1991 Sea Nymph FM141

TinBoats.net

Help Support TinBoats.net:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

MuskieGuy

Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2018
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
This is a pic of my boat. It's not a recent purchase, and I've done many updates over the time that I've owned it. I've used this site as a resource at various times in the past, and often thought that I should post pics. Finally, after a few recent upgrades here it is.

I purchased this boat in 2004 from an 84 year old WWII vet who purchased it new in 1991 and kept it in the garage. The trailer and wheels were rusty. The rainbow stickers on the sides were peeling in a few places. The aluminum was faded. But everything on the interior was pristine. The whole package was originally sold together...Sea Nymph boat, Yacht Club trailer, and 9.9 Johnson motor.

This is a Sea Nymph FM141. It's the "Fishing Machine" version of a Sea Nymph 14R. What that means is that it has a flat carpeted floor inside, shelves along either side, and pedestal bases/boxes front and rear. It's a typical crappie boat.

This pic is from 2005...a year after I purchased it. I don't know why I never thought to take pics at the time of the interior...I wish I had because you just can't imagine how clean it was. The 9.9 motor is off as we were fishing in a trolling only lake. And we fished quite a bit in that first winter, which did not help for the rust on the trailer and wheels. What you can't see are the casting decks that we made early on so we could stand up and fish. (I will add more posts with pics in a couple stages of upgrades I've done over the last 13 years...not a whole lot of process pics, but I love the end result and the changes I've made to make this a true fishing platform).
 

Attachments

  • 1 2005 boat.jpg
    1 2005 boat.jpg
    58 KB · Views: 2,517
2 2009 boat with polish and trailer work.jpgFlash forward to 2009 when these pics were taken.

In 2008, the rust on my trailer had gotten so bad that the point where the trailer Y's would bounce up and down with little pressure. The tongue was bent. It was ugly. The trailer was all around in rough shape. Before the axel half of my trailer split from the tongue (along with my boat), I bit the bullet and had a new tongue installed on the trailer.

While the trailer was being repaired, I took the opportunity to flip the boat upside down, scrape/peel off those ugly rainbow stickers, and polish the bottom and sides. When I got the trailer back, I sanded the whole thing down, primed, and painted it. Of course, this was in 2008. I didn't think to take pics until after the first time I visited this site in 2009. (It only took another 9 years to post them).

So here's the deal with the decks...
1. The original boat underneath is intact. The plywood decking was perfect. The carpet was good. I didn't want to change the layout of the original boat, so underneath are the original seat bases/boxes. You can see them in the pics. The decks dropped in overtop and sat on the existing floor underneath. They are easily removable.
2. BUT THEY ARE HEAVY!!! Marine grade plywood, which is heavy. The front deck height needed to be the exact same height as a standard 2x12 on its side to overlap a front step inside the boat (you'll see that in later pics). So that's what we used. An 8 foot 2x12. Heavy heavy heavy. The rear deck we decided to save weight?? so we used a 2x10 on it's side with 1/2 marine grade plywood on top.

But she looks beautiful in these pics...
 

Attachments

  • 3 2009 back to front.jpg
    3 2009 back to front.jpg
    54.6 KB · Views: 2,463
  • 4 2009 back deck.jpg
    4 2009 back deck.jpg
    48.6 KB · Views: 2,461
  • 5 2009 front deck.jpg
    5 2009 front deck.jpg
    45.6 KB · Views: 2,462
  • 6 2009 front to back.jpg
    6 2009 front to back.jpg
    47.6 KB · Views: 2,462
Since those last pics were taken in 2009, the boat has sat way more than she should. My brother got a big boat in 2010. I met my wife in 2012 and then got married and started a family. So in the last 9 years, the boat only sees the water a few times a year (vs 30 days on the water in her early years). She usually ends up as a storage platform in the garage for various items. I've kinda neglected her.

So my brother recently sold his boat and wants to go fishing. She has sat the bench for a few years, but now it's game time. So I decided to fix a few things before we hit the water again.

The trailer had me a bit worried. These pics were from September this year. You can see the boat still looks pretty good in the garage. Trailer had a bit of rust developed over the last 10 years since it last had work done. But my primary concern had to deal with the trailer construction, and what's resulted as the boat has sat perched on it over it's life.

For some reason, the trailer had no cross members connecting the rear of the frame. Not sure why. The way the bunks are mounted, and without the cross members for stability, each of the Y legs of the trailer began to twist inwards. You can see how the frame is twisted a bit inwards in the pic...very noticeable where the leaf springs attach.

Decided to have cross members added to the trailer. And while the trailer was off for repairs I decided to do some work to the boats interior...
 

