Gentlefolk,
A friend told me of a 1975 E32-2 for sale locally (NYC / Hudson River area) last week. He was enthused because the boat appears to be in good, "sail-away" condition and is being offered for $3600. My wife and I each sailed small boats as kids, and have dreamed of sailing again on a cruising boat like this. Suddenly, it seems that the boat is "arriving" in our lives, and we are very excited about beginning this adventure of sailing and maintaining/improving the vessel, and sharing this with our young son. I have some very basic knowledge of sailing but this will be a very large step -- and part of the pleasure will be all the new stuff there is to learn. Our goal is to become competent sailors and spend some time each August cruising in Long Island Sound, and perhaps ultimately cruising the Maine islands, where I am from.The trade-off for me is that I will sacrifice much of my recreational time now spent flying sailplanes, but it's time for a family activity instead of my taking off solo in the glider all afternoon every weekend.
I have looked over the boat for about an hour, and have plans to sail it with the 70-year-old gal who owns it in two days. She was a sailing instructor and is absolutely passionate about sailing and this boat, and she is eager to sail with us as the new owners and to teach us. Her main interest seems to be in finding the right person to take over the boat from her -- someone who will love it as she does, and she says the money is immaterial. The boat is very clean and the interior is quite beautiful; she takes pride in it. Her 79-year-old husband was a professional captain of a 125' tour boat and he, somewhat grudgingly, helped her maintain it, particularly maintaining the Universal diesel which was installed in 1996. She has owned the boat since 1998, and has only used it for day sails on the Hudson, never cruised with it. She is selling because he can no longer help her with it, and she can't find people to sail it with and will not single-hand it, after a bad fall while doing so some years back. We would plan to leave it at it's present slip for the remainder of the season, and consider moving it closer to NYC next year, unless we opt to keep it right where it is. Estimated costs per year at the current marina for slip and dry dock are $3000, which we can afford.
I am a sculptor, good with tools and have a comprehensive shop and fair bit of mechanical ability. I'm not daunted by the type of work I anticipate doing on a boat, but I am trying to get a handle on just how much of that work will be necessary to ensure that this 42-year-old vessel is safe, particularly as we move toward cruising. I have the sense that the $3600 price tag is basically what I would pay in order to start spending time and money for years to come.... The attraction of the low price is that this seems like a low-risk way for us to try-out sailing on this scale. If we keep the investment low initially, we can opt-out down the road and sell the boat for a song. If we fall in love with it, we can improve the vessel, or move up to a more modern vessel with a more modern price tag.
Here are the problems I noted on my first visit, listed in order of seriousness, as I see it, or guess at it, I should say:
The starboard forward inner chainplate that is bolted to the bulkhead has allowed water infiltration and there is an area of about 6" by 6" at the top of the bulkhead that is rotted and soft. The chainplate has 5 large bolts securing it to the bulkhead and the lower three are in good wood. The owner had no awareness of this issue and has never re-bedded anything except one leaking stanchion. My sense is that I could install large stainless doubler plates on either side of the bulkhead and rebolt the chainplate to the beefed-up structure, and that this could be an adequate fix. Obviously I would re-seal the deck penetration. I did not check to see if the balsa deck core is soft in this area, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if it were. There are likely other areas where the deck is soft as well, and I will explore that next. The corresponding port chainplate/bulkhead connection is solid and dry.
I found two other small areas of rotted wood, neither stuctural, both easily remedied. I think the larger issue is that everything on the deck needs to be re-bed. Everything.
There's some significant gel coat cracks in the deck in various places. They appear to me to be cosmetic issues for the most part. However, there are many cracks in the several square feet surrounding the area where the mast is stepped. This suggests to me that there has been considerable stressing of the deck in this area, obvious as there is not a compression pole between mast and keel. I don't know if this is represents any kind of structural or safety issue, or if it is purely cosmetic. The cracks are random in pattern, they are not radiating out from the base of the mast nor in some kind of pattern that demonstrates failure of the underlying structure. My sense is that I would eventually want to install a compression member under the mast, especially if we get to the point of sailing in some weather.
The compass was damaged when the boat came out of the water sometime ago and was not repaired or replaced -- it needs a new one. There is a windspeed/direction instrument that apparently only functions when wind is 15 knots or more. One of the lights on the lower spreader is broken and needs replacing. There are a few minor issues with cabinetry.
The stainless pulpit at the bow took a hit at some point and some tubing is deformed and it's bent a bit out of shape, not terrible but not quite right -- I'd probably want to repair or replace the pulpit at some point.
The PO says she always wanted to replace the port lights with ones that open completely for better cross-ventilation. The existing port lights are difficult to open and appear to only open by sliding half-way.
The gel coat overall has lost it's shine but is not especially chalky -- just looks a bit aged. I can live with it. The bottom has not been painted for maybe five years. The PO says it hasn't needed it, after powerwashing when it goes into drydock each fall. I would plan to sand and repaint myself when needed.
