Oh please Oh please [Find Boat of my Dreams]

[Barbixy]

Hello everyone,

Well...I may have found the boat of my dreams! Don't want to get my hopes up, but they already are
It was listed only one day ago, so I'm hoping I'm not a day too late. =[] That happened with the last one I found.
I was looking for a 38 or 38-200, and this one is a 1990 E-34. A little small for blue water but the upsides are lower slip rent and easier to singlehand than a 38.
It's represented as a one-owner boat, listed as "captain owned" with many new upgrades and while I have not yet seen it in person (waiting for a call back - left message for the broker) it appears to be in beautiful condition. When I speak with the broker, I will list everything I learn and find out in the EYo 'for sale/buying' forum and welcome any input and or suggestions. Hope everyone is having a great day, sun's out!

 

[bsangs]

Hello everyone,

Well...I may have found the boat of my dreams! Don't want to get my hopes up, but they already are
It was listed only one day ago, so I'm hoping I'm not a day too late. =[] That happened with the last one I found.
I was looking for a 38 or 38-200, and this one is a 1990 E-34. A little small for blue water but the upsides are lower slip rent and easier to singlehand than a 38.
It's represented as a one-owner boat, listed as "captain owned" with many new upgrades and while I have not yet seen it in person (waiting for a call back - left message for the broker) it appears to be in beautiful condition. When I speak with the broker, I will list everything I learn and find out in the EYo 'for sale/buying' forum and welcome any input and or suggestions. Hope everyone is having a great day, sun's out!

Looks nice from those few pictures. Is there an active link to an online listing yet? The people here were a tremendous help when I bought an Ericson a few years back. Good luck.

 

[Barbixy]

Looks nice from those few pictures. Is there an active link to an online listing yet? The people here were a tremendous help when I bought an Ericson a few years back. Good luck.

I'm afraid to post the link in case someone beats me to it. Haha There are 20 photos, but the rest of it looks really nice too. I'm pretty excited

 

[Drewm3i]

Looks clean!

 

[Barbixy]

Looks clean!

I've got a Sat at 9am appointment to go see. Low res web photos always look good, but the description sounds great. We will see.

 

[Christian Williams]

lower slip rent and easier to singlehand than a 38.

For the record, my 38 fits in a 35-foot slip, and I doubt there is any practical difference in ease of singlehanding.

 

[Kenneth K]

Yeah, you'll learn a lot by posting pictures here and soliciting feedback. For example:

1. Check out that stbd fwd motor mount (red circle). It looks rusted out, esp. compared the the one on the port side (green circle).
2. Ask about the paper towel wrapped around the heat exchanger hose (yellow circle, center).
3. The multiple splices and non-insulated crimps on the diaphragm pump (yellow circle, left), show less-than-stellar electrical work. You might take a look at some of the ship's other wiring.

 

[Barbixy]

lower slip rent and easier to singlehand than a 38.

For the record, my 38 fits in a 35-foot slip, and I doubt there is any practical difference in ease of singlehanding.

lower slip rent and easier to singlehand than a 38.

For the record, my 38 fits in a 35-foot slip, and I doubt there is any practical difference in ease of singlehanding.

Thank you - you're very skilled and experienced so it may seem just as easy, just seemed logical a smaller boat would be easier to handle for me - not that experienced - - IDK. I couldn't find a 38 near me that I would consider and have been looking for over a year. I'm not getting any younger, that's for sure. I might have 5 good years left to have fun before I won't be able to handle it physically, so going for a nice 34 instead of waiting for who knows how long for a 38 seems like a good option.

 

[Barbixy]

Thank you - you're very skilled and experienced so it may seem just as easy, just seemed logical a smaller boat would be easier to handle for me - not that experienced - - IDK. I couldn't find a 38 near me that I would consider and have been looking for over a year. I'm not getting any younger, that's for sure. I might have 5 good years left to have fun before I won't be able to handle it physically, so going for a nice 34 instead of waiting for who knows how long for a 38 seems like a good option.

As far as slip rent. Dana Point is pretty nitpicky about boat length. Anything sticking out in the rear or front that count as overall length. And they go in 5' increments. If the boat measures 36' overall, you're in a 40' slip as it was explained to me. I noticed there's no anchor or windlass, maybe so it fits in the 35' slip? I guess I'll find out. In any case slips in DP are pricey. I might end up in a 40' slip anyway with that dinghy on the stern.

 

[Barbixy]

As far as slip rent. Dana Point is pretty nitpicky about boat length. Anything sticking out in the rear or front that count as overall length. And they go in 5' increments. If the boat measures 36' overall, you're in a 40' slip as it was explained to me. I noticed there's no anchor or windlass, maybe so it fits in the 35' slip? I guess I'll find out. In any case slips in DP are pricey

 

[Barbixy]

Yeah, you'll learn a lot by posting pictures here and soliciting feedback. For example:
View attachment 54652
1. Check out that stbd fwd motor mount (red circle). It looks rusted out, esp. compared the the one on the port side (green circle).
2. Ask about the paper towel wrapped around the heat exchanger hose (yellow circle, center).
3. The multiple splices and non-insulated crimps on the diaphragm pump (yellow circle, left), show less-than-stellar electrical work. You might take a look at some of the ship's other wiring.

Wow, thank you! I'm probably going to get a survey done if it gets that far.