Attachments

  • 9 2018 trailer issue 2.jpg
    9 2018 trailer issue 2.jpg
    58.4 KB · Views: 2,439
  • 8 2018 trailer issue 1.jpg
    8 2018 trailer issue 1.jpg
    53.4 KB · Views: 2,439
  • 7 2018 boat in garage.jpg
    7 2018 boat in garage.jpg
    59.5 KB · Views: 2,439
Here are some pics of the boots interior. Trailer off being repaired at this time. Boat was on some furniture dolly's on the floor so it could be easily moved around.

The old front and rear decks I made back in 2005 are all removed in these pics. Like I said in an earlier post...they just lifted out to show the original boat underneath. I didn't take time to take pictures of them. At the time I was in a hurry to squeeze in the boat work into my sparse free time.

So what you see in these three pics are the original boat interior that was hiding under my old ultra heavy decks. I had already removed the seat pedestals at this point. I'll add some pics with them sitting in place to show what the original layout.

It was DIRTY. But the boat has never been stored outside, and if it sees rain when fishing I'm always careful to make sure it's drained and allowed to dry out. The plywood floors and carpet are sturdy. They are solid. I honestly see no need to replace them. My goal at this point was only to clean up the interior and re-do the decks.
 

Attachments

  • 10 2018 dirty inside 1.jpg
    10 2018 dirty inside 1.jpg
    57.8 KB · Views: 2,439
  • 11 2018 dirty inside 2.jpg
    11 2018 dirty inside 2.jpg
    54.6 KB · Views: 2,439
  • 12 2018 dirty inside 3.jpg
    12 2018 dirty inside 3.jpg
    70.4 KB · Views: 2,439
Here she is after a good bath!

A little Simple Green and a scouring pad cleaned up all the paint. It's amazing all the dirt, marks, and scratches that came out.

The carpet really came clean. I used a heavy mix of Dawn...scrubbed sections at a time with a scrub brush...and then used a microfiber towel to pick up quite a bit of dirt. I went over the whole thing front to back.
 

Attachments

  • 17 2018 clean inside 5.jpg
    17 2018 clean inside 5.jpg
    45.9 KB · Views: 2,436
  • 16 2018 clean inside 4.jpg
    16 2018 clean inside 4.jpg
    74.1 KB · Views: 2,436
  • 15 2018 clean inside 3.jpg
    15 2018 clean inside 3.jpg
    68.5 KB · Views: 2,436
  • 14 2018 clean inside 2.jpg
    14 2018 clean inside 2.jpg
    55.5 KB · Views: 2,436
  • 13 2018 clean inside 1.jpg
    13 2018 clean inside 1.jpg
    40.7 KB · Views: 2,436
I had already removed these seat bases/boxes at this time. Just drilled out the pop rivets. But I wanted to show a pic of the original layout of the interior. There aren't a lot of pics of the FM141 out there.

I kept the seat bases in case I ever sell the boat and the new owners want to put them back in for a crappie layout.
 

Attachments

  • 19 2018 with seat bases 2.jpg
    19 2018 with seat bases 2.jpg
    44 KB · Views: 2,436
  • 18 2018 with seat bases 1.jpg
    18 2018 with seat bases 1.jpg
    39.5 KB · Views: 2,435
Here is the construction of the new rear deck.

Check the old pics of the rear deck above. The old deck we built was a full 10" longer front to back than this. It was a bit shorter as it sat on 2x10's for support. It was too low to be a good bench to sit on. And when you put the seat on it felt like you were way to high up to run the motor. And you couldn't sit on the deck itself to run the motor cause the deck extended too far forwards. Most of the time I sat on my muskie tackle box...which wasn't very comfortable. And remember the 2x10's support was HEAVY. They ran underneath it in a double HH pattern...the deck weighed at least 75 lbs.

So for this one, I used 2x2's to frame a double box that I screwed together. The 2x2 frame was super light. The heaviest part were the deck/lids on top...they were exterior plywood and sealed prior to carpeting. The plywood that frames out the vertical sides is only 1/4 inch. So very light.

As you can see the right side (in the pic) was left open at the back so we can store additional batteries and other utilitarian items. We go to some trolling only lakes and hook them un in parallel...so the added space is nice.

The left side (in the pics) is a big storage box for life jackets, fire extinguisher, etc. The old decks sat over top of the seat bases hiding them, but they took up a lot of space for no reason. Removing them allowed for this extra storage in the rear. It's not dry storage, but dry enough. And if you can see in the pics, I left a small pass through between the two sides for longer items...navigation light, hand bilge pumps, etc.

(the carpet didn't just get dirty again...i actually didn't clean the boat until i was ready to lower the finished decks back in).
 

