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The TERRI LYNN Project.... The boat is a 1971 Searay SRV 220 model (or it was anyway) before I rebuilt it from the ground up. I found the hull in the boat trader and picked it up in Dallas, Texas. Paying $200 bucks for the hull was $195 too much. The boat was completely stripped to the bare hull and the following ensued: New Stringers / new engine / re-configured to inboard / new decks / new electrical / hydraulic steering / addition of a 72 gal fuel tank / paint / The project lasted around 5 years (first 3 don't count because I screwed up a lot trying to learn the fiberglass thing) All in all the boat turned out very well and the family has enjoyed it for the past 5 years. The 350 chevy inboard is fairly strong with a .500 lift on the cam, roller rockers, and 4 bbl Ederbrock carb, estimate the HP around 325 - 350. The transmission is a Twin Disc model 5010A 1:90 to 1 ratio. The prop is a 3 blade Federal equipoise bronze, 18" dia x 20" pitch with a .120" cup. The shaft is 1 3/8" dia 17-4PH SS and the strut is custom fabricated SS. The steering system is Teleflex SeaStar Helm Pump hydraulic. The Performance is good, cruising around 28 MPH at 3300 RPM with a top end of around 36 MPH. (geared down inboards are not fast) The hull is very heavy for a 22' boat...some areas in the keel section were 1" thick. The Searay 220 is a Raymond C Hunt design and very cost to the older Bertrams. The steering is poor at low speeds but I believe this is a function of smallesh rudder. I have opted to keep the smaller rudder because most of my boating is very open water and the small rudder is fine for this type of cruising. Most single engine inboards handle like pigs at the ramp or dock (why do you think they make bow thrusters) The centrally located inboard gives the boat a very smooth ride in the open Gulf, a heavy V8 in the middle of a boat will always ride better in rough water than an outboards or stern drives with all the weight on the transom. The sacrifice is speed. The inboard provides good torque for offshore cruising. All the work in the boat was performed with Epoxy laminating resins and the results are very good, I will continue to use this system. Fiberglass Coating out of Florida sells a 1:1 laminating resin that is very reasonable (compared to WEST SYSTEM). I purchased all of the fiberglass related items from these guys and I can recommend them. Words of advice from learning the HARD way...don't waste your time and money on polyester resins when doing repairs / rebuilds, etc. Go with epoxy. I had to remove some of the work in the areas I originally laid with polyester and it came right, out easily de-laminating under crow bar pressure. The epoxy laminated areas will NOT come apart, you have to grind them out. After pounding around in the Gulf for five years I have had no structural problems with the epoxy laminating system. A note on hull balance: I spent a huge amount of time worrying about the running balance of the hull. What I learned after the boat was in the water is that the design of the hull takes over to some degree at planning speed. Most large trailer boats over 21-22 ft. that are designed to carry a bunch of people and fuel can handle an in-line, inboard conversion. Keep fuel, batteries, etc. weight to the stern and mount the engine as for back as is practical, do your home work and don't worry about it! One of the all around best boats every built (the Topaz 29) has the engines placed very far forward and the boats sit "bow down" with light fuel tanks...but run great on plane and provide one the of biggest cockpits every built. I'm not suggesting that using the weight of the fuel is good design practice but as a last resort it help an out of trim boat, which the SeaRay is not. This project represented a huge learning curve for me. Having been around inboard boats all my life I knew this was what I wanted to do with the boat soon after I pulled it home. The experience of building the TERRI LYNN was great and I'm ready to do it again. Here are a few shots of the boat at various stages of the project and a fish or two...
The TERRI LYNN was a lot of fun to build and is a lot of fun to use, lot's of great memories. After a couple of years trying to sell the TERRI LYNN, with no takers, I decided to dismantle the boat and use the components on the Bertram project. Not my first option, but 20K worth of stuff was not leaving the driveway for a song!
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