The good stuff: The 30 HP Universal engine has had regular oil changes and filter changes and has been run regularly for short periods for getting in and out of the marina. It hasn't been run for hours at a time while cruising. I didn't note the engine hours but will next, and I suspect they are very low. The engine started immediately and sounds good. It looks about like I'd expect a 20-year-old engine to look, and there was a small bit of oil under it, but nothing alarming. The engine mounts are sound. I would do a bit of degreasing and cleaning and expect it will operate well. The throttle handle at the helm needs attention -- it slips and the PO has attached a bungee to keep some friction on it so it stays in place while operating.
The boat was significantly and cleanly re-wired and has a larger panel with 6 additional circuits and breakers. The main battery switch was replaced and relocated to the side of the battery compartment and battery wiring replaced. All well done work.
The standing rigging appears sound to me, as does the running rigging. This only means that I didn't see any obvious problems and everything is intact and functioning and looks like stainless steel ought to, to my eye. They tune the rigging every season with a Loos gauge. All the lines are in decent shape, and the PO says the sails are quite good with years of life left. I will see them when we sail. They are: Dura Mainsail 5.9 Dacron 2+2 - 1 reef, Doyle 2001 and Dura Genoa 150% with UV 8.3 Dacron Doyle 2009. It has self-tailing winches.
The bilge was dry and has a new pump installed. There is a recent potable water pump. I believe there is a hot water system.
It has a Garmin 182C mounted on an arm at the companionway so visible from helm or interior, and a Uniden VHS.
The PO has the orignal sail plan, electrical plan, plumbing plan, boat diagram, owner's manual, parts list, and the survey she had done when she purchased it in 1998, stating that it was in excellent condition with no significant issues. It has a Dodger and extension that she removed and stored, a whisker pole, swim ladder, and sail bags.
Overall, the boat is clean. It can be prettied up. But it's a functioning Ericson 32-2 for $3600.
I am looking for a sanity check from this vastly experienced and knowlegable community. My concern is that I could wind-up sinking too much time and money into this boat, and I wonder if I might be better off buying something in truly excellent condition from the start. On the other hand, this feels like a really good way to enter the world of sailing without raiding my kid's college fund, or having to sell my sailplane. After writing this lengthy post, I've more-or-less convinced myself that this is a hell of a lot of sailboat for the price -- we actually have a folding kayak with a sailing rig that we paid more for!
I will greatly appreciate any input! Many thanks!
Paul Villinski
NYC
A friend told me of a 1975 E32-2 for sale locally (NYC / Hudson River area) last week. He was enthused because the boat appears to be in good, "sail-away" condition and is being offered for $3600. My wife and I each sailed small boats as kids, and have dreamed of sailing again on a cruising boat like this. Suddenly, it seems that the boat is "arriving" in our lives, and we are very excited about beginning this adventure of sailing and maintaining/improving the vessel, and sharing this with our young son. I have some very basic knowledge of sailing but this will be a very large step -- and part of the pleasure will be all the new stuff there is to learn. Our goal is to become competent sailors and spend some time each August cruising in Long Island Sound, and perhaps ultimately cruising the Maine islands, where I am from.The trade-off for me is that I will sacrifice much of my recreational time now spent flying sailplanes, but it's time for a family activity instead of my taking off solo in the glider all afternoon every weekend.
I have looked over the boat for about an hour, and have plans to sail it with the 70-year-old gal who owns it in two days. She was a sailing instructor and is absolutely passionate about sailing and this boat, and she is eager to sail with us as the new owners and to teach us. Her main interest seems to be in finding the right person to take over the boat from her -- someone who will love it as she does, and she says the money is immaterial. The boat is very clean and the interior is quite beautiful; she takes pride in it. Her 79-year-old husband was a professional captain of a 125' tour boat and he, somewhat grudgingly, helped her maintain it, particularly maintaining the Universal diesel which was installed in 1996. She has owned the boat since 1998, and has only used it for day sails on the Hudson, never cruised with it. She is selling because he can no longer help her with it, and she can't find people to sail it with and will not single-hand it, after a bad fall while doing so some years back. We would plan to leave it at it's present slip for the remainder of the season, and consider moving it closer to NYC next year, unless we opt to keep it right where it is. Estimated costs per year at the current marina for slip and dry dock are $3000, which we can afford.
I am a sculptor, good with tools and have a comprehensive shop and fair bit of mechanical ability. I'm not daunted by the type of work I anticipate doing on a boat, but I am trying to get a handle on just how much of that work will be necessary to ensure that this 42-year-old vessel is safe, particularly as we move toward cruising. I have the sense that the $3600 price tag is basically what I would pay in order to start spending time and money for years to come.... The attraction of the low price is that this seems like a low-risk way for us to try-out sailing on this scale. If we keep the investment low initially, we can opt-out down the road and sell the boat for a song. If we fall in love with it, we can improve the vessel, or move up to a more modern vessel with a more modern price tag.
