May 5

May 5 Long Time Running: A Beautiful 20' Cigarette Restoration

Although I have always loved the classic boats out there, more so than ever I have been admiring the old Cigarettes, Magnums, and the other nameplates from Thunder Boat Row. The one boat that always captures my attention is the 20’ Cigarette. It’s rare, cool, perfect size, and just looks awesome. When I saw Alex Govatos’ 20 Cigarette, I wanted to hear more about it. Let’s take a look at Alex’s full restoration of this 1983 beauty.

A picture from around 1985, when the boat was almost new.

Alex is a marine technician and even had a Donzi 16 in high school. At the time, mid eighties, Alex’s older brother had a 20 Cigarette and he was determined to get one too. Through searching, he found a broker in Florida from Everglades Marina / Fort Apache, who would send envelopes with pictures of boats, and they had a listing for a 1982 Cigarette. Him and his brother went down to Florida from the Virginia area with cash, bought the boat and a new trailer. They packed a Uhaul and headed home. This was in 1987.

For about 5 years, Alex ran the Cigarette on the Chesapeake. In 1993, he purchased an Excalibur Executioner and couldn’t run two boats, so he sold the 20’ Cigarette to a guy who he ended up becoming friends with. Fast forward 10 years and Alex sells the Excalibur but ends up buying the Cig back. Some boats always come back. Even though it was in decent shape, it was time for a refresh, so a complete restoration was in order.

The original MerCruiser 330 was ready for a refresh. From new exhaust manifolds and intake, among other things, the fresh big block makes over 400 HP now.

When it comes to hardware, Alex went with a new Bravo drive and full hydraulic steering, to replace the older TRS drive. The Bravo has a higher X dimension. The old trim tabs were replaced with K planes. Freshwater cooling was added, along with some Eddie Marine exhaust manifolds.

A new Bravo drive replaced the TRS, and full hydraulic steering was added.

Alex replaced the windscreen. He also removed some hand rails and the deck railing to make it look more modern. These boats are built like tanks, and Alex noticed his was the only 20 Cigarette he’s seen with a bulkhead in front of the engine. Alex beefed up the floor and added support to the sides.

To keep it like new, the boat was painted with Awlcraft, matching the original colors, with the bottom being Awlgrip for ultimate durability. An all new interior with adjustable buckets that spin around, keep things nice in the interior. Alex and his wife have been using the boat more and more lately with Alex saying how comfortable the ride is and the interior is very practical for everyday use.

A new interior with adjustable buckets looks really nice and very practical.

Like many of us, Alex really appreciates the original Cigarettes from the Don Aronow days, the 20’, 28 SS and 35 Mistress are some of his favorites. Alex even got to connect later with Joan and John Fries who sold him the boat. Part of the fun of these old boats is the history and the connections you can make, and it’s a wonderful community of enthusiasts out there.

The Awlgrip and Awlcraft paint should last a really long time and looks better than new.

The 20’ Cigarette is a drivers boat and Alex loves how it handle rough water for its size. Alex guesses the refreshed 454 CI, 330 HP MerCruiser, is making over 400 HP. With a 27” Hydromotive, the old Cig can turn 5,500 RPM. I didn’t confirm with Alex, but that would probably put him in the high seventies. What a great job Alex did and I’m sure he’s going to enjoy the classic Cigarette for years to come. Thanks for sharing your boat with us.