She's not home yet, but we are the proud new owners of a 1975 Ericson 35-2.
I was reading with interest Eric Miller's posting on buying First Lady, but the last post I saw was in April. Does anyone know - did is go through with the purchase? We are both in Maryland and we had to both be looking at the same boats at the same time.
Our boat is called Stormy C's, formerly Sound of Silence, and soon to be something else - we haven't figured that out yet. I am already planning the re-naming ceremony and stocking up on rum just for the occassion.
Unfortunately, when I had her hauled for inspection, the prop shaft got bent by the sling. The owner didn't know where the prop was - he said it was at the back of the boat and the yard guy took his word. So while they have it out I'm having some things done that I was going to have to have done soon, anyway. Just means a couple of more weeks before she is home. The good thing is the labor rates on the Northern Neck are considerbly less than they are at Solomons.
We are excited. I was having buyer's remorse before the sale. There was a 3-year old survey I used instead of a new survey, was getting antsy about that, the money, all that stuff. Then I went down for the test sail, took the old survey and went over every point in it, used checklists for online sites for buying a used sailboat, talked to my friends that have owned sailboats for 30+ years, and just couldn't find a reason not to follow through. Besides that, it just felt right when I got on board. So now we have a big fiberglass hole in the water ready for all my discretionairy funds.
This site is really interesting - lots of good advice and just plain fun reading. I will have lots of questions.
I know the story about the 2 happiest days. That may have been true of my 19' Cape Dory, but it was just too small. I've been crewing a 37' Seidleman now for about 6 years, and Gary has owned that boat since it was new (1981), and he still loves it. Right now you could not convince me this was not the right thing to do.
We looked at boats from 27' to 35' and first narrowed our search to the Catalina 30' and Hunter 33'. Then a friend of mine at work had a fit and convinced me to look at Ericsons, seems his dad had one (a 27') when he was a kid. So we looked and fell in love with the first one we looked at. Then looked at 3 other 35', and came back and bought the first one. It just fits us.
I haven't read to much of the forum yet, but I do have a question. Does anyone sail with a dog? We have a 55 lb mix who loved to sail on the Cape Dory and will be with me on the Ericson. Has anyone figured out an easy way to get a good sized dog up and down the cabin stairs?
I'll shut up now, just like talking about the boat.
I was reading with interest Eric Miller's posting on buying First Lady, but the last post I saw was in April. Does anyone know - did is go through with the purchase? We are both in Maryland and we had to both be looking at the same boats at the same time.
Our boat is called Stormy C's, formerly Sound of Silence, and soon to be something else - we haven't figured that out yet. I am already planning the re-naming ceremony and stocking up on rum just for the occassion.
Unfortunately, when I had her hauled for inspection, the prop shaft got bent by the sling. The owner didn't know where the prop was - he said it was at the back of the boat and the yard guy took his word. So while they have it out I'm having some things done that I was going to have to have done soon, anyway. Just means a couple of more weeks before she is home. The good thing is the labor rates on the Northern Neck are considerbly less than they are at Solomons.
We are excited. I was having buyer's remorse before the sale. There was a 3-year old survey I used instead of a new survey, was getting antsy about that, the money, all that stuff. Then I went down for the test sail, took the old survey and went over every point in it, used checklists for online sites for buying a used sailboat, talked to my friends that have owned sailboats for 30+ years, and just couldn't find a reason not to follow through. Besides that, it just felt right when I got on board. So now we have a big fiberglass hole in the water ready for all my discretionairy funds.
This site is really interesting - lots of good advice and just plain fun reading. I will have lots of questions.
I know the story about the 2 happiest days. That may have been true of my 19' Cape Dory, but it was just too small. I've been crewing a 37' Seidleman now for about 6 years, and Gary has owned that boat since it was new (1981), and he still loves it. Right now you could not convince me this was not the right thing to do.
We looked at boats from 27' to 35' and first narrowed our search to the Catalina 30' and Hunter 33'. Then a friend of mine at work had a fit and convinced me to look at Ericsons, seems his dad had one (a 27') when he was a kid. So we looked and fell in love with the first one we looked at. Then looked at 3 other 35', and came back and bought the first one. It just fits us.
I haven't read to much of the forum yet, but I do have a question. Does anyone sail with a dog? We have a 55 lb mix who loved to sail on the Cape Dory and will be with me on the Ericson. Has anyone figured out an easy way to get a good sized dog up and down the cabin stairs?
I'll shut up now, just like talking about the boat.
