Ericson 32-200 Recommendations?

[NateHanson]

Yep, I've heard they're very good. I considered them for moving my boat from boston, but they were a bit too pricey for the length of that move.

I'm probably going to get this boat moved from my driveway to somewhere on the Merrimack R. for launching this spring, so I'll give them a call again.

Do they have a boatyard as well, where they launch, or are they strictly a hydraulic transport company? Are you being launched by them, or by another boatyard? If so, which one?

My only recommendations for the trip are that you secure everything like it's going to sea in very rough weather. Get some foam packing sheets (the white stuff used to pack dishes at UHaul), and wrap anything that could possibly chafe on anything else. secure your tiller/rudder. protect your mast from Chafe, especially if it's LPU painted. How far is it being trucked? If it's going a long way and the bottom is in good shape, it might be worth putting some protective stuff on the leading edge of the keel and rudder to keep them from getting dinged. Others with longer distance hauling experience can I'm sure give you better advice if the trip is a long one.

I'd love an update on how Joslin works for you, and how you like the yard/mooring company you're using in NBPT. I'm going to need temporary moorage for this boat for a couple weeks after launching before I move her up to Maine. So any recs would be appreciated. I know of a bunch of options, but don't have any personal experience with most of them.

Thanks, Nate

 

[Chris Miller]

Double check the route...

Find out how tall your total rig is going to be (adding the boat to the flatbed), then double check the route to make sure you are ok for clearance for things like bridges, powerlines, and trees! Nothing worse than having the pulpit or a winch or something ripped off by some low hanging branch... Also see if they are insured against such damage.
Best to you for a super sailing season!
Chris

 

[JohnK]

Speaking of boat transport...

My new (to me) '87 E38-200 just arrived yesterday from Chicagoland to her new home at Dutch Harbor in Jamestown, RI. I used American Boat Carriers out of Alachua, FL for two reasons. First, they were highly recommended by and have a good relationship with the marina where the boat was located, Larsen's in Waukegan. Second, their quote was the lowest of the bunch!

As you can see, my E38 with the deep keel only required the removal of the bow pulpit, forward dorade/hatch guard, and binnacle guard. However, the driver did say that he had a little more leeway on overall height coming East than going West. American Boat was a pleasure to work with and Larsen's did a great job of packing and preparing for transport which, as mentioned, is key.

 

[CaptnNero]

When there are blistering concerns it helps to maximize the time out of the water if you are already in a cold winter area and will not be sailing half the year anyway. Of course stripping the bottom and applying barrier coat after a good drying out is the best insurance if there aren't blisters yet.

As you go North on the East Coast, blistering is less common because of the colder water temperature and less time left in the water. As you go into the South, it becomes very common with the warmer water and more year round water exposures. In the marketplace I think blisters create the most problem in the middle regions such as the Mid-Atlantic because of some confusion of expectations among even the professionals.

I have owned a Ericson 27, a Ericson 30+ and now own an Ericson 34. Do you see a recurring theme here? I have been throughly pleased with the sailing habbits of all these boats, the newer one progressively better than the previous ones. The late model 32's & late 34"s are very similar in basic design and the 34's sail very well. Have not sailed a 32 but based on the other posts & Geoff's comments I believe the two are quite similar. You can find faster boats and you can find more luxurious boats but you will be hard pressed to find a better combination, IMHO. Construction is strong although there are blistering problems on some of the mid 80's boats. A survey will reveal that info. Otherwise I believe it would be a grand first boat (most of us are jealous!!!) and remember blisters can be fixed and almost every brand of boat has them to some degree. Good luck in your hunting.
Have fun & sail fast
Bud E34 "Escapade"

 

[Sean Engle]

Congrats!

...We are so anxious to get sailing that I know we are going to be nervous wrecks the first time.

Congrats on the boat - don't worry about being nervous - she'll take excellent care of you and your family! On the transport issue - my only suggestion is to also look at this thread:

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=2765

I thought it had some interesting points in it about decommissioning and transport, etc.

Good Luck - we hope to see some pictures soon!

//sse

 

[CaptnNero]

your purchase

Belated congrats on your new boat. I just joined this group a few days ago. Our second boat was an '88 32-200 that we had for 6 years until 2004 and we currently have an '88 34. The 32-200 was challenging and we learned a lot without being overwhelmed with too much to handle. Our first boat was a Pearson 27, so the 32 was a good progression.

