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Last week I bought Whaler #35162. It is a Sakonnet with a rear seat added. I have been looking for a vintage 16.7 for a long time and this one came up on a Craigslist search. Apart from the rear seat and motor, it seems pretty original. It has a 1996 Johnson 50 on the back which I didn't think was enough power but last weekend I took it out and was cruising at 22-23 knots which seems pretty good! I plan to use it for cruising and fishing this Summer then restore all the wood and paint the hull over the Winter. The gel coat is badly crazed both on the hull and in the cockpit. I am hoping to get away with spraying high build primer over the whole boat then sanding that and topcoating. I realize that the boat is probably wet on the inside and I will weigh it once I get it down to a bare hull just so I know what I am dealing with. Should I be encouraged by the speed with only 50HP?
I am looking for any and all input. The price was right on this boat so it doesn't owe me a lot but based on the comments I got last weekend, this vintage and model really strikes a chord with people so I'd like to get it in better shape cosmetically and use it for a couple of years at least. Did I mention that I live on the Sakonnet River? Pretty cool!
I remember that boat. It was in Marstons Mills, wasn't it? Did you get it below the $7500 asking price.
What I thought was strange was the 3 cylinder 50hp, which I didn't know existed. Maybe it's a commercial edition? Anyway, if it were a 2 cylinder 50, I'd say you were underpowered. That motor, propped correctly will have the torque of the 70hp which is basically the same motor. If it seems ok to you, I'd run it.
Congratulations on the purchase of Sakonnet 16 #35162.
More than 4 decades ago, my first Boston Whaler experience was on a Sakonnet 16 powered by a Johnson 50 two cylinder outboard. I used to waterski, lobster, fish, etc., on it in coastal areas on Cape Cod Bay, from Plymouth up the coast to Minot's Ledge Light. I never once thought it underpowered. Sure, it could not go faster than 30 mph; but who wants to go faster than 30 mph in a Whaler 16, in Cape Cod Bay 4 foot waves?
More than a dozen years ago, I owned a Katama 16 also powered by a Johnson 50 hp two cylinder, two stroke motor. I probably put more than a 1000 hours a summer on that boat/motor; only once did I experience the need for more HP, during a run with 5 persons from East Falmouth to Vineyard Haven, on a bright sunny but rough day, 24 hours after a storm passed through in mid-August.
Today, I am finishing up my 5 coats of varnish on my 1971 Nauset 16 center console and pilot seat. The wind has picked up, and the pollen is flowing in the air, so I will wait for better conditions to apply the final coat. I have a BRP 2003 Johnson 90 HP two stroke "looper" for power, mounted three holes up running a stilletto stainless 15 pitch.
Owning a blue hull 16 with mahogany interior requires some degree of work, but it is enjoyable to do, and, the comments departing and returning to dock, are always satisfying to hear.
If your plywood on the base of the console is dark, stained, and/or rotten, just replace it. When you do install new mahogany wood, be sure to consider North Kingstown, RI-based Master Shipwright Louis Sauzedde's advice for using deep penetrating epoxy as a base coat on the lower console, where it makes contact with the deck.
