It has been a very busy and emotional time for me these past couple of months.  The old Arlene Ann was a perfect boat for me when I started out charter fishing many years ago but it was getting to the point where I was starting to think that I needed a boat with a little more room.  Then on that tragic mid September day when she sank, I did not know what was going to happen.  I had so much time and money wrapped up in the boat, buying a new boat was the furthest thing from from mind.

 

The sinking of the Arlene Ann was an act of god and the insurance company agreed and made a very fair settlement.  It was then that I realized that is may have been fate, so I decided it was time to move on and start looking for a new boat.  It did not take me long to land at Comstock Yacht Sales in Brick, New Jersey.  They are the sole dealer of Regulator Boats in New Jersey and the second largest dealer in the USA.  I have spent a lot of time on Regulators over the past several years and always dreamed of someday owning one.  The designers at Regulator took many of the features of the older Seacraft boats, like the Arlene Ann, and added many improvements to their design.  Joe Colon was the sales rep I worked with and he did a great job.  My family and I decided on a brand new 29ft Regulator with forward seating.  She is a beautiful light yellow, called fighting lady yellow by Regulator Marine.  She has plenty of seating and best of all has a private head.  This was a big seller for the women in my family and will make the women who charter with me more comfortable.  I can now accommodate up to six passengers on the boat. 

 

Even though the new Arlene Ann is an offshore fishing machine, I am planning on charters basically being about the same set-up for the first year.  I am going to try and do a few bluefish chumming trips this year to the Barnegat Ridge which is about 25 miles or so from our inlet.  Most of the charters will still be inshore trips to the reefs until my first mate gets a little bigger and can help me with the trolling lines.  It is too difficult to troll and run the boat by myself which I have done on several occasions in the past.  When trolling for offshore big game, one person really needs to be dedicated to working the lines and the other person needs to be paying attention to navigating the boat.  Otherwise, your chances of catching fish are slim and your chances of getting hurt are pretty high.  I will of course be fishing in Sandy Hook next fall.

The Arlene Ann has been sold and will be spending the next stage of her life in Cape Cod.  She was bought by a marina which will be restoring her to her beautiful self during the long and cold Cape Cod winter.  This was a good fit and I am happy to see that she will be in good hands.  She will not be that difficult to restore because there is very little wiring in the boat and I had taken very good care of her throughout the years.  The engine will be the difficult part but the new owners have a staff of people who can work on it in their spare time and I am pretty confident they will have the engine running without too much effort.

In mid September, my beautifully restored 1975 23' SF overturned in a wind storm while it was moored in the slip. No one really knows how it happened. Our best guess is that the boat somehow got pinned under the dock which allowed water to come pouring in faster than the pumps could keep up. A front came through early that afternoon with sustained winds of 40-50mph. The winds were directly hitting the starboard side of the boat for about an hour. The boat was submerged about 70% and remained that way for about two hours. It rolled to the port for a brief period of time during the salvaging process. Most of the wiring in the boat has turned green, most of the electronics are not functioning, and the engine is running rough. Additionally, the bow nose was dinged during the recovery process.

Now for the good news!

The boat was completely redone by a professional captain in West Palm Beach in 1994. His boss, a friend of my family, was waiting on a custom 60' yacht he was having built by Merritt Boat Works in Pompano Beach , Fla. He had already sold his previous yacht and wanted the captain, who was still on the payroll, to have something to do for the winter while the new boat was being built. Everything on the boat was redone methodically and first class. No expense was spared in restoring the Seacraft. Everything on the boat was completely new. The Seacraft acted as a tender to the Merritt in the Bahama's until I bought it for $30,000.00 in 1999.

Last year I bought a new 2006 Yamaha 250TUR four stroke and had it installed on the boat. The transom was raised and reinforced to accommodate a heavier engine. There are around 180 hours on the engine. The engine has a transferable warranty which is still good as long as any claims are not caused by the engine being submerged. I called Yamaha and they confirmed that they will not cover corrosion but they will still cover all hard parts such as the lower unit and engine block. The engine oil was drained three times and the Yamaha mechanics never found any sign of water in the block. The electrical components on the engine will need to be replaced at the expense of the owner. The transferable warranty goes until 2012. The rigging and command link gauges seemed to be working and the Yamaha mechanic confirmed that they are sealed and designed to take some moisture. The engine has a stainless steel prop which I paid $400.00. I paid over $20,000.00 for the engine last August. I also had a new hydraulic cylinder installed which cost an additional $525.00 which is working fine.

The Seacraft also has a 100 gallon aluminum fuel tank which was filled to the top a couple of days before the boat went down. This was good luck because this kept water from flowing into the tank when it rolled. Two mechanics verified that no water entered the tank. They tested the tank with a dip stick which has a special testing cloth on the end. If the cloth touches water in the tank it will turn a different color which did not happen. I would still watch the fuel filter carefully the first couple of tanks just to make sure.

The boat has a custom enclosed transom well area which is covered by a teak top. Very custom and useful. It has a bait board built into the top as well as two Lee rod holders. The bait well, trim tabs, and the two bilge pumps are working fine.

The entire center console was new in 1994. It includes a rocket launcher with back rest and Lee Top Gun 14 ft outriggers which are in great shape. Custom green covers are included for the console and rocket launcher. An igloo cooler which fits under the rockets launcher, 6 life jackets, anchor, chain and 150ft of rope are also included. Also included is a full winter boat cover I purchased on boatcover.com last fall which I paid $550 and used once.

I am also including a 2006 Load Rite trailer which has about 200 travel miles and used 4 times. Last fall I paid $3600 for the trailer. It has brakes on both axles.

Most of the electronics are lost except the Ray-marine RC520 chart plotter. When I turned it on it fired up but did not get a fix. The Ray-star antenna that is connected to the machine was submerged which is why I believe there is no fix. That can easily be replaced for a couple of hundred bucks. The data card, northeast USA, is still in good shape. The chart plotter was never submerged. It was on the starboard side of the console which rolled to the port.

Also included is a 3 sided spray enclosure which was purchased last fall and used one season. No major scratches. The boat comes with upholstered cushions which snap in the front of the center console and four Lee rod holders which are connected to the top of the t-top.

The boat is not turn key. It needs some TLC from someone who is handy. It will make an easy winter project for someone. There is not a whole lot to rewire. Everything is very accessible under the center console area. The wild card is the engine. If someone knows how to fix engines and has access to purchase Yamaha parts or has a friend who knows how than this will be an easy task. Several guys who salvage parts off engines have offered me reasonable money for the engine but I would rather sell it all at once.


$9,000.00 for the package.

Phone# 609 577 2797
email CaptainDave@CaptainDavesCharters.com

Best Regards- Captain Dave