Hijacking my own thread
Good to see you back here Sven.
I'm touched ... a sincere thanks.
It is good to be back and planning for some serious off-grid cruising. We haven't quite decided yet, but we've spent almost a year looking at Hans Christians for no-worries self-sufficiency, but at long last we are almost certainly back to Ericsons.
We also spent some time talking to George Beuhler of Diesel Duck fame and studying (buying) his designs, but the fuel cost issue torpedoed that idea. I'm still a Beuhler fan and consider him to be like Steve Dashew when it comes to truly Engineering a boat. The idea of taking a Diesel Duck through the Northwest Passage now that it is opening still sends chills down my spine, but we aren't rich enough.
I should be fair and mention that Bob Perry's Norseman 447 is an aesthetic Siren that calls us every now and then, but I think it is too large to be easily single-handed with all manual equipment. The 447 is also holding its price and can't compete with the Ericsons for value.
With all that said ... Bruce is unquestionably the King of the compromise who brought together all the aesthetics, safety, comfort and performance which makes a boat perfect. The fin keel is a concern for a long distance cruiser, but one we can probably live with. So we are back and shopping !
(The broker we had made an appointment with today at the Santa Barbara Chandlery stood us up after our 2.5 (times two) hour and 100 (times 2) mile drive ! So, we never did get to see Star, an Ericson 38. We did find her in the harbor so we saw her from the outside, but that was it and we did not step aboard)
-Sven