nets that I've used over the years Bass fishing. One I lost before catching that Steelhead and I had to swing the line up into the boat to land him. I was lucky.

When the Admiral caught the King, the net I had left was a K-Mart special with a diameter of maybe 18 inches and a depth of about the same. She fought that King for about 10 minutes...maybe more...and after several last minute runs from the boat, she was finally able to bring it close to the swim step. I jumped over with my trusty net and as she brought him to the surface, all I could think of was a variation of the famous line from the movie Jaws..."we're gonna need a bigger net".

I reached out with the net and got the head inside, but as I began to lift, the rest of the body would begin to flop out. There was no way that this fish was going in that net. There was also no way I was going to let this fish get away. So with the Admiral excitedly screaming "don't lose him...don't lose him", I reached under the fish with my left arm while holding the net in my right and cradled the entire fish like I was holding a baby to my chest. I swear that I would have jumped in the water after him if he slipped out of my grasp. I was able to hold on to him, turn and fling this 33 inch fish over the stern and onto the deck at the Admiral's feet. I then climbed back up into the boat, fish slime and blood soaking my favorite shirt, and take the picture you see above. With the photo done, I loaded the fish into the cooler (he just fit) and covered him in ice. I then turned to the Admiral, congratulated her on a great job and then broke the net over my knee and headed inshore to buy another one.

Why am I never quite prepared!!!:facepalm: