"Hook, Line, and SeaArk"

Picked up this SeaArk the other day when I happened to see it on Craigslist. I had been looking for one for a while, but none were ever for sale used, and I wasn't too thrilled at the prices of a new one. I wanted either a 1542 or a 1548, so this was perfect.

I have a brand new, never seen the water Mercury 25 that's going on it. The Evinrude on the back in the pictures (and a 1519 Duracraft) will be for sale shortly.

It came with two cheap seats without bases or pedestals, so I went and got the pin and base style mounts to "test the waters." I put down one base for the driver.




I attached the base with lag bolts with a lock washer on each. Very solid for now.

I'll probably pick up another 2 sets of seat bases; one for a passenger on the back bench and one on the front. There's not a whole lot of leg room for a forward facing passenger up front, but I want to keep the open layout. I don't really want to sacrifice any floorspace for a deck/extension.

I'm going to price gunboxes from the factory (or see if I can pick up a used one), or I might get a welding shop to fab me up one if that'd end up being cheaper. I intend to use this boat for hunting (ducks and geese) and as a base vehicle for turkeys and deer, so the gunbox will actually hold guns, but it'll obviously double as storage for lifejackets, tools, and the like.

The first owner glued carpet down on the rear benches and "pods" as well as the front deck. The previous owner ripped it up, but an obnoxious amount of glue residue is left. Any suggestions on what to use to get it up? Acetone? I've been working at it with a putty knife, but that's extremely slow, hand-cramping work, and it's hard to keep from scraping up the green paint at times.

FishinsMyLife said:

The first owner glued carpet down on the rear benches and "pods" as well as the front deck. The previous owner ripped it up, but an obnoxious amount of glue residue is left. Any suggestions on what to use to get it up? Acetone? I've been working at it with a putty knife, but that's extremely slow, hand-cramping work, and it's hard to keep from scraping up the green paint at times.

Click to expand...

Here's how to handle the glue. Mix 50/50 Acetone and Xylol/Xylene in a spray bottle. This is basically what goof off is. Spray it on an area of glue and let it soak for a few seconds to dissolve the glue. Hit the area with a green scrubbie pad and break up the glue. You'll have a nasty looking mess. Rinse with hot water and you're done.

For a shinier finish, use some old aluminum Mag cleaner (mix of three acids) for a finer cleaning and etching.

To see pics, check my signature link.

Powerplant is on. 25 Mercury 4 stroke. Hopefully I can pick up the jackplate from a member on here and get that on in the next week or so.

Hey look at Moberg's mod, he mad his own jackplate, looks pretty easy.

I've seen some of the DIY jackplates, but I wanted to go 100% on this boat. The motor is a long shaft on a short transom, so I needed at least 5 inches of lift to get it to where I needed to be.

Even though the jackplate was backordered on the West Marine website in my order history, it showed up on my doorstep this afternoon :?:

This thing is stout.



Plate on




Motor on



Pin adjusted

If you don't mind me asking, what did you pay for the boat?

Boat, trailer, fishfinder, and trolling motor for $1600. Boat had been used as a pond boat with a trolling motor by the first owner and it sat under a shed during the second owner's possession.

Took the boat to the coast for a couple weeks and caught some fish out of it.

First fish I caught out of the boat.


A couple trout and a nice whiting.


Over the slot redfish




I got Captain Ahab's seat bases in the mail, but I didn't have the tools or hardware to put 'em on until I got home. I finally got 'em put in the other day. One on the front deck and another on the back bench for a total of 3.









In order for a transom saver to fit on the trailer/motor, I had to raise the bunks as high as they go to get the clearance from the bottom/back of the boat for the transom saver. In turn, the side bunks were sitting low enough that they weren't doing any good for guiding the boat on. In addition to that, they were put on with iron tubing, which had become a rusted mess.

The picture makes it kind of looked missized, but you get the idea.



I went and picked up a 10' section of 1.25" EMT conduit for cheap and used it to put the bunks up higher.








Next "big" addition will be a floor and a Tempress seat, as funds allow.

I picked up a gunbox cheap from a fella at school. He duck hunts the coast and needed the floorspace for all the decoys he uses on the bigwater.

I also got a sheet of hydroturf for $30 less than what it is from the factory. Another guy bought more than what he needed for his project.

I'll get some pictures up when I get the chance. Until then, I'll put this picture up of what I've been using the boat for: getting to my hunting grounds.

Nice to see you posting again...
These little aluminum are great,can use em for everything...nice little buck.