Rob Mould knew what he wanted when he starting searching for a new boat: A Classic SeaCraft built between 1968 and 1980. He just didn't know where to find it.

The search began about seven years ago, and Mould followed leads that literally took him all over the map. He surfed the web, scoured magazine classified ads and searched salvage sites. Some boats in Florida and Louisiana were hurricane damaged–and still over-priced.

For five years, he came home empty handed.

"I was impatiently patient," Mould says.

In April of 2006, while passing through one of the local marinas near Norwalk, Connecticut, a vessel sitting beneath a tree in a corner of the parking lot caught his eye.Karen JewellKeeper approaches her slip in Norwalk, Connecticut.

He approached to take a closer look. Each step revealed the craft's tattered condition, but Mould kept going, drawn to what was beneath layers of twigs, dirt and debris. The boat apparently had rested for a spell at the bottom of Long Island Sound and then placed in its current location for another two years.

It was a 23-foot, 1978 Classic SeaCraft Sport Fisher. Mould was "cautiously thrilled." He all but ran to the service office to learn who owned her and get ready to make an offer.

It didn't take long. Within a few short hours Mould became the proud new owner of the sad-looking Classic SeaCraft.

"I got it cheap, but even being in the business it was still expensive," he says.

A completely restored boat would be $40,000; a new one would run $100,000.

EYE ON THE PRIZE

Mould is an avid fisherman and the owner of a successful custom cabinetry and yacht repair business in Norwalk, so he knows a little something about almost every type of vessel. That's why he knew, beyond a doubt, that his next boat had to be a Classic SeaCraft.

The Classic SeaCraft has a longstanding reputation as a solid, sturdy and smooth center cockpit. The official description from old marketing literature, quoting real boat owners, is "tough, quick, and honest"¦they're built like tanks."

One of the reasons the Classic SeaCraft reached such a distinctive level is its patented "Potter Hull." A unique deep-V configuration designed by Bill Potter is considered to be one of the finest small power boat hull forms ever devised.