 

[Loren Beach]

If this deal happens, you might love a separate refrigerator and also a freezer. I had a friend with a 34-2, and he installed 12 volt refrigeration in each one. Way Cool (pun or no pun...) .

 

[Barbixy]

If this deal happens, you might love a separate refrigerator and also a freezer. I had a friend with a 34-2, and he installed 12 volt refrigeration in each one. Way Cool (pun or no pun...) .

Ya, I installed solar in my van, and put an isotherm 12v fridge in there. It's great - draws hardly any juice. Obviously it would run on batteries say when in Catalina, or day sailng but how do people charge them on a boat? Would I have to install solar panels? Use a voltage converter to run off shore power? Here's my van install, pretty sure I could do this on a boat, but I'm unclear how batteries would charge? I could get a power station like a Bluetti, but if setting up house batteries, and panels, charge controller, fuses, wire, lugs etc including fridge cost this would be a relatively pricey undertaking and way down the line after all safety issues were addressed if any. Do you know where in the boat he installed his 12v fridge?

 

[Prairie Schooner]

A few scattershot observations:
Seeing that antique Loran still in there is interesting. And the VHF is none too new. The chartplotter at the helm doesn't look like a recent model, though others here will be able to give you a better guess on age.
Single owner, competent mariner, finally aging out of the boat, in our case meant that the boat had been nicely upgraded with the latest high-end equipment, twenty years ago.
Make sure you look under those rugs on the sole. Could be protecting pristine T&H, or covering a multitude of sins.
If even a skosh over 35' bumps you up to the next length increment, you will likely be paying for a 40 footer slip. Though a friend who bought a Contessa 33 had a custom bow pulpit made to get just under his marina's length restrictions.

I'd say I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer for you Barb, but I kind of am. I truly hope this is a great boat for you. I'm just trying to temper your enthusiasm some so you go into the inspection with clearer eyes.

The good thing for us, buying a one-owner boat from a competent mariner was that he hadn't done any Bad things. It left us with a relative clean slate to work with.

Good luck!
Jeff

 

[Barbixy]

It took me four months working a few hours on weekends to wire all this up. I actually have boat panels from CMP (custom marine products) that are 1/4" and you're supposed to be able to walk on them, although I haven't done that =[]

 

[Barbixy]

A few scattershot observations:
Seeing that antique Loran still in there is interesting. And the VHF is none too new. The chartplotter at the helm doesn't look like a recent model, though others here will be able to give you a better guess on age.
Single owner, competent mariner, finally aging out of the boat, in our case meant that the boat had been nicely upgraded with the latest high-end equipment, twenty years ago.
Make sure you look under those rugs on the sole. Could be protecting pristine T&H, or covering a multitude of sins.
If even a skosh over 35' bumps you up to the next length increment, you will likely be paying for a 40 footer slip. Though a friend who bought a Contessa 33 had a custom bow pulpit made to get just under his marina's length restrictions.

I'd say I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer for you Barb, but I kind of am. I truly hope this is a great boat for you. I'm just trying to temper your enthusiasm some so you go into the inspection with clearer eyes.

The good thing for us, buying a one-owner boat from a competent mariner was that he hadn't done any Bad things. It left us with a relative clean slate to work with.

Good luck!
Jeff

Thank you so much for those observations, I greatly appreciate them. It's not a downer at all - it's very valuable insight and I plan to go to the Saturday walk through with a list of questions. First like how old is the standing rigging, bottom paint etc These are all things from which to negotiate the sale price and fix over time if needed.
Thanks for that suggestion about looking under the rugs. I would only knew to look under the rugs from watching Christian's video about how he replaced the sole of his boat. Man, that was impressive! One boat I looked at month ago, they'd replaced the sole with some mismatched plywood - like the stripes didn't match the other original part near the galley. LOL I was like what? As Christian Williams also mentioned, it will be hard to find a boat this old where work and refits won't be required, so I'm going into it with eyes open. I'm excited, but going to be as informed as possible IF making an offer. There's so much to this !

 

[Barbixy]

Wow, thank you! I will make notes on all of your observations, and ask those questions I'm probably going to get a survey done if it gets that far.

 

[Loren Beach]

Do you know where in the boat he installed his 12v fridge?

I believe that he installed the refrigeration compressor units under each side of the cabinetry, for cooling the separate factory "ice box's." It was an unusual galley interior for its day, partly sacrificing a larger sit-down nav table for the top of one of the ice boxes. Kind of clever, actually.

 

[Barbixy]

I believe that he installed the refrigeration units under each side of the cabinetry, for cooling the separate factory "ice box's." It was an unusual galley interior for its day, albeit sacrificing a sit-down nav table for the top of one of the ice boxes. Kind of clever, actually.

Hmmm...I think I'm going to need that nav table...so the ice box is just that - uses ice only?

 

[Loren Beach]

Hmmm...I think I'm going to need that nav table...so the ice box is just that - uses ice only?

The "ice box" was designed in to the galley modules, like our model. AFAIK the 12 volt refrigeration was an option. I added one to our boat decades ago, and immediately wished I had done so sooner.

Note that EY would add deck gear and interior changes in response to the desire -$- of the original buyer. Our boat shows obvious changes before it left the factory for a major winch upgrade and spinnaker package. We have the optional second water tank, also. The model 34-2 has a nav table but also the top of the nearby second "ice box."
I like our large nav desk by would be quite happy with the E-34 layout.
You will be able to relate better to many of the comments here after spending some time looking around in the boat.