Attachments

  • 22 2018 rear deck 3.jpg
    22 2018 rear deck 3.jpg
    66.2 KB · Views: 2,434
  • 21 2018 rear deck 2.jpg
    21 2018 rear deck 2.jpg
    53.2 KB · Views: 2,434
  • 20 2018 rear deck 1.jpg
    20 2018 rear deck 1.jpg
    52.4 KB · Views: 2,434
Here is the front deck. Freshly carpeted and with a new boat hatch. The previous hatch had been cracked for 10 years...about time to replace I guess.

I wish I took pics of the frame underneath...both new and old. The old front deck was supported by 2x12's stood on their side (you can see if you look closely in the above pics). I don't know why we used 2x12's but they were the perfect height to let the plywood deck slide overtop of the front bench/step of the boat. The plywood deck was screwed into the underlying frame, and then you could lift the entire deck onto the boat and lower it into place. It never needed to be screwed down because the weight of the beast was enough to hold it in place. It also fit tight enough that it would have been difficult to come out.

The new frame is now constructed of 2x2's. The frame was laid out to match the old as it worked well. The front (top in the pic) of the deck rests on the front step inside the boat. I reused the front plywood as it was in good shape. It was a pain removing the old carpet and staples, but worth not having to cut a new piece as it fit so well before.

Replacing the 2x12's with framed 2x2's saved 35 lbs up front. And as you'll see in future pics there is plenty of storage underneath. The deck still only sits on top of the original boat deck/interior. It can now be put in place by only me as it weighs half what it did before.
 

Attachments

  • 23 2018 front deck.jpg
    23 2018 front deck.jpg
    46.8 KB · Views: 2,432
The trailer was repaired. The rear deck was finished with carpeting. Put both front and rear decks in the newly cleaned interior of the boat. Then took her out on the water.

All in all I saved 35 lbs by creating a new rear deck, 35 lbs redoing the framing under the existing front deck, and 10 lbs by taking out the old seat bases/pedestals that were serving no purpose before. I'll take 80lbs savings in a little boat like this. (My wife was not a fan of using our fancy bathroom scale in the garage for some reason)

In hind sight, the rear deck is a little tall. When I install the seat, it's a little too tall for my short legs. But that's fine cause i don't mind sitting on a throwable cushion, and I now have a nice place to store it. Despite it being a bit tall, it's SO MUCH NICER to sit on a bench to drive the tiller. I feel so much more stable down inside the boat. I used a handle extender on the tiller, but it's not really needed.

The rear deck is still plenty big for my brother to stand on comfortably. Just like the front, it's only lowered into the exiting interior and held into place with a couple of L brackets screwed into the aluminum sides. Four screws and you can lift it out easily enough. However, it is incredibly stable and sturdy.
 

Attachments

  • 35 2018 side of boat needs polish.jpg
    35 2018 side of boat needs polish.jpg
    106.1 KB · Views: 2,430
  • 34 2018 back to front 2.jpg
    34 2018 back to front 2.jpg
    69 KB · Views: 2,430
  • 33 2018 back to front 1.jpg
    33 2018 back to front 1.jpg
    57.2 KB · Views: 2,430
  • 31 2018 both decks.jpg
    31 2018 both decks.jpg
    63.7 KB · Views: 2,430
  • 32 2018 front deck.jpg
    32 2018 front deck.jpg
    91.6 KB · Views: 2,430
  • 30 2018 back deck 7.jpg
    30 2018 back deck 7.jpg
    84.9 KB · Views: 2,430
  • 29 2018 back deck 6.jpg
    29 2018 back deck 6.jpg
    92.5 KB · Views: 2,430
  • 28 2018 back deck 5.jpg
    28 2018 back deck 5.jpg
    59.8 KB · Views: 2,430
  • 28 2018 back deck 4.jpg
    28 2018 back deck 4.jpg
    93.7 KB · Views: 2,430
  • 27 2018 back deck 3.jpg
    27 2018 back deck 3.jpg
    96 KB · Views: 2,430
  • 26 2018 back deck 2.jpg
    26 2018 back deck 2.jpg
    96.5 KB · Views: 2,430
  • 25 2018 back deck 1.jpg
    25 2018 back deck 1.jpg
    70.7 KB · Views: 2,430
  • 24 2018 front to back.jpg
    24 2018 front to back.jpg
    45.5 KB · Views: 2,430
Here is the trailer all redone. I originally started the new decks and cleanup because the trailer needed some fixing. So here it is looking pretty. The new cross members straightened it out. The guide posts used to lean in towards each other. Now they are pretty straight up. But most importantly...they aren't going anywhere now.

