Starfish is for sale!!

35’ Pearson sloop, completely equipped for cruising, Asking best offer 

Contact information:

Brian Chambers

305-393-2614

brian.chambers@hotmail.com
nicole.chambers@live.com 

Boat is located in Fernandina Beach, FL

Illness requires sale of much beloved P35 cruiser, Starfish.  Boat just came back from a cruise in the Bahamas (see blog www.cruisingstarfish.blogspot.com) and is being sold complete with all the equipment needed for cruising- just bring your clothes and go!  This is an ideal boat for two cruisers to take anywhere they want to go.  3’9” draft allows you to go places others can’t while the 7’ centerboard makes her point better than most.  Super rugged “old school” construction and design make her seakindly and safe while still maintaining a good turn of speed.  This a well-known Bill Shaw design which was produced for fourteen years with over 700 being built.  There is a very active owners association with a great website (www.pearson35.com).  Starfish’s well maintained Universal M25-XPB diesel is simple, reliable, and gives the boat around 300 miles of powered cruising on a 25 gallon fuel tank.  Fast, comfortable 10’ Caribe RIB with like- new Honda 15hp outboard included- perfect tender for fishing, diving, or just exploring.  

Check out all the new equipment and upgrades:

Electrical:

• 315 amp hour house bank new Oct.2010 installed in new midships battery box wired with doubled cabling to reduce loss and weight.
• Digital voltmeter.
• Southwest Windpower Air breeze installed on tower.  (Generator sent for complete reconditioning, $450 gets it back, or buy new for $900- either way easy to put back up).
• Brand-new 200watt Pioneer stereo with USB port for I-pod, inside and outside speakers.
• Alder-Barbour Super Cold Machine with Large Vertical Evaporator, brand new, installed two weeks before boat was pulled in enormous, newly reinsulated and relined ice box.  Compressor draws cool air from bilge and vents out of deck by transom to reduce run times and draw.
• Five year old West marine battery charger installed but not wired.  Portable battery charger connected to house bank for charging at dock or with generator.

Hull:

• Complete hull refit July 2010.   Ground to bare glass, three coats Interlux epoxy primecoat, two coats rubberized primer, two coats Interlux Ultra- coat hard bottom paint.  Bottom professionally cleaned week before boat was pulled.  Paint is in excellent shape ready to resume cruising.
• All through-hull penetrations inspected, seacocks removed and rebedded or replaced.
• Rudder removed, hardware cleaned, inspected rebed in West Systems epoxy.
• Rudder post gland removed, cleaned and repacked with Teflon packing.
• Centerboard pennant replaced.

Engine/Drivetrain:

• Universal M25 XPB 3cylander diesel new in 1990 runs great.  Previous owner used motor very little, mostly to go out and race the boat.  Starts easily, idles quietly, three blade prop pulls great.  No smoke, very efficient, based on Kubota tractor motor- cheap easy to find parts.  Meticulously maintained.
• Raw water pump total rebuild 6/2011.
• Heat exchanger new 2009, removed, cleaned 3/2011.  Looks like new.
• New shift cable 2/2011
• Gas tank removed, cleaned, inspected July 2010
• New cutlass bearing, new drive shaft 9/2010
• New flexible coupling 9/2010; eliminates electrolysis from driveline, smoothes vibration, quiets engine, increases life of cutlass bearing and protects transmission from prop-strike damage.
• New PSI dripless shaft seal 9/2010

Instruments:

• Raymarine C-80 Chartplotter/Multi-function Display with R-125 GPS antenna and 2GB navionics chart card for Florida and Bahamas.  Fantastic navigation tool.
• Raymarine ST60 Depth sounder.
• Huge Danforth Constellation compass in binnacle.
• New Uniden Vhf radio installed by wheel.  New Shakespeare antenna on mast head.
• Handheld, waterproof Uniden Vhf.

Rigging:

• Rig surveyed 11/2010.
• Mast pulled 12/2010, new forestay, new backstay, new cap shrouds.
• Mast completely rewired, new halogen deck lights, new Hella LED anchor light.
• Spreaders removed, sanded bare, epoxyed, painted with two coats interlux brightsides.
• New CDI Flexible Furler installed.
• New mainsail halyard led to winch on coachhouse by cockpit.
• New Sunbrella suncover on jib matches new Sunbrella mainsail cover and bimini.  Second brand new bimini included with boat.  Custom made matching Sunbrella rear cockpit shade attaches to bimini and stern rail protecting entire cockpit from the elements.  All canvas new within last year.