The winches are quite manageable and with de-powering we usually didn't have to reef until 17 knots. The 32 foot length is just long enough compared to wave lengths that in most conditions you won't have much pitch, just a steady rolling which is much more comfortable. I'm 6'2" and I never felt cramped in the 32-200 with the headroom and I was quite cozy in the aft berth. We had her out on the Chesapeake in some 8 foot seas and she was quite manageable though plenty of steering to do.

Our 32 had some items that needed attention. It had serious water intrusion that destroyed the structure of the anchor locker lid. Keep an eye out for any cracks underneath where the gelcoat mates with the bottom. I totally gutted it underneath and rebuilt it myself. Estimates from pros were about a grand for that work. The 34 has the beginnings of the problem on the outer edges, so I'm going to be gutting the outer inch or two of it and rebuilding it before its too late. I can tell by the shade of it's gelcoat that it's already been replaced.

Other things to check are the aft through hulls in the lazerette above the waterline. Ours had an odd metal elbow reducer which eventually corroded through on the small end.

One mod I would recommend is to put a check valve in the holding tank vent hose so if black water rises in the vent (full, on port tack) it won't cause the tube to plug at the vent screen on the transom fitting. If that happens, WOW, your system pressurizes when you pump the head ! This happened twice on trips. Symptoms are hard head pumping, bowl doesn't empty, very high pitched whine, and the holding tank starts to warp like a watermelon. Oh, the worst part is leakage from the deck pump out fitting. It was a really scary feeling to see the tank swell up like that. I installed the check valve slightly above where the vent tube exits the tank. I used the kind that's meant for fuel vent hoses to prevent spewing fuel out the vent. I think it was about twenty bucks. It worked great.

I also would highly recommend latches for all three of the cockpit lockers if it doesn't already have them. I've seen several Ericsons on the East Coast without any means of securing those holds from the deep blue in a knockdown. Simple latches start at several dollars a piece to $50 for a flush locking stainless version.

Our 32 had about a 2-3 inch starboard list. Eventually this seemed to become noticeable upwind, so I fastened 220 lbs of lead in the aft port bedroom locker (I posted that the other day) and all was well.

For winterizing it's good to have a t-valve on the intake side of the water pump so that you can add non-toxic antifreeze without putting it in the tanks. I put a teak trimmed access door in the head and a bypass setup on the hot water tank so you can just drain it yet pump the antifreeze in the rest of the hot water plumbing. I also had a t-valve on the engine raw water intake hose before the strainer for adding antifreeze there. With the t-valve you need a cap to seal it in case the t-valve gets bumped.

Winterizing ? Heck, winter is a long way off now. We launched Tuesday and the sails go on this weekend. I think you'll find the 32-200 to be a lot of fun. Enjoy your new vessel and best of luck to you !

-- neal

 

[NateHanson]

Hey omgirl,

Is your new boat in the water yet? I've heard that there's a ton of damage to the marinas along the river with this flood, and I wondered if your boat is doing ok. A friend of mine went down to his marina last night and the docks were still intact, but there were a few boats and tons of torn docks from upstream marinas that were tangled up in their docks and mooring chains. The current is really killer out there. I've heard an (unconfirmed) report that 2 dockworkers were drowned while trying to secure the docks recently.

For any of you not around here it's pretty crazy. Major roads all over are closed with up to 6 feet of water on them. All the rivers are many feet above flood stage.

 

[omgirl]

Merrimack River Flooding

Hey Nate-
I can't believe how lucky we have been on timing. We had been waiting and getting anxious to get our boat in the water in the last few weeks. We have been trying to get some rudder work scheduled and had to get it done before we could get her in the water. Luckily, it couldn't be done in the last two weeks or we would have already put her in the water. We went to check on her, the day before the river crested, and the whole area was in a panic. They were frantically trying to get boats out of the river. One of the marinas upstream apparently washed away and some moorings broke and boats floated right out through the channel. It was all chaos.

Thankfully, ours was fine and in a perfect location. Just unfortunate for everyone else. We were hoping to paint her this weekend but with more rain coming I don't when we will ever get it all done and finally get her in the water!

We are going to head over this weekend in the rain just to doublecheck everything again and see what toll the damage took. Will report back if there is anything interesting.