Classic John Allmand w Low Hours Merc 5.7 in Jacksonville, Florida

For Sale a classic 1973 John Allmand 23 foot hardtop with aluminum Float On trailer. This vessel was re powered sometime around 1999 by the former owner with a new Mercruiser 5.7 .The former owner reported(and I believe it) to have only 50 hours on the engine at the time of sale. We used the boat approximately 7-10 offshore trips (do the math). Therefore, I can honestly say I have first hand knowledge of this engine having less than 150 hours of service TOTAL. The Whole story: My father was a well known Charter Boat Owner/Captain in NE Florida going back to 1969. He was also a High Tonnage Commercial Captain. In the off season he would work Commercial vessels, delivery's etc., His last charter?head boat (65 ft A1 with V1271 ti;s) was sold in 1994.From that time on he worked full time as a Commercial Captain and bought/restored "play" boats during downtime. This vessel was bought to use as a "play" boat while we were restoring 2 others. For those who know what they are reading, there should be no explanation necessary for the quality of John Allmand hulls. In short they are awesome. Its not an exaggeration to say all of them were Bertram quality. This one had a great power plant. All the right stuff. Those familiar with this class of boat know there are few combos better than a low hours Mercruiser 5.7 coupled to a TR out drive. [Look at the listing prices right here on Ebay !] The former owner made several modifications including actually cutting a hatch in the hardtop above the helm. (why? Your guess is as good as mine. I must admit, it did keep things cooler without having to open the main windshields) He also added custom insulated fish boxes. As I recall they worked  well holding ice all day.On his last trip, Dad noted a problem with (he thought) the out drive. It turns out the out drive was just fine. The out drive gimble was the problem. At first we thought it may have been increased stress from the "Doel Fin" installed on the cavitation plate leading to failure. But more than likely a VERY large (over 350 lbs) guest had stepped on it to get into the boat. Simply put, Dad did not want to put any more money into this one while we had 2 other Major projects going on (including  2; 318 rebuilds in a 28 ft Marinette, and a 1976 46 ft Egg Harbor w V871 naturals). So he had the Marina pull the engine/out drive. The plan was to part it out and dump the hull. Although heartbreaking (to me) to see the hull go, his plan was a good one. He had an extremely reliable, low hour plant with a equally reliable out drive (needing a gimble), along with a great Aluminum  Float On trailer. We mounted the engine on 4 X 4 and put it under his carport. He rigged up a raw water intake so he could crank it......and it sat, and sat. It seems there was never enough time to get serious about selling. My Dad passed away in 2005. I honestly think he deliberately dragged his feet on selling this boat because it was so dear to his heart. Nonetheless its time now.The trailer is a mid-90s Float On. One of the original all aluminum trailers with the old school "surge" brakes.  The surge brake system worked great for a while, but ended up rusting to the point they were no longer usable. I believe the old system can be brought back easily if the correct tongue can be located(possibly etrailer dot com). The master cylinder and lines are all still in tact . To make it operational without the surge brakes, I had a welder fabricate a new tongue assembly (as shown in the pictures) for 2" ball. Here is the bottom line. Im listing this vessel to sell NOW. There are 2 routes the prospective buyer can go. You could take my dads line and part it out [look right here at Merc 5.7s , TR  out drives, 26 ft 3700lb trailers] OR  my way. get a new gimble, put it back together and have a awesome family, offshore capable  boat.  In any event its got to go NOW. For all of the above reasons Im setting the minimum bid at only $100. Happy Bidding !

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