Galley:

• Replaced alcohol stove with gimballed Kenyon three burner propane stove with oven.
• Installed Jabsco 4lpm water pump 2010 with new water lines, new filter and new Moen faucet with 6’ pull-out spray head.
• Reinsulated and rebuilt inside of icebox with low maintenance textured FRP.  Bottom and sides of box have 4” of poly foam and 3” of polyisocyanate with foil backing.  Split lids have 3” of polyiso with foil.  Installed new refrigeration (see above).
• Replaced under setee water tanks with Vetus flexible tanks.
• Installed deck fill for water tanks.  All tanks run to water manifold with separate ball valves for complete control of tank levels.  Total water capacity 125 gallons.

Head:

• New in 2010; Jabsco toilet, jabsco y-valve, Vetus 14.5 gallon holding tank. 
  Simple, bullet-proof Whale gusher pump empties tank overboard, or deck fitting allows pump-out.  Completely coast guard approved system.
• Replaced vanity and fixtures 2010.  Tiled floor and vanity, new SS sink and pull-out faucet/shower head (see pictures).

V-berth:

• Enormous berth for this size boat-very comfortable for a couple!
• Custom dual density memory foam mattress.

Salon:

• Replaced starboard side pilot berth with cabinets and drawers.
• New cushion covers in cleanable vinyl.
• Replaced all light fixtures with high efficiency brass fixtures.  Added ceiling light fixture to brighten cabin.

Equipment:

• 10’ Caribe RIB.  Dinghy anchor, life jackets, running lights, pump.  Fits on foredeck for offshore voyages.
• 2008 15 hp Honda outboard with 4 gallon gas tank.  Runs great, pushes boat around 35 mph with two people.
• Snorkling equipment, fishing poles and tackle, polespear.
• Rail mounted kettle grill, backup propane camp stove, propane catalytic space heater.
• Three 6 gal. auxillairy water jugs, two 6 gal. diesel jugs, one 6 gal gasoline jug.  (Take plenty to Bahamas save mucho dinero!)
• Sailbag full of lines of all sizes and states, all usable, including 150’ of never used 3/8 Stay-set.
• Over-the-boom sunshades.

Unfinished Projects:

• Big all-bronze horizontal windlass and stout cast aluminum bow roller need to be through-bolted to foredeck.  Bolts and backing plates are included, just need to drill holes, epoxy them, and bolt it together.
• Mainsail is the original Hood sail.  It’s showing its age and should be replaced soon.  Sail repair tape and sewing kit are included, and the sail still has good shape, so it could go another season.  We got caught in a storm off Eluethra with 40 knot gusts and the sail held up fine (better than my wife), but we were going to get a new sail before we went offshore again.  Jib is a beautiful North 130 genoa in great shape, very rugged sail.
• Minor deck leaks at chainplates.  The compression plates should be removed, new gaskets installed and plates put back on.  This project can be done in a day with less than $10.00 worth of materials.  It just never bothered us very much.

We had planned on living on and cruising Starfish for many years.  Everything done to the boat was done to the best of our ability (I am a former boat builder by trade).  We are very sad to have to give her up and would like to see her go to someone who will put her to good use.  I am always happy to talk about Starfish so call if you have any questions.

Pictures- Hope Town

haha squished bug!

Hope Town- Me

Barely a sidewalk!

Hope Town Lighthouse look it up on Wiki, really interesting!

Beautiful beach!

Starfish in the distance

view from the top of the lighthouse

A side note to all my friends who are cat lovers, a Dexter tale

To all of my friends that Dexter has tried to “play” with your cats… he got his ass handed to him by a crazy ninja cat that ambushed him last night. We were walking along in Hope Town and there was this enormous orange cat lying on the side of the road (looked like Bam Bam to my family that remember that cat). Dexter runs up to the cat to say hi. Out of nowhere this skinny little orange cat comes running out and starts beating the crap out of Dexter. The cat didn’t really hurt him other than a few scratches but the cat left him bleeding, crying, and cowering on the ground.

He was totally fine, though Mom and Dad did laugh because it was kind of funny and unexpected. We walked by a second time holding the dogs and the cat ran out again like yeah, want a piece of me??

So to all you cat lovers, he finally got his ass ambushed and kicked by a ninja cat.

Hope Town

Hope Town

Hello All! We are amazingly where we said we were going to be!! I know, I can’t believe it either. We have been in Hope Town since Saturday morning and it is hands down my favorite town in the Bahamas so far. The town is gorgeous. Cute little houses, streets that are so narrow that only 1 car can go by at a time and the flowers are amazing!! It’s been great walking the dogs around off leash as there are really only golf carts to contend with that are not even allowed in the downtown area. We have been going to the beach, walking around town, snorkeling, and today we went to see the lighthouse. It’s 101 steps to the top and the view is breathtaking. Pictures do not do it justice. I have attached some pictures but really, get on the next flight to Marsh Harbour and come see Hope Town for yourself, it’s that nice!