New hubs/bearings/bearing buddies.
New wheels
New bunks and carpet
New LED lights
Newly framed crossmember in the rear
Newly framed crossmember in the front with keel roller added
Fresh coat of paint all around.

This trailer used to shimmy at 70mph enough that i could feel it in the steering wheel. Now with the new crossmember, it tows perfectly.
 

Attachments

  • 39 2018 trailer 5.jpg
    39 2018 trailer 5.jpg
    125.3 KB · Views: 2,421
  • 38 2018 trailer 4.jpg
    38 2018 trailer 4.jpg
    112.9 KB · Views: 2,421
  • 38 2018 trailer 3.jpg
    38 2018 trailer 3.jpg
    106.8 KB · Views: 2,421
  • 37 2018 trailer 2.jpg
    37 2018 trailer 2.jpg
    103.8 KB · Views: 2,421
  • 36 2018 trailer 1.jpg
    36 2018 trailer 1.jpg
    129.5 KB · Views: 2,421
Here are some pics of the boat on the water.

Also neglected to post pics of the 9.9 Johnson. This thing is in great shape, but gonna replace it. I want to go a little bit faster, be a little bit quieter, and I also don't want to worry about mixing gas and gas going bad. With a 4 stroke, you can always poor older gas in your car and burn it off. With mixed gas it's too tempting to keep running it after it's gone bad (even with Stabil). It's done a good job for 29 years, but I'm gonna get a new motor for the next 29.
 

Attachments

  • 44 2018 johnson 9.9 4.jpg
    44 2018 johnson 9.9 4.jpg
    87.8 KB · Views: 2,420
  • 43 2018 johnson 9.9 3.jpg
    43 2018 johnson 9.9 3.jpg
    61 KB · Views: 2,420
  • 42 2018 johnson 9.9 2.jpg
    42 2018 johnson 9.9 2.jpg
    58.1 KB · Views: 2,420
  • 41 2018 johnson 9.9 1.jpg
    41 2018 johnson 9.9 1.jpg
    51.9 KB · Views: 2,420
  • 45 on the water fishing.jpg
    45 on the water fishing.jpg
    47.8 KB · Views: 2,420
  • 40 2018 on the water.jpg
    40 2018 on the water.jpg
    59.7 KB · Views: 2,420
Well done and well documented.

Wonder what the rating was on the original and what size motor you can add?

Remember that the new 4 strokes may weigh appreciably more than the old two smokes.
 
Thanks! I love this boat...always want to make it better.

As far as the boat, it’s rated for 25.

830 lbs max weight with people and gear. 4 person max.

The 25hp short shaft Johnson at the time (J25RCE) ran roughly 115 lbs. my current motor weights 73 lbs.

I know I’ve added some weight with the deck, but think I can get by with one of the new Tohatsu 9.9 15 or 20 efi’s. They are 95 lbs. especially since I’ve cut 35 lbs from my previous rear deck configuration. Still a net 10 lb reduction vs before.

I don’t think the new motor and weight of the decks puts me over the 830 lb limit so long as i just keep it to two adults. Or two adults and a kid.
 
Personally, I'd avoid the Tohatsu 9.9, I switched from a older Evinrude 9.9 to a new Tohatsu 9.8 and didn't gain anything in terms of performance on a very similar sized hull.
 
samuelh1987 said:
Personally, I'd avoid the Tohatsu 9.9, I switched from a older Evinrude 9.9 to a new Tohatsu 9.8 and didn't gain anything in terms of performance on a very similar sized hull.

Hey Samuel. I'm scratching my head on this one ( & know I'm going to feel dumb for asking). You went from a 9.9 to a 9.8. What gain would be expected?
 
LDUBS said:
samuelh1987 said:
Personally, I'd avoid the Tohatsu 9.9, I switched from a older Evinrude 9.9 to a new Tohatsu 9.8 and didn't gain anything in terms of performance on a very similar sized hull.

Hey Samuel. I'm scratching my head on this one ( & know I'm going to feel dumb for asking). You went from a 9.9 to a 9.8. What gain would be expected?

Maybe he meant a newer vs older? Tohatsu uses the 9.8 nomenclature to differentiate their motors from the 9.9's they make for everyone else. It's otherwise the same motor.

Also, the 9.8's are on the same block as Tohatsu's smaller hp motors. The 9.9 efi is completely a different animal. It's got a larger displacement, which should mean a better whole shot and better performance all in all. It's a dumbed down version of the 20 and 15 efi. So hoping for a few gains, but maybe not in top speed. For sure there will be some positives vs my old 2 stroke 9.9.....no carb, no mixing gas, quiet, etc.
 
I just expected better performance for some reason. I assumed my old Evinrude 9.9 had lost some oomph over the years. I was wrong lol.
 

Latest posts

Top