Bayliner Ciera 2655 Mercruiser 5.7l

This boat was bought as a project 3 years ago and has had lots of time and money spent on it, more than I can expect to recoup by a long chalk, but having moved house twice in the last year and taken employment at a fraction on my previous rate, I regrettably can’t afford to spend any more cash on her. So, she is a nominally 26 foot Bayliner (but actually about 28 with the prow) of fibreglass construction. I’d bought her through a marine engineer, as an insurance write off. She had slipped her moorings, worn a hole on the chine on the starboard side, taken on water and sunk, flooding the engine bay. Sad really, it had been completely re-engined in 2012.In addition, some of the soft furnishings had floated off to sea and all the window frames and glass apart from one panel was smashed, so quite an undertaking.

The engine hatch/rear deck was also missing. After having stood drying out for some time I discovered the engine was irretrievably seized and in the end, Spent over £1000 on brand new parts to repair it. The damage to the hull was repaired professionally by a Lloyd’s standard marine engineer. I fabricated a new engine hatch/rear deck with blockboard and fibreglass. The steering Teleflex and hydraulics have all been replaced with brand new, plus a used replacement pump installed as the original was faulty too.

Brand new alternator, replacement starter, recon tilt pump, recon top half leg (the original one sheared the bevel gears first time out after the rebuild), heavy duty battery. New fuse boxes, replacement clocks (though tachometer and speedo don’t work), new mains wiring, sockets and breakers to shoreline supply, new toilet & macerator pump, a couple of rod holders at the stern, the list goes on... She needs some of the furnishings recovering and after having been left since last August, a bit of tidying up. Nevertheless, I ran her up last weekend and she’s sound. There is a full canvas canopy which I took off last summer (pic from back then). Because I had to fabricate windows it doesn’t fit as neatly as it should and you can see fillets in a lighter blue on each side.She’s currently moored in Littlehampton (on a drying mooring) and hasn’t been out of the water since anti fouling over 18 months ago so that definitely needs redoing.

There is a trailer I use for her to sit on when she’s out of the water. It’s twin axle and just about up to the task but it’s unbraked and as such can’t be used to tow her on public roads. Two of the bearings have just been replaced, I have two more available. All included in the sale. The engine has got less than 35 hours since rebuild (about 28 showing on the new timer) and accessories include flares (in date), a marine VHF DSC radio registered to the boat, with brand new high gain aerial, plus a Garmin 152H GPS.

Four automatic life jackets can be negotiated... Checking her out last weekend I discovered a cleat had been pulled (port bow) in the recent bad weather so I’ve temporarily taped over the holes until it dries and It can be fibreglassed up. Unfortunately this let some water in so she needs airing. I cleaned the port side up a bit but she’s going to need a good wash and polish all over to brighten her up. So there you go, an unfinished project that has presented me with lots of challenges over the last couple of years, has taught me a heck of a lot about boats, runs sweetly now and has actually given us some fun when it hasn’t been too windy to actually get out to sea...