Tomorrow we are going to sail over to Great Guana Cay and hopefully meet up with our friend Alan on S/V Cheal. He is our Irish friend that was headed to Bermuda and then back to Ireland but he wanted some home cooking so badly that he detoured to come find us J Alright perhaps there is more to it than that but we hope we will be seeing him on Great Guana before he jumps the pond to go home for the summer.

More from Great Guana! Take Care!!

XO Nicole, Brian, Dexter, and Shrimpy

Glass Window

Pictures at Little Harbour

A lengthy “Starfishy” update

A lengthy “Starfishy” update

Well guess what folks? We are not where we said we were going to be… surprise surprise!! I feel like we are an episode of “Where in the world is Carmen San Diego” (I guess that only makes sense to those of you who were kids in the 1990s, moving on)…

We headed for Nassau on Thursday (4/14) and we were planning to head to Georgetown from there. We enjoyed Nassau, walking downtown and being in a city again! I had some Starbucks coffee and internet which is always a nice thing and we went to a real US style grocery store, a rare thing in the Bahamas.

After being in Nassau for a few days we decided in order to go to the Regatta we would have to pretty much hustle past most of the Exumas to get to Georgetown by the following Tuesday for the Regatta so we decided to go to Eleuthera, Spanish Wells, then up to the Abacos instead.

We got to Royal Island, just west of Spanish Wells on Sunday (4/17), Dexter’s birthday. We got to Spanish Wells the next day and stayed there until Friday morning. We really enjoyed the town, it was so cute and there was a nice grocery store but with the wind blowing like it was there was no chance of us getting to the Abacos for at least a week, so we decided instead of waiting in Spanish Wells we would explore the rest of Eleuthera Island.

We anchored Good Friday (4/22) at Meek’s Patch, a small island 2 miles from Spanish Wells and the next day (4/23) we sailed/motored to The Glass Window. The sail to Current Cut was great, the motoring past current cut was surprisingly rough considering how close we were to the “lee shore” (less than 10 miles but more on that later!) but it had been blowing 20 knots for about 5 days now.

Saturday (4/23) we anchored at The Glass Window, a truly amazing place. It is the thinnest part of Eleuthera Island, only connected by a small bridge which has been washed away a number of times now. On one side is the pounding Atlantic Ocean with the next stop looking east being the Canary Islands and the other side is the tranquil Bight of Eleuthera.

There is an amazing “swimming pool” at the top of the several hundred foot high cliff overlooking the pounding, angry ocean below… What an amazing and beautiful spot. We decided to stay another day and night (which later ended up being a major mistake but more on that in a minute). The next day, Easter Sunday, we snorkeling twice on the back side of Glass Window and it was great snorkeling. The highlight was probably the green moray eel but the fish and coral where spectacular.  

Sunday night (4/24) was a bit rough in the anchorage, not a huge deal but when we woke up Monday (4/25) things started to get really rough. You see, Eleuthera Island is not really a lee shore in strong easterly winds. The island juts out in such a way that their was about 20-30 miles of fetch that was then wrapping itself around the cliff we were anchored near and hitting our boat from that side. The wind was coming from a different direction so we were unfortunately in a very blender-esque situation. We decided the best solution was to motor the 8 measly miles down to Hatchet Bay, a protected anchorage, and wait out the rest of this easterly front that had now been blowing for about 8 days.

We had three soon to be four problems at this point though.

Problem 1: we only had about 13 gallons of fresh water aboard that wasn’t contaminated. We are not sure what happened to the water in our newer water tanks but they seemed to be contaminated with something that was giving them a sulfurous smell. They tasted alright (Nicole was the lucky one who drew the “taste tester” straw!) and the water wasn’t making us sick but we were not exactly excited about drinking the sulfur water.

Problem 2: the people of the Bahamas take Easter VERRRRYY seriously. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, was closed from Good Friday until the Tuesday after Easter. We were not able to get weather information all that time because of it and we were a bit in the dark about the weather.

Problem 3: Our anchorage was rapidly becoming more and more uncomfortable. It was safe for the boat but the crew (meaning Nicole) was miserable and sick.

We decided to pull anchor and motor down to Hatchet Bay in the seas which is where problem 4 developed. We could not motor into the seas. We were taking water over the bow and going about 1 knot. We were just barely maintaining steerage way. The Captain decided we had to turn around, there was nothing we could do except go back and try again the next day. We had one of the worst nights ever aboard Starfish. I cried all night and got about an hour’s sleep, not good!

