THE OFFICIAL ACE-CRAFT FAN PAGE

thika

Sealiner
Nice pics BFC!

Serra Moz...tell more please

Maak my hare sommer regop staan....Ace Craft is the true pioneer of everything to do with ski-boat fishing in this country.

And we know this is THE boat that made the first man drive into curling waves...cause he COULD!

The harbours were: Lourenco Marques, Durban and East London at the time

So, take note :

ACE CRAFT men don't need harbours  :)

ACE CRAFT men can go THROUGH waves!

ACE CRAFT men believe in Mermaids!

ACE CRAFT men are not scared of Tas!

ACE CRAFT men discovered the world 500 years ago!

ACE CRAFT men love cats and look after them.... that's why they will always stop and offer assistance to Butt Cat men:)

 

Feel free to add to this list of ACE CRAFT men endeavours :)

 

If any of the 27000 SEALINE members needs to dispute this wisdom, then consider:

WHICH make of ski boat preceeded ACE CRAFT?

 

None!

Done!
 

Good Vibes

New member
In 1980 my dad used to watch a boat called Big Blue exit the Swartkops River mouth with ease. Her registration was ZSK2. With the help of a vigilant fellow soul, she was discovered in a scrapyard. What was left of her was bought. Do you think she is worth restoring?

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BFC

Senior Member
Good Vibes,

 

As much as I would like to see that 21ft Hull flatten a few Greenies again , its time has gone i fear, the whole structure seems to be Plywood only , and has suffered deterioration from the weather.

If it was a Glassfibre hull there may have been a slight chance , but too far gone on the wood.

 
 

Good Vibes

New member
My dad didn't listen to you guys and that's the reason why you don't see posts of me with fish...
We started restoring Big Blue.

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.seaboy

New member
Agreed but if the surveyor sees photo no. 2 in post 327 he might be quite passionate about not giving it a buoyancy cert.!!
 

QuQ

New member
Good Vibes - I know jack about restoring boats but I think there is a whole horde of us who would like to see, if at all possible, Big Blue being restored to her former glory! We'll be watching closely (and remember you can never upload enough pics!!!!).
 

Good Vibes

New member
I can recall my dad talking about Big Blue since I started showing an interest in boating and fishing. When he located her in September 2010, he went and bought her. Both his friend and I were not convinced that she could be salvaged. We knew it would be a lot of work. We started with the project.

It has been a long road but rewarding. She is made of marine ply and meranti. Similar materials have been used in her repair with us adding teak and high grade epoxy compounds. All suspect timber was removed and attended to.

We are trying to date her. She is 5880mm long with a beam of 2460mm and was already in circulation in 1975.

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Good Vibes

New member
barryfish
Except for the portion shown, all ply still intact without any dry rot. Saturation epoxy was applied generously to all exposed and sanded wooden surfaces resulting in a steel like composite.

QuoteUnquote
Big Blue’s restoration is roughly 50% plus complete and I already have in excess of 300 photos.

Benniejordaan
You are correct, she is completely wood and a rough estimate of 40 years plus old

Can’t wait myself to get her seaworthy!
Will post more photos tomorrow.
 

QuQ

New member
Good Vibes wrote:
barryfish
Except for the portion shown, all ply still intact without any dry rot. Saturation epoxy was applied generously to all exposed and sanded wooden surfaces resulting in a steel like composite.

QuoteUnquote
Big Blue’s restoration is roughly 50% plus complete and I already have in excess of 300 photos.

Benniejordaan
You are correct, she is completely wood and a rough estimate of 40 years plus old

Can’t wait myself to get her seaworthy!
Will post more photos tomorrow.



Excellent, looking forward to the pics!
 

barryfish

Senior Member
awesome that most of the ply is good, that expoxy, and possibly the way they made the ply back then! slowly

would have thought it should have some core water ingress / delamination after so long.

excellent project! keep us updated
 

BFC

Senior Member
Looking at the pics , with drewl on my keybord . If that boat is done it would be the equivalent of owning a Corvette Stingray, and may well be a collectors item.

I am also very enthusiastic you are doing the fwd console version.

and this must truly be Noah's ACE , Thika was talking about !!!
 
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