A custom swim platform provides the perfect finishing touch to a Cigarette makeover.

Originally published April 2007 issue

By Jason Johnson

"It's night and day," stated Tank Sears, the lucky performance boater from California's Ventura County whose offshore boat received an extensive makeover on the pages of this magazine.

Night and day is right. His older offshore boat—a 1995 Cigarette 38 Top Gun—looks drastically different than it did a year ago. And with the last of five projects complete—a new swim platform—Sears said the makeover process and outcome went above and beyond his expectations, including the custom swim platform from West Coast Offshore Unlimited in Fremont, Calif.

Out With The Old
When the day came to remove the old swim platform, Sears couldn't get it off fast enough. The white platform was scratched, banged up, even dented in a few places. In fact, it was probably the most worn-out part of the 38-footer we transformed. Well, almost.

Sears had collected measurements and worked on the design with West Coast Offshore Unlimited's Kevin Price, and it was about to come together. Unfortunately, it wasn't as simple as bolting the custom, powder-painted yellow platform to where the old one was mounted.

The old platform was fixed to the transom in four places. The two main supports were to the outside of each drive and the smaller supports, which also served as steps on the sides of the platform, were on the outer edges of the transom. The new one only had two main supports, so it was obvious some gelcoat work was needed to repair the outside holes.

In the best interest of the 38-footer, all of the holes were patched and repaired. The transom was re-gelcoated, which took a few days since working with gelcoat only goes so fast. It was important to start from scratch and not use the holes from the old platform. The new one had to be mounted a little higher to clear the drive plates on the inside of the transom—the old platform wasn't through-bolted so it wasn't an issue before. Nowadays, through-bolting is the best way to go.

In With The New
Color-matched to the yellow handrails around the sun pad, the new platform also matched the graphics on the 38 Top Gun. Price picked up the boat's name, Lit, which was repeated on the hullsides, and incorporated the same appearance onto the tig-welded, T-6 aluminum platform.

Price, who fabricates a variety of billet parts for individuals and boat dealers, said keeping the Lit name in the same large-to-small aspect was challenging, but a must.

"The No. 1 important thing is making sure that the platform fits—that it looks like it belongs on the boat," said Price, who takes his Cigarette Cafe Racer out regularly. "Obviously it's not just about looks, it's about safety and utility. But we try to do things that look like they belong on the boat. We like to do things that look like somebody really took their time and effort."

That it did. The platform fit nicely with the boat's theme. It fit well on the transom, too, although a few modifications were required inside the engine compartment.

Full Support
We enlisted a crew at Teague Custom Marine for the installation—Price recommends professional installation, although it can be done on your own. He said because most of his business is outside the state, he often ships customer platforms directly to local boat dealers and service shops. He works closely with his customers to get precise measurements and photos of the transom from all angles.

The first thing Bob Wheeler and John Teague did was take measurements of the platform and transom to determine where the platform would hang. It was obvious from inside the engine compartment that the port-side MerCathode from MerCruiser and the starboard-side solenoid needed to be moved—they didn't want to drill through them. Fortunately, less than an inch was all the room they needed.

Wheeler measured everything a second time before holding the platform up to set the pilot holes. Before drilling the holes, Wheeler insisted on measuring again. Better safe than sorry—it pays to check your work multiple times.

Teague drilled the pilot hole for each mounting bracket and secured the platform with a bolt in each hole. He proceeded to drill the remaining three holes on each bracket. The platform was taken back off—it was time to secure it using all the bolts and silicone. With Wheeler in the engine compartment and Teague manning the wrench below the platform, Teague coated the holes with silicone and slid the bolt through the transom. Wheeler used a powder-painted yellow washer and nut to secure the platform. Each bolt went in smoothly and securely except for one.

A bottom hole on the starboard side was slightly covered by the drive transom plate—just enough that the bolt wouldn't fit. Teague had to drill through the edge of the plate and Wheeler took the thick yellow fender washer and, with a few passes on the belt sander, grinded it into a half-circle so it would sit flush on the transom and up against the drive plate.

Final Impression
Although the process was not nearly as simple as anticipated—with boats they never really are—the outcome was, in Sears' words, "a huge improvement over the old one."

Contact Information
West Coast Offshore Unlimited, 3614 Kay Court, Fremont, CA 94538, 510-445-1047, www.westcoastoffshoreunlimited.com.

Teague Custom Marine, 28115 Avenue Stanford, Valencia, CA 91355, 661-295-7000, www.teaguecustommarine.com.