Tuesday (4/26) we got up early and tried to make for Hatchet Bay again & had the same problem, there was just no way. We motored back to anchor in Glass Window (which at this point was pretty much hell to me) and decided to try and anchor in a slightly different spot which was marginally better. We decided at this point to dinghy ashore and took our bikes, laptops, and the dogs and rode the 4 miles into Gregory Town. We finally were able to get some weather info and we finally (FINALLY!) got some good news on the persistently easterlies and they were going to let up at last. We decided that we were going to motor/sail back to Current Cut, go back to Spanish Wells, get our water situation figured out, and then just wait it out in peace and calm around Spanish Wells, no more of this adventuring off to the “lee shore”. We had had enough of the “lee shore”.

We were up before dawn on Wednesday (4/27) because the anchorage had again turned into a blender. I didn’t care at that point, I was done! We had a rough but productive sail back to Current Cut and then came the nail biting portion of the day. Current Cut is a channel about 100 feet wide surrounded by rocks that you have to go through to get from Spanish Wells to mainland Eleuthera. The current can be running as much as 6-9 knots through the cut. For a reference point on a good day under sail we make around 7 knots. With our engine barely on we were going 10 knots through the cut but finally made it to the other side to calm waters!

Wednesday (4/27) we stayed at the Spanish Wells Yacht Haven. We ran our water tanks through with bleach water. Emptied them and re-ran clean water through and I am happy to report they no longer smell of sulfur. We still have no idea what contaminated them but suspect it had something to do with us not rotating what water tank we were using and the water sat for too long. We also took hot showers and did about 30 loads of laundry (not really 30 but it felt like it!). We caught up on email, weather, news, and finally got a good night’s rest!

Thursday (4/28) we went to anchor at Royal Island which is a super protected anchorage about 5 miles from Spanish Wells. The weather forecast had us thinking we were going to be in the area for about a week waiting to cross to Abaco so we figured we would get comfortable!

Friday (4/29) we had a quiet day and checked out the old ruins on Royal Island. The Island used to be a plantation of some sort and when it failed they just left everything where it was and walked away (I guess that is a common occurrence around here with failed ventures). The island is now privately owned but we sort of snuck ashore to check it out. It was spooky and cool at the same time.

Saturday (4/30) we decided to dinghy to Spanish Wells for weather info and a few necessities. On the way we stopped to talk to a boat anchored near us, Ralph and Mary on SV Merlin. Ralph had access to weather information that we did not have which was saying that the next day, Sunday, might actually be a good day to go to the Abacos. We went to Spanish Wells and further confirmed this and decided it was now or never, let’s go! We decided to buddy boat with Merlin because it’s always nice to travel in company!

Sunday (5/1), May Day (is that a bad sign??), we left very early by our standards, anchor up at 7am! The first 2/3^rds of the day were pretty decent. Huge ocean rollers and we were healed over more than I usually like but it was a fairly good motion for the most part. Out of nowhere though, this second really choppy swell started coming from another direction and we were suddenly in just about the worst seas possible. 10-12 foot seas with the occasional 13-15 footer. It was hell, absolute hell. We were closer to Abaco at this point then we were to Spanish Wells so we soldiered on but it sucked, big time.

We finally made it to the entrance channel to enter the Abacos and we almost got broached! Stupid me, saw the wave but didn’t realize just how gigantic it was until it was “oh shit, hold on!” time. (Broaching is when a wave hits you from the side and can actual cause your boat to roll over like a turtle depending on how bad it is; fortunately Brian was able to keep that from happening!).

Finally we made it to the Abacos! We anchored behind Lynyard Cay and pretty much just went to bed, we were wiped out. Monday (5/2) we pulled anchor and went over to Little Harbour, this really interesting place that pretty much just has a bar and an art gallery for this bronze sculptor who pretty much founded the town of Little Harbour back in the 1950’s. We liked it so much we hung out there Tuesday too.

Tuesday we went snorkeling on the reef just off of Little Harbour and I saw one of the coolest sights I have ever seen in the water. Two enormous, gorgeous spotted eagle rays glided underneath me, circled me, and swam away. They must have had a 6-7 foot wing span, they were amazing. I also saw the biggest lobster I have ever seen my life, it’s a shame lobster season is closed until the end of July L that would have made a fantastic meal! Later that day we were invited over to the sailboat “Merlin” for drinks and chit chat. We had a great time; Ralph and Mary have traveled extensively on their beautiful Island Packet 38 (boat envy!!!) and have many interesting stories about the places they have gone.

Today we sailed over to Marsh Harbour which is a little like being in a city again. We walked to the grocery store which was the size and had the variety of a US style Wal-Mart (an uncommon thing in the Bahamas). I was having severe sensory overload!! We plan (you know how well those “plans” go on sailboats, right Beth??) to stay here until probably Friday or Saturday when this weak north front blows through and then we will  continue on and check out Elbow Cay, Great Guana, and Man-O-War Cay before continuing up further north!

I will try to update the blog more often for those of you who actually care what we are up to!! Enjoy the pictures!!

XO Nicole, Brian, Dexter, and Shrimpy