Bright Eyes Listing

Bright Eyes Listing

Epilogue: Bright Eyes Gets A New Engine

We are still here in Ft. Lauderdale working on the engine. After getting a bunch of quotes and talking to mechanics we found that it was just as expensive to swap in a new engine.

So we are now awaiting a fully rebuilt Yanmar 3GM30 with a one year warranty!  It also comes with a new transmission. When it comes in we will get towed to the boat yard and have them do the swap.  I thought about doing the labor myself but it wasn't too expensive and they will do it much faster and correct.

At that point we will put Bright Eyes in a slip somewhere between here and Stuart Florida and leave it with a broker to sell.  

Since we are putting in a fully rebuilt engine with a one year warranty we will be listing Bright Eyes for $35,000.  However, for the next week or two before we contract a broker we are offering her for $31,000 since we would save on the broker fee and slip fees.  

Make us an offer!

Bright Eyes For Sale

And now for the main item...

1985 Seidelmann 37

LOA 37’ (40 with davits)
Beam 12’
Draft 4’6’’
Displacement 13,900 lbs
Main Sail and 140 Genoa
Mainsail outfitted for the Dutchman Sail Flaking System
44lb Claw Anchor, Two 22lb Fortress Anchors
Two 30 gallon water tanks
18 gallon fuel tank
13 gallon holding tank
6’5’’ head room
9’x11’ V-berth, Starboard single settee, Port double settee, two pilot berths, port aft quarter berth (sleeps 6)

Engine: 1985 Yanmar 3GM30, 2600 hours, 24hp

Improvements (all made since May 2009)

44lb Claw Anchor with 75ft 5/16 HT G4 Chain and 225 ft 5/8 triple braid rope
Lofrans Royal Manual Windlass
Raymarine SPX5 Auto Pilot
Martek 250 Dinghy Davits
Garmin 441s with transducer and arm mount
Solas Parachute Flare, Flare Gun with flares, Four handheld flares, Air horn signal
Prop Guard Blade
Two Sunforce 80 watt Solar Panels, 30-Amp digital charge controller
New Starter Battery, purchased July 2011
Xanex Battery Monitor
1500 watt Cobra Inverter
New on board VHF, purchased January 2011
Four 12 volt fans, two in cabin and two in v-berth
Two LED Cabin Light fixtures
LED Masthead and Anchor Light fixture
LED Red/Greed Running Light Bulbs, LED stern light bulb, Two LED cabin light bulbs
New Main Haylard, purchased December 2010
Two cleats on sliding tracks
Lifeline Netting
Single Basin Galley Sink
New fiberglass exhaust muffler, Exhaust manifold cover, Cooling system hoses, purchased May 2010
Racor 500 Fuel Filter
New Secondary Fuel Filter Encasing, Fuel Lift Pump, Fuel Line Hoses, purchased August 2010
Fuel Gauge in Cockpit
New Lube Oil Pipe, purchased December 2010

Reductions
CNG Stove removed and replaced with Microwave and storage shelves
No House batteries since July 2011
Starboard Bow Fairlead needs replacing
Cockpit Cushions need replacing

Three Canvas Zippers need replacing

We are currently working on repairing the engine which will not start right now.  It is not getting compression and we believe it has a bad piston ring.

Once we get the engine fixed the boat will be put on the hard and listed with a broker in Ft Lauderdale, Florida.  We will list it for $34,000

If we decide not to fix the engine due to cost then we will list the boat for $29,000 because we found a replacement engine online for $4,000 that we can refer you to.

We are also offering a $3000 discount if you buy the boat before we leave Ft Lauderdale.  This will save us from putting the boat on land storage and selling through a broker. We plan to stay here about a week or two to prep the boat for sale so contact us asap to set something up.

So for this week only the list price is $26,000

We can be reached at 240-305-7177.

Thank You, Good Bye, and Stuff For Sale

So after a lot of thought and consideration we have decided to hang up our sailing caps for now.  We got to experience our dream and had the time of our life both good and bad.  Now that we are back in the States we really appreciate all the nicities that you take for granted; showers, toilets, electricity, fresh food, family. 

Also as we are about to turn 26 and 27 we want to get on with other aspects of life like starting our own family.  Maybe later in life we will return to the water with a lot more experience and luxury! We have learned so much from this whole experience and are grateful to have the chance to pull it off.

We want to thank all our family, friends and blog readers for their support.  And a big thanks to all the people who have helped us along the way, we would not have been able to do it without the wonderfully helpful sailing community.  And a special thanks to Eric our boating mentor for his wealth of advice.

We have decided leave Bright Eyes in Ft Lauderdale to sell and move back to Maryland to live.  We have dumped more money than we'd like to admit into this adventure (I'm an accountant and have it all in excel) so we want to get as much back as possible.  Therefor we are selling a lot of our equipment as separate items that will directly benefit someone looking for cruising stuff.

We will be in Ft Lauderdale for about a week then will take all this stuff to sell in MD.

Please us at call 240-305-7177 to inquire.