Here are the problems I noted on my first visit, listed in order of seriousness, as I see it, or guess at it, I should say:
The starboard forward inner chainplate that is bolted to the bulkhead has allowed water infiltration and there is an area of about 6" by 6" at the top of the bulkhead that is rotted and soft. The chainplate has 5 large bolts securing it to the bulkhead and the lower three are in good wood. The owner had no awareness of this issue and has never re-bedded anything except one leaking stanchion. My sense is that I could install large stainless doubler plates on either side of the bulkhead and rebolt the chainplate to the beefed-up structure, and that this could be an adequate fix. Obviously I would re-seal the deck penetration. I did not check to see if the balsa deck core is soft in this area, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if it were. There are likely other areas where the deck is soft as well, and I will explore that next. The corresponding port chainplate/bulkhead connection is solid and dry.
I found two other small areas of rotted wood, neither stuctural, both easily remedied. I think the larger issue is that everything on the deck needs to be re-bed. Everything.
There's some significant gel coat cracks in the deck in various places. They appear to me to be cosmetic issues for the most part. However, there are many cracks in the several square feet surrounding the area where the mast is stepped. This suggests to me that there has been considerable stressing of the deck in this area, obvious as there is not a compression pole between mast and keel. I don't know if this is represents any kind of structural or safety issue, or if it is purely cosmetic. The cracks are random in pattern, they are not radiating out from the base of the mast nor in some kind of pattern that demonstrates failure of the underlying structure. My sense is that I would eventually want to install a compression member under the mast, especially if we get to the point of sailing in some weather.
The compass was damaged when the boat came out of the water sometime ago and was not repaired or replaced -- it needs a new one. There is a windspeed/direction instrument that apparently only functions when wind is 15 knots or more. One of the lights on the lower spreader is broken and needs replacing. There are a few minor issues with cabinetry.
The stainless pulpit at the bow took a hit at some point and some tubing is deformed and it's bent a bit out of shape, not terrible but not quite right -- I'd probably want to repair or replace the pulpit at some point.
The PO says she always wanted to replace the port lights with ones that open completely for better cross-ventilation. The existing port lights are difficult to open and appear to only open by sliding half-way.
The gel coat overall has lost it's shine but is not especially chalky -- just looks a bit aged. I can live with it. The bottom has not been painted for maybe five years. The PO says it hasn't needed it, after powerwashing when it goes into drydock each fall. I would plan to sand and repaint myself when needed.
The good stuff: The 30 HP Universal engine has had regular oil changes and filter changes and has been run regularly for short periods for getting in and out of the marina. It hasn't been run for hours at a time while cruising. I didn't note the engine hours but will next, and I suspect they are very low. The engine started immediately and sounds good. It looks about like I'd expect a 20-year-old engine to look, and there was a small bit of oil under it, but nothing alarming. The engine mounts are sound. I would do a bit of degreasing and cleaning and expect it will operate well. The throttle handle at the helm needs attention -- it slips and the PO has attached a bungee to keep some friction on it so it stays in place while operating.
The boat was significantly and cleanly re-wired and has a larger panel with 6 additional circuits and breakers. The main battery switch was replaced and relocated to the side of the battery compartment and battery wiring replaced. All well done work.
The standing rigging appears sound to me, as does the running rigging. This only means that I didn't see any obvious problems and everything is intact and functioning and looks like stainless steel ought to, to my eye. They tune the rigging every season with a Loos gauge. All the lines are in decent shape, and the PO says the sails are quite good with years of life left. I will see them when we sail. They are: Dura Mainsail 5.9 Dacron 2+2 - 1 reef, Doyle 2001 and Dura Genoa 150% with UV 8.3 Dacron Doyle 2009. It has self-tailing winches.
The bilge was dry and has a new pump installed. There is a recent potable water pump. I believe there is a hot water system.
It has a Garmin 182C mounted on an arm at the companionway so visible from helm or interior, and a Uniden VHS.
The PO has the orignal sail plan, electrical plan, plumbing plan, boat diagram, owner's manual, parts list, and the survey she had done when she purchased it in 1998, stating that it was in excellent condition with no significant issues. It has a Dodger and extension that she removed and stored, a whisker pole, swim ladder, and sail bags.
Overall, the boat is clean. It can be prettied up. But it's a functioning Ericson 32-2 for $3600.
I am looking for a sanity check from this vastly experienced and knowlegable community. My concern is that I could wind-up sinking too much time and money into this boat, and I wonder if I might be better off buying something in truly excellent condition from the start. On the other hand, this feels like a really good way to enter the world of sailing without raiding my kid's college fund, or having to sell my sailplane. After writing this lengthy post, I've more-or-less convinced myself that this is a hell of a lot of sailboat for the price -- we actually have a folding kayak with a sailing rig that we paid more for!
I will greatly appreciate any input! Many thanks!
Paul Villinski
NYC