MaineCapeSailor
Member I
My E32-3 sold in a week. E38 in good condition in the Northeast wanted
Ericson 38 wanted North east
- Thread starter MaineCapeSailor
- Start date
Have you seen this one yet?
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1993 Pacific Seacraft Ericson 380 Sloop for sale - YachtWorld
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Alan Gomes
Sustaining Partner
Interesting that the headliner was removed.Have you seen this one yet?
1993 Pacific Seacraft Ericson 380 Sloop for sale - YachtWorld
Find more information and images about the boat and contact the seller or search more boats for sale on YachtWorld.
Smooth painted; no way that PSC would send it out without a headliner. That is indeed odd - must be an interesting back-story. Asking price is oddly low, too.
Alan Gomes
Sustaining Partner
I'm not a fan of headliners such as we have on our Ericsons. It's a definite negative in my book. But there was enough else I liked about the boat that I bought it anyway and decided to overlook the headliner--for now.
That said, I certainly would not go the route that was done on that E38. Quite unattractive. When I get around to it, I'd like to replace my current headliner with removable panels. Maybe I'll do it after I retire and I've got a bit more time to do that. (Ha!)
That said, I certainly would not go the route that was done on that E38. Quite unattractive. When I get around to it, I'd like to replace my current headliner with removable panels. Maybe I'll do it after I retire and I've got a bit more time to do that. (Ha!)
Worth a look, apparently at Yarmouth on the Cape. See how the Awlgrip stood up. Missing headliner is weird. The E38 vinyl headliner is a work of art, taut and trouble free, but I wouldn't want to have to install one.
Correction: boat is in Yarmouth, Me.
Correction: boat is in Yarmouth, Me.
Alan Gomes
Sustaining Partner
Speaking of a headliner that is a work of art, there's always Martin King's stunning retrofit.
I would love to have panels for my headliner instead of the factory vinyl. The vinyl looks great, but there's never a zipper exactly where I need it. I haven't found a good way to get behind the headliner and not leave some evidence behind. Whether it's a botched bung replacement, not getting it tight again (I bet the original installers had exccess material to pull on that they later trimmed away), or simply leaving greasy finger prints behind, it always looks worse after I pull the liner back. I think this is one of the tradeoffs Ericson (or maybe PS in this case) had to make to offer the boat at a price point that would sell.
The vinyl headliner looks absolutely daunting for DIYer's with a Sailrite like myself, but for a factory, they probably had a template for each model and could knock them out with ease. Once they were all sewn together, a few somewhat skilled people with pneumatic stable guns could install with great results.
Panels, on the other hand, take much more work to look good. They are doable by DIYer or builders of one-off boats, because we have the time to adjust the fit of each panel. They also have the potential to reduce headroom and I don't think the marketing department would appreciate having to go below the 6' 1" or so they have with the vinyl headliner.
The vinyl headliner looks absolutely daunting for DIYer's with a Sailrite like myself, but for a factory, they probably had a template for each model and could knock them out with ease. Once they were all sewn together, a few somewhat skilled people with pneumatic stable guns could install with great results.
Panels, on the other hand, take much more work to look good. They are doable by DIYer or builders of one-off boats, because we have the time to adjust the fit of each panel. They also have the potential to reduce headroom and I don't think the marketing department would appreciate having to go below the 6' 1" or so they have with the vinyl headliner.
Pete the Cat
Member III
I have the batten and panel concept on my Tartan 37 and I like it a whole lot better than dealing with the zippers, rusty staples and the many inaccessible parts of my 32-200 headliner. Tartan and others simply glue some blocks to the underside of the deck and then secure the panels with battens. I have replaced the panels with 1/8" formica sheets from a building supply company.
Alan Gomes
Sustaining Partner
Can you offer some pictures? I'd love to see what you did. And how did you like working with Formica, vs. going with thin wood panels?
Alan Gomes
Sustaining Partner
My friend Neil Dutton, who sometimes checks in here, used to work for some of the So Cal. boat builders back in the 70's (Islander, Jensen, and Capital). He happened to mention that at Islander (I believe) they didn't even install their own headliners but brought in an upholsterer and turned them loose on it. Don't know about Ericson or other builders, though.
Pete the Cat
Member III
Unfortunately, my Tartan is in Maine under cover and I am in California until May. Happy to take some pictures in the summer. The challenge I see with doing this on the Ericson, is working around the overhead handrails ( a feature I like on the Ericson that is missing on the Tartan). I think there is a way to get around this. Other than that, it seems rather simple to make a pattern as you would for flooring and cut them out. The battens cover a lot of imprecision. You can also have attractive access panels. Seems like Ericson, Islander and others were trying to make the boat look like a car.
Alan Gomes
Sustaining Partner
Thanks for this, Ray.
How did you like working with Formica specifically for this application? For something that you might be removing from time to time, does the Formica hold up well against possible damage, such as accidentally chipping it? Excuse my ignorance about it, but I've never worked with the stuff.
Pete the Cat
Member III
I should have been more precise. The stuff I used was not actually Formica brand. It is some stuff I got from Home Depot. I am not sure the product I used is still around--I think it was called Wilson Art water proof panels and used in cheap bathroom installations. Was easy to work with with a jig saw. In my case I just used the old panels (which appeared to be plastic coated masonite) for patterns. The battens cover gaps and they are fastened with silicon bronze oval head screws. I learned NOT to put screws in the panels, but rather to suspend the ceiling and use only the battens secure them in place. I would be a complicated job to replace the headliner (because of the overhead hand rails) in my 32-200 and I have no intention of doing so. I think someone from an upholstery background did do the work because who with a boating background would use mild metal staples to secure it?
Here are a couple pics of my buddy‘s Morgan with DIY Home Depot plastic bead board and wood battens. It looks great and is easy to R & R. Definitely some work to install and make look right but the finished product is really friendly to work around.
I have a couple pieces of that stuff sitting up in the garage. I've been tearing up my cloth headliner to address hardware leaks and plan on installing the bead board when finished.
I can't imagine re- stapling the headliner back into place and someday facing the prospect of having to remove it again.
I have done this several times, around the whole perimeter. Rather tedious work. Acquire a good (preferably pneumatic ) stapler.
OTOH, paying someone else over $100./hour to do this work was no way in my budget.
Yeah, I know people have done this, and it is hard to beat the appearance of Ericson's factory headliner.
But, while much of the deck hardware is accessible above headliner zippers, I'm finding this isn't the case with stanchions bases. And stanchion bases can face a lot of twisting forces under the long lever-arm of the stanchion poles. While I might have been able to pull of a headliner R&R once, the possibility of a second time was too much for me!