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So after selling the Triad (miss it lol), and the Scarab project suffering from "scope creep" (added full repaint to the list....), I wanted something that needed less work to get rolling. Key criteria was also something more comfortable than the Triad for multiple passengers and better suited to long cruises and sandbar BBQ days. I also wanted to move into the modern world with an ETEC. The options out west are way more limited than in Ontario but you can find stuff in the western US a little easier. After a bunch of "Craigslisting", I found this 1987 21' Checkmate Starflite in Spokane Washington. It had a clean 2.4 EFI Bridgeport on it, original trailer, and appeared to overall have been very well taken care of. I have family a couple hours north of Spokane, so long story short, I made a road trip through the Oakanagan valley and picked it up over the Canada Day long weekend last year. The owner was a great guy to work with, I looked it over, ran compression on the motor, we took it for a rip and the deal was done. Importing it was super smooth (have all your paperwork in order and you're good to go).

After getting it back to Calgary I ran it only once that summer due to other vacation plans. With the 22" big ear chopper it came with it accelerated and handled OK, but the speedo was broken and I neglected to bring along a GPS. According to the Checkmate forums, these hulls run high 60s to low 70s when setup correctly with this power. I was not able to fully hang it out (it had no foot throttle or remote trim and lots of wheel torque [original 1987 Merc dual Rideguide steering]). I also found it super annoying that there was no driver's side seat slider. I'm 5'9" on a good day and apparently everybody before me was well north of 6 feet because I'm at the edge of the seat.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1cfzHA982948dZTp8
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The boat is original gel that's in excellent shape aside from a few scratches and chips normal for it's age; all are hard to see from a couple feet away. The interior was replaced a few years ago and overall is in great shape.

So all that was the good news......
The bad news was the stringers and rear floors were rotted. The previous owner was more of an "engine guy" than a "hull guy" and when I went to look at the boat I was surprised that he seemed genuinely unaware the the stringers and floor were shot. This was very evident by looking in the ski locker and poking at the floor where the battery(s) were mounted. The transom had some stress cracks (pretty common of course), but tap-tested OK, and passed the "trim it out on the trailer and hang off the gearcase " flex test (highly scientific).

I was OK with a winter project and frankly stringers and floor needing to be replaced would be normal on a hull this old so we worked out a deal and I towed it home. I de-rigged the motor, sold it locally on Kijiji, and then ripped out every bit of hose and wire. Although for the most part everything actually functioned, the rigging was actually really, really bad (admittedly I am kind of fussy though).

And for my Merc buddies, you'll only hear this once: I owned a Merc and I (sigh) liked it.
These hulls need more torque than the little 2.4 could bring, but I do get the appeal of the high-perf 2.4/2.5 series. I kinda want a boat to put a 280 on lol.

Anyway, I got to work chopping out the stringers, floor, and sourcing an ETEC. I got a great deal on 2010 225 that needed a piston.

(pics to follow)

Nice picture of dude checking out his gut lol... I love the looks of a black hull, but man it's gotta be hot in the sun!

So I'm terrible with keeping up with posting progress on this project. In fact, I should have done more pics initially.
Anyway, progressing well all things considered with the pandemic.

Chopping rotten stringers and wet foam out:
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Before and after chopping out the rear stringers and knees. Note the terrible design of the knees - they basically just tie the rear floors to the transom (sort of). They barely actually connect the transom to the stringers/bottom. I've done a lot of reading on the Checkmate forums on these boats and they are known for not having a very good transom design for modern power.





So you may have noticed the "exploratory" hole-saw holes I drilled in the transom.......
Well....we got some scope creep. After more exploration with a drill, the transom was a mix of dry/solid, damp, and several patches of rot. It appears to be the original transom. Not exactly a surprise. So whatever, we're doing a transom now too. I want this boat to be able to handle any modern power so it needs to be bullet-proof, so new transom it is. The hole-saw disc cut from the top of the transom is a sample disc for Composites Canada to do a colour-match with their gel coat camera.



And from below......
I bought a grinder wheel called a Lancelot that is the awesomest tool for removing a rotten transom. It's a scary looking chainsaw circlet that cuts both wet and dry wood amazingly well. After "suiting up" (you want a lot of PPE for using this thing), I also put a duct from my dust collector down in the transom with me. I sucked most of the transom out between the Lancelot and the dust collector in maybe 90 minutes. That saved hours or days with a saw and prybar. Lee Valley Tools sells them.