1985 Sea Sprite with Custom Gel Work.

Cooperider

Cooperider

Active Member
Back when I had the original Coop's Garage, this was the first boat that got worked on, and it ended up being the last boat that got worked on. My dad loaned it out and it came back wrecked. So she got done twice. We got to do things the second time around that we couldn't do the first time.

These are probably the only pictures I have of this project. I was kind of poor back then. So not a lot of money for film. We saved it for Two for Tuesday at Little Ceaser's so we could get twice as much Crazy Bread.

Anyway, this is what the boats original paint looked like.

Coop'sgarage0100b.jpg
 
Cooperider

Cooperider

Active Member
OK, we actually painted it THREE times. My dad changed his mind while I was gone one weekend after I had the first paintjob on it. And the guys, prepped it for a new job. But never changed the price. But he supported us a bit so I guess it was ok.

Here is the ONLY pic of that FIRST paintjob.

Coop'sgarage0100c.jpg
 
Cooperider

Cooperider

Active Member
Thats the only pic of that paint job as well.

But we got pics of it when I had to repaint the boat. Same paint job, but the deck had to come off for repairs to the deck and hull.

Coop'sgarage0102c.jpg
 
Cooperider

Cooperider

Active Member
Custom stripes on the hull and deck.

We also had an extra layer of glass added to the hull. To stiffen things up a bit.

Coop'sgarage0102d.jpg
 
Cooperider

Cooperider

Active Member
All the paint work is done in Gel Coat. Looks good doesn't it?


If fact, I showed these pics to Sea Sprite when I was out there. The didn't believe it was one of theirs until I gave them the serial number. There's just not a lot of Custom Sea Sprites out there.
 
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daren34

New Member
our first family boat was a 1973? deep v tri hull 18 1/2 foot bought it brand new from a dealer in fort worth texas

i remember it being real wide and roomy

dad would not buy the boat unless thay installed the new 225 horse shelby 302 mercruiser

i think we had one of the first ones out

dad loved to experiment with props all you could buy back them was alluminum and they were cheap compared to todays prices

he would have extra cup added and resized up or down depending on how they ran

we must have and 8 or 10 different props

if it was just the family then we ran a 19 pitch
if extras a 17 pitch
once pulled an 8 adult pyramid with a 15 pitch

we had a 22 pitch to go fast
i don't remember how many rps that 22 would turn but the first night we had the boat we took the boat out to lake dallas with friends
9 people in the boat and outran a jet boat
the lake was rough though and the jetboat kept coming out of the water
he was mad that he could not keep up though

me, my 2 brothers and my sister all lerned to slolam behind that sea sprite
daren

don't hold me to all the details i was only 8 or 9 at the time
 
Chris

Chris

Administrator
Staff member
Those old Tri-Hulls were the cat's meow back in the mid to late 70's.

They had a nice ride, but most were as slow as hell. Most had no lift, so you would literally plow through the water. :yell: :)
 
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daren34

New Member
i'm not shure how they did it but the sea sprite weighed about 1/2 as much as the same size tri-sonic

we could out run the 19' jet tri-sonics with a 302 sterndrive

it was a great family boat you could take 10 people skiing and stay out all day

we carried 30 gallons of gas a 12 on the stbd side and a 18 on the port side
the fuel tanks were against the stern
we used to run the 18 down to 1/2 the switch to the 12 when it ran dry it was time to head back

daren
 
Cooperider

Cooperider

Active Member
It was probably because they were THIN. I could rip the deck of this boat with my hands, we added a few layers to it and the hull. And it made all the difference in the world on this boat.
 
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