klb67pgh
Member III
I don't have anything close to a marine chandlery near me. Even the local West Marine closed. I bought my Ericson 25 last month, but I still search searchtempest for Ericson sailboat now and then to see what pops up. I saw a new listing for various sailboat parts, including parts from an "Ericson 30." A picture that caught my attention was a teak companionway hatch that looked in remarkably usable shape. I have my original hatch which is broken and deteriorated beyond repair, and my prior owner built and installed a pine and plywood hatch - it works well and is nice to stand on sometimes while messing with the boom, but I'd like to go back to teak eventually.
I contacted the seller and learned he acquires old sailboats for the lead for his fishing sinker business (business is booming since COVID), and he and his son started selling some parts from the boats. He had other potentially interesting items. I decided to take my utility trailer and make the 3.5 hour trip to investigate. I'm between jobs and job hunting because of COVID - the blessing is I have time I haven't had for 20 years; the curse is the need to be frugal in spending.
I don't know the Ericson 30 and 30+ but since the hatch included the heavy fiberglass cover, I assume based on a few internet pictures that the salvaged boat was a 30+. I took some pieces from my original hatch to compare the arc and cut outs for the rails. I was surprised to learn that the 30+ hatch is at least 2 inches narrower than the hatch from my 25. I think it is the same depth and it looks like the same arc. I bought the hatch anyway because it was cheap and I decided I could add wood on either side to widen it if I want, or I could sell it. I did leave the fiberglass hatch cover - I knew it would sit in my garage for years if I brought it home. Negotiated prices for most items were at a "get it out of here" level so I did well. I took a usable stainless stern ladder, a well built 2 bow stainless bimini frame and decent top that should work for now and will help me figure out what bimini we eventually want to build, and several pieces of Ericson interior wood (possibly to use to widen the hatch). I took one cabinet door for a possible future project, and left the rest with the seller. I also took a stainless sink possibly out of the Ericson. My sink has several weak spots, cracks, and holes, and I've decided it will be better to drop in a stainless sink rather than patch and repair fiberglass and gelcoat. The seller was breaking down an O'Day 25, and I ended up bringing home a really nice boom for $10 and a free rudder blade. I'm hoping to pass those on to one of several O'Day 25 owners in my local marina. I also bought a nice sail/boom cover, but it must have come from the O'Day or a Hunter 25 or 27 with a much smaller mast, as this cover won't go around the Ericson 25 mast. I got 4 stanchion feet that match mine as spares, and other miscellaneous stainless hardware, including shackles and snap shackles that I can use, and some turnbuckles that I now know I won't be able to use (too small). I left original or old but still usable O'Day 25 sails for another buyer (I regret not offering $10) as well as a similar condition Ericson 30 mainsail. I hoped to find usable standing rigging gear but struck out there.
All of the wood has a horrendous redwood stain of some sort. I tried to use a heat gun to strip it and got nowhere. I decided to try sanding and thankfully discovered a that a few passes with wet 600 grit on a sanding block quickly removed the stain and revealed nice wood underneath. I'll probably use 320 or so when it comes time to strip all of it. I have attached a few pictures of one of the trim boards - the red stain was just on one side. What kind of wood is this? Is it teak? I know 2 of the larger boards I acquired (not pictured) were likely installed on the front edge of each settee or maybe a bunk. The board pictured was one of 4 thin slats - I don't know where these came from. I did find Christian's November 2016 post on here re Ericson wood identification, which leads me to think this is all teak (and thus suitable to modify the hatch?).
I also sanded a corner of the hatch just to see how that would go - again the wet 600 grit made fairly quick work of revealing the teak. I'm not down to bare wood yet - there is some kind of clear varnish underneath the red stain. The red stain was definitely applied sloppily over whatever finish was already on the wood.
So - thoughts on using this hatch for my Ericson 25 vs. passing it on to a needy 30+ owner? The hatch is painted white underneath - was that original, or the work of a PO?