Chesapeake Bay Chart book - $40 ($60 value)
Atlantic ICW Chartbook - $40 ($70 Value)
Skippers Bob ICW Anchorages -- Free with purchase ($17 value)
Explorer Near Bahamas Chart book - $40 ($65 value)
Explorer Exumas Bahamas Chart book - $40 ($65 value)
Explorer Far Bahamas Chart book -$40 ($65 value)
Dosier's Cruising the Bahamas Guide book - $20 ($40 value)
All four Bahamas books for $120 ($235 value)

8ft Walker Bay Dinghy Inflatable - $400 ($630 value)
8ft Dinghy Cover, 600 denier - $30 ($55 value)
2010 3.5 hp Mercury 4 stroke outboard engine - $600 ($1050 value)

Two Green Zone Folding Bikes 20'' 6 speed with bags $250 ($400 value)
120v Ice Maker - $70 ($140 value) SOLD
100 amp alternator, brand new unused - $100 ($160 value)
Alcohol Stove, single burner 6800 btu - $80 ($155 Value)
Spot Locator - $80 ($120 Value)
Two Mustang Deluxe Inflatable Life Vests with Harnesses - $150 ($400 value) SOLD
Mast Top Climber with line - $100 ($350 Value) SOLD
Handheld Garmin - $100 ($200 value)
Handheld VHF HX 280S - $50 ($90 Value) SOLD
TV Antennae with mast mount - $80 -- ($200 value)


Portable red/green navigation light for dinghy - $20 ($35 value) SOLD
Two group 27 battery boxes $10 ($20 value)
Two Fishing Rod holders, rail mount - $30 ($70 value)
West Marine Air Dryer Dehumidifier - $30 ($60 value)
Rule Portable Hose with 12v/120v charger - $30 ($85 value)
West Marine Binoculars, Huahine 7x50 - $40 ($60 value)
20ft 5/16 HT G4 Chain, unused - $60 ($75 value) SOLD
Two 40 ft Safety Lines - $30 ($50 value) SOLD
Rail mount drink holder - $20 ($40 value)
Oil change drill attachment - $20 ($45 value)
Outboard engine bridle - $20 ($40 value) SOLD
Outboard engine rail mount, wooden - $20 ($30 value)
30amp to 15 amp adapter - $20 ($40 value)
Marriage Saver Two Way Headsets - $50 ($75 value) SOLD
Six 5 gallon yellow diesel jugs - $10 each or $50 for all six ($120 value) SOLD
Six 5 gallon collapsible water jugs - $20 ($35 value) SOLD

Bright Eyes is Back in America.....The End

We planned to leave Nassau asap Thursday morning but things didn't go so well.  

First we overslept till 7:45am.  Then when we went to turn on our Garmin we noticed it wouldn't stay on because our last lonely battery had gotten too low.  So we had to walk to the marine store and pay a whopping $190 for a starter battery then lug it back to the boat. ugh.  Then after installing the new battery a storm swooped in and kept us inside for a bit.  Then finally around 1pm we started pulling up the anchor only to find that the anchor chain had wrapped around another huge old anchor that had been left behind.  Our chain was covered in algae and wouldn't stay in the windlass so I had to pull up both anchors by hand without an engine, UGH!  We ended up tying off to a near by mooring ball while I pulled the old ruins anchor into the dinghy and untangled it.  

Around 2pm we were finally free. We untied from the mooring, raised the sails and left Nassau behind.

We sailed pretty slowly, about 3.5mph, all day and all night reaching the Great Bahama Banks around 5:30am.  We saw a few tankers coming through the north east channel that night but we kept our distance. We also saw a few storms brewing around us but managed to dodge them all.

We spent all Friday sailing the Great Bahama Banks.  We did a little better this day, averaging about 5 mph. We put our third crew member, the auto pilot, to work.  Great Job!

Alone at the helm on the Great Bahama Banks and surrounded by water I decided to capture the moment on video. It went really great until the end when I couldn't figure out how to stop recording and stopped paying attention to steering. (You can hear the boom slam to the other side) haha

At first we were using 8 hour shifts to get plenty of sleep but the sleep underway wasn't any good so we switched to 2 hour shifts with naps in the cockpit.  We passed North Bimini around 8:30pm Friday night and entered the Atlantic Gulf Stream as the sky went dark.

We were sailing pretty well, around 8 mph, when all of a sudden the wind died.  We were kind of floating in circles trying to harvest a little wind when all of a sudden the wind kicked into overdrive and thunder started booming.  We reduced our head sail and stayed close to the wind to keep our speed around 6 mph.  The winds went crazy for about an hour as the sky constantly lit up with lightening and thunder, but oddly/luckily no rain.

Waves scare us more than heavy wind and the waves never got too big so we managed well and soon the storm had passed.  We sailed steadily toward Ft Lauderdale through the night and arrived about 5 miles outside the harbor at 7:30 am Saturday morning.  We called tow boat and they came and scooped us up.  Of course one last squall came and rained on us while we were waiting. We then called Cooleys Landing and reserved a slip.

The friendly tow boat guys took us on a scenic tour through downtown Ft Lauderdale to our marina.

And so after sailing 198 miles over 44 straight hours we had finally arrived back in the States!

Coincidently Joey's mom Tina is in Ft. Lauderdale with the family she nannies for. Cliff, the dad, was kind enough to let us spend a day recooperating in his condo, in the AC!!! relaxing, and even took us to the resort he belongs to Lago Mar, and out to a neat brazilian steakhouse - Chimas.

We will spend the next week repairing the engine and cleaning the boat out.  It feels good to be home and bittersweet to end our adventure.

Thank you for all the support and well wishes and to anyone who enjoyed reading :)

The Fate of Bright Eyes blog to come...