Looking for an E27, E28, or E29. Have advice or a boat? (PNW, Wanted, WTB)

[Dave G.]

Erickson 28+ - boats - by owner - marine sale

Set up for single handing. The diesel is a Universal 5411 plus a 9.9 HP auxiliary electric start OB on back. The diesel still runs like a Swiss watch, the auxiliary is only for a precaution when...

seattle.craigslist.org

 

[LameBMX]

Erickson 28+ - boats - by owner - marine sale

Set up for single handing. The diesel is a Universal 5411 plus a 9.9 HP auxiliary electric start OB on back. The diesel still runs like a Swiss watch, the auxiliary is only for a precaution when...

seattle.craigslist.org

That is so weird seeing ones boats setup differently. Like I want to know if they hid the back of the speaker in the head, or if they just made sure it didnt show in the picture.

 

[rpm]

In the cabinet,,,

 

[Loren Beach]

Like I want to know if they hid the back of the speaker in the head, or if they just made sure it didnt show in the picture.

With some luck, you may not have to fill a future hole. When we brought our boat home, it had two surface mounted speakers on the forward bulkhead. Both could hardly manage a scratchy sound, and the stereo radio was mostly shot, too. I finally used teak plugs to cover 6 screw holes for each deceased speaker mount. With varnish they are almost invisible if you don't know where they were.
(Sigh......)

 

[Christian Williams]

On this boat 5" holes were cut in bulkhead for flush mount of speakers. The other end in both cases in inside a cabinet and not visible.

Big holes--but the audio is marvelous. The whole boat becomes an acoustic body. Either previous owner or factory installed.

 

[LameBMX]

That cabinet is so close, of course its tough without seeing it with my own eyes. i have one faucet handle, and easy room for a bottle of water between that upper chainstay and the cabinet.

I can see it being a good acoustic environment, and a properly designed enclosure would not only help the sound, but also protect the speakers from water contact on the side that is hard to inspect. I am still waffling between a dedicated stand alone wireless speaker unit, and installed sound system. Its a compromise currently handled by a tiny wireless speaker system with poor audio. MUCH better quality possible, more power, and using house battery vs. lesser quality, less power, and its own power system. For me, its mostly low volume delta blues while sailing. But my musical tastes encompasses all music.

So many ideas to take from the ad though. I already wanted opening portlight for the head. that sliding starboard berth looks like an easy addition with a lot of benefit, for little extra work to what I already need to do to repair the water tank under that berth. Torn on losing half the aft berth, but really like the handles for the fuel tank cover and motor/battery cover. I should probably snapshot those pics before the ad goes down.

 

[Ruckus.adrift]

Hey figured I'd put my 0.02 in as an 1983 E-28+ owner and liveaboard in the Maple Bay, BC area of Vancouver Island. I'm planning to sell mine in the next few months in hopes of upgrading to an E-38 as a liveaboard. I will likely be listing her for about $18k USD.

When I found Ruckus I definitely had that gut feeling of "this is the one" after also looking at some Cataline 28, 30, cal 29. She has been the absolute perfect beginner cruising and liveaboard boat and in total I have spent a couple summers cruising her through the Gulf Islands, and up the sunshine coast (and some very cold winters haha).

She has a lovely layout and feels very roomy for her size, and quite a reasonable amount of storage for a <30ft boat. She also WANTS to sail - 90% of the time it is much faster for me to put up sails, as opposed to turning on the engine, especially in any kind of chop or head wind. I can keep up with boats 5 feet bigger than me, and occasionally walk away from them (which of course is always satisfying as a small boat owner). But on the flipside of the coin, unless you upgrade her prop you are never going to be going remotely fast under engine power alone, and with flukey PNW island winds that can be occasionally frustrating. She has a nice size cockpit. Her deck space of strapping "toys" could be rather limiting for you, I'm not sure how strapping 2 sea kayaks on the side decks would interfere with movement fore and aft on a boat this size. Otherwise sails are very manageable especially for 2 people. All the gear is small enough you can do it by hand or a small amount of winch help (Ex weighing anchor, hoisting main), easy to dock.

Some things I love on mine:
- performance under sail, sprightly, responsive tiller, super manageable size wise by two beginners
- comfortable lounging inside and out, roomy airy feeling for such a small boat
- natural light (massive forward hatch above v berth you can star gaze through, companion way slider is plexi, and I built a plexi drop broad system)
- great engine access for maintenance and repairs
- diesel heater (absolutely recommend if you are cruising PNW, it's a super dry heat and very efficient)
- huge quarter berth "garage" for gear and storage

Things I don't love:
- slow motoring (would be helped by prop upgrade)
- the bathroom is definitely tight, if you ever want to shower in there, it will be awkward to do so but possible - I have considered switching to a composting toilet (save space for the plumbing, pump out and holding tank) and do a bathroom remodel to do so, but have not done so yet
- my boom is weirdly high, awkward to work on as a short person, great if youre tall (I don't think that's standard though from what ive seen on this forum)
- because of her headroom she's a little topside-y so she doesn't behave the best at a gusty anchorage (she'll swing and sail at anchor while heavier boats are behaving themselves, can make for some tiring stormy nights if you don't have an anchor you trust - I upgraded to a Rocna 10kg with 75ft chain + >200ft rope and it's worth every penny)

Some other upgrades I've done include
- new 125% roller furling Genoa
- replaced almost entire electrical system with help from marine electrician, new MPPT, 200Ah lithium batteries house bank with DC to DC converter and 160amps solar for charging, small inverter, new LED interior lights, new electrical panel (better organized)
- new dripless prop shaft seal when i first bought her, and an engine overhaul/rebuild in 2018/2019 winter
- new rocna 10kg and chain
- new water heater (engine heated and by 110AC shore power)
- I insulated the v berth for colder evenings to help prevent condensation, added hypervent layer under mattress
- numerous other small projects and upgrades!

Anyways if you have any general questions about these boats I would be happy to answer them or send over photos. Or if you would ever consider buying a boat on the island let me know! I think you are definitely barking up the right tree though, I couldn't have asked for a better beginner boat that can be used to explore this area, stay over for weeks at a time and hone your sailing skills to boot.

Cheers,
Melissa