If anyone needs a 3 step companionway ladder, table, lots of cabinet doors that need to be stripped (the wood is good), I can hook you up. The seller already sold a head door and a folding door (not sure where that would be in the boat) and I know he shipped one of those doors from Southcenteral PA to Florida, so he might ship the cabinet doors as a package.
Thanks for your assistance.
Kevin
I contacted the seller and learned he acquires old sailboats for the lead for his fishing sinker business (business is booming since COVID), and he and his son started selling some parts from the boats. He had other potentially interesting items. I decided to take my utility trailer and make the 3.5 hour trip to investigate. I'm between jobs and job hunting because of COVID - the blessing is I have time I haven't had for 20 years; the curse is the need to be frugal in spending.
I don't know the Ericson 30 and 30+ but since the hatch included the heavy fiberglass cover, I assume based on a few internet pictures that the salvaged boat was a 30+. I took some pieces from my original hatch to compare the arc and cut outs for the rails. I was surprised to learn that the 30+ hatch is at least 2 inches narrower than the hatch from my 25. I think it is the same depth and it looks like the same arc. I bought the hatch anyway because it was cheap and I decided I could add wood on either side to widen it if I want, or I could sell it. I did leave the fiberglass hatch cover - I knew it would sit in my garage for years if I brought it home. Negotiated prices for most items were at a "get it out of here" level so I did well. I took a usable stainless stern ladder, a well built 2 bow stainless bimini frame and decent top that should work for now and will help me figure out what bimini we eventually want to build, and several pieces of Ericson interior wood (possibly to use to widen the hatch). I took one cabinet door for a possible future project, and left the rest with the seller. I also took a stainless sink possibly out of the Ericson. My sink has several weak spots, cracks, and holes, and I've decided it will be better to drop in a stainless sink rather than patch and repair fiberglass and gelcoat. The seller was breaking down an O'Day 25, and I ended up bringing home a really nice boom for $10 and a free rudder blade. I'm hoping to pass those on to one of several O'Day 25 owners in my local marina. I also bought a nice sail/boom cover, but it must have come from the O'Day or a Hunter 25 or 27 with a much smaller mast, as this cover won't go around the Ericson 25 mast. I got 4 stanchion feet that match mine as spares, and other miscellaneous stainless hardware, including shackles and snap shackles that I can use, and some turnbuckles that I now know I won't be able to use (too small). I left original or old but still usable O'Day 25 sails for another buyer (I regret not offering $10) as well as a similar condition Ericson 30 mainsail. I hoped to find usable standing rigging gear but struck out there.
All of the wood has a horrendous redwood stain of some sort. I tried to use a heat gun to strip it and got nowhere. I decided to try sanding and thankfully discovered a that a few passes with wet 600 grit on a sanding block quickly removed the stain and revealed nice wood underneath. I'll probably use 320 or so when it comes time to strip all of it. I have attached a few pictures of one of the trim boards - the red stain was just on one side. What kind of wood is this? Is it teak? I know 2 of the larger boards I acquired (not pictured) were likely installed on the front edge of each settee or maybe a bunk. The board pictured was one of 4 thin slats - I don't know where these came from. I did find Christian's November 2016 post on here re Ericson wood identification, which leads me to think this is all teak (and thus suitable to modify the hatch?).
I also sanded a corner of the hatch just to see how that would go - again the wet 600 grit made fairly quick work of revealing the teak. I'm not down to bare wood yet - there is some kind of clear varnish underneath the red stain. The red stain was definitely applied sloppily over whatever finish was already on the wood.
So - thoughts on using this hatch for my Ericson 25 vs. passing it on to a needy 30+ owner? The hatch is painted white underneath - was that original, or the work of a PO?
If anyone needs a 3 step companionway ladder, table, lots of cabinet doors that need to be stripped (the wood is good), I can hook you up. The seller already sold a head door and a folding door (not sure where that would be in the boat) and I know he shipped one of those doors from Southcenteral PA to Florida, so he might ship the cabinet doors as a package.
Thanks for your assistance.
Kevin
Attachments
-
trim back.jpg -
trim sanded.jpg -
hatch sanded.jpg -
hatch sanded2.jpg -
hatch.jpg
