Sailing an Ericson 27 around the pacific.

[Jeff Asbury]

Anyone else seen this yet? Love how the boat is rigged with a bow sprit and as a cutter. Great video too!

http://youtu.be/tZUINBUzLi0

 

[Christian Williams]

He has a blog here, with several other video links iincluding his trip back, Hawaii to Washington. His whole story is way cool and shows energy and accomplishment without a big pocketbook.

Of course wasting his young life like this means he probably can;t beat anybody at World of Warcraft.

Christian Lloyd also was first to open my eyeballs to the Picavet. I thought I had already GoPro'd myself from every angle a long stick can provide. Now onto the kite....

 

[toddster]

For easy access, the links are:

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/entry.php?104-Sailing-an-Ericson-27-across-oceans

and the real one here: http://cdlloyd.blogspot.com

Caution! Have a couple of hours to spare before you click! Hard to look away.

 

[Jeff Asbury]

For easy access, the links are:

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/entry.php?104-Sailing-an-Ericson-27-across-oceans

and the real one here: http://cdlloyd.blogspot.com

Caution! Have a couple of hours to spare before you click! Hard to look away.

Thanks Christian & toddster, found both Blogs last night. That's what I should have done with my life at that age.

 

[exoduse35]

Jeff... There is still time. In twenty years you could read about guys your age out like that and think "That's what I should have done with my life at that age" If you want to go there is no better time than now! I am trying to follow my advice before I can't get around anymore. It is a shame they put that retirement thing in the years that you can't enjoy them as much as when you were young. Edd

 

[Chad and Sandy]

E27

Jeff, I was wondering if you ever decided to take off and go exploring, would you use your E27 or would you get somethng bigger? Like you, I'm at that age where I regret not doing something like this when I was young but would like make up for lost time.

Chad

 

[Jeff Asbury]

it's just about all I think about

Jeff, I was wondering if you ever decided to take off and go exploring, would you use your E27 or would you get somethng bigger? Like you, I'm at that age where I regret not doing something like this when I was young but would like make up for lost time.

Chad

Hi Chad,

Actually it's just about all I think about. Hopefully I can shed this corporate desk job in a few more years and go for it. Of course I think about larger boats and other configurations. Although if I had a big bag of money I would prefer a full keel, with a keel hung rudder, cutter rigged boat, but I am impressed with the modifications ‪Christian has done with his E-27 in that Youtube clip, especially the bow sprit for example. I am very comfortable with my boat in most conditions here in So Cal. I like the fact the E-27 does well in heavy air and I like the high free board and she points well. I have sailed quite a few other boats, but I have never put the rail under on my E-27, even in close to 30 knots of wind.

If I do decide to go cruising and cross oceans with my E-27 I would make some modifications like, adding at least two more cockpit scuppers, replace the glassed in chain plates with external chain plates, beef up the rigging, add a baby stay, probably replace all the 40 year old spars, add water maker, solar panels, wind vane steering and modify the rudder, reinforce the slats that hold the companion way hatch boards, replace all the windows, hatches and port lights, add lee cloths, gimbaled stove...... Boy this list is getting pretty long. :thinker:

Other boats that interest me are the Ericson 36C, Pacific Sea Craft 34 and the Bayfield 36 to name a few. Just hoping the housing market, stock market and economy will allow me to be able to cast off soon while I still have some spring in my step.

How about you Chad?

 

[toddster]

I think the point here is that you can do it with the boat that you have, if you really want to.
I guess I'm not ready to irrevocably sell the farm and head out though. It would be nice to try it for a year.

 

[christian.lloyd]

Modifications

Hi Chad,

If I do decide to go cruising and cross oceans with my E-27 I would make some modifications like, adding at least two more cockpit scuppers, replace the glassed in chain plates with external chain plates, beef up the rigging, add a baby stay, probably replace all the 40 year old spars, add water maker, solar panels, wind vane steering and modify the rudder, reinforce the slats that hold the companion way hatch boards, replace all the windows, hatches and port lights, add lee cloths, gimbaled stove...... Boy this list is getting pretty long. :thinker:

Hi, Y'all. I'm the guy from the blog. I did do a lot of modifications, but I did them myself and for cheap. I spent a total of 16,000 on the boat to date, after purchase (8,000) moorage for a year in Seattle (1200) and fuel costs for six years of ownership (650) I ended up with spending not a lot on the modifications. The bowsprit was simple, the roller furler was self-made out of a tube of aluminum and some toilet fittings, the wind vane was self made for about 100 bucks, mostly the stainless mounting hardware, the dodger was about 140 bucks (again the stainless tubing and hardware, but I bent the tube myself with my hands (so it isn't that great of a bend, but cheap))

As to time it takes, I spent three weeks building the first iteration of the bowsprit, the first iteration of the wind vane and the dodger, before leaving to go to Alaska. They all needed further work later on, but I was able to do that in the water under way.

At the same time, I agree with Jeff, that having a boat built for this sort of thing is nice. A watermaker isn't necessary, since you can carry water just fine and then don't have to deal with the damn thing breaking. (also the heavier that Altair was, the better she sailed) A boat designed to sit comfortably in waves is nice, and the Ericson 27 is not.

Ok, I guess I'm rambling and not making a point. I think that going on a trip is the important thing, and how you go doesn't matter as much. Little boats can make the trip, just like big boats!
The other thing I guess is that if you have the little boat now, there isn't much point waiting, since most people are going to do a few year trip and then return, don't get fixated with living the rest of your life on a boat (and therefore require the boat to be "perfect"). Suffer a little and have the time of your life.

Christian
cdlloyd.blogspot.com

 

[Jeff Asbury]

Hi, Y'all. I'm the guy from the blog. I did do a lot of modifications, but I did them myself and for cheap. I spent a total of 16,000 on the boat to date, after purchase (8,000) moorage for a year in Seattle (1200) and fuel costs for six years of ownership (650) I ended up with spending not a lot on the modifications. The bowsprit was simple, the roller furler was self-made out of a tube of aluminum and some toilet fittings, the wind vane was self made for about 100 bucks, mostly the stainless mounting hardware, the dodger was about 140 bucks (again the stainless tubing and hardware, but I bent the tube myself with my hands (so it isn't that great of a bend, but cheap))

As to time it takes, I spent three weeks building the first iteration of the bowsprit, the first iteration of the wind vane and the dodger, before leaving to go to Alaska. They all needed further work later on, but I was able to do that in the water under way.

At the same time, I agree with Jeff, that having a boat built for this sort of thing is nice. A watermaker isn't necessary, since you can carry water just fine and then don't have to deal with the damn thing breaking. (also the heavier that Altair was, the better she sailed) A boat designed to sit comfortably in waves is nice, and the Ericson 27 is not.

Ok, I guess I'm rambling and not making a point. I think that going on a trip is the important thing, and how you go doesn't matter as much. Little boats can make the trip, just like big boats!
The other thing I guess is that if you have the little boat now, there isn't much point waiting, since most people are going to do a few year trip and then return, don't get fixated with living the rest of your life on a boat (and therefore require the boat to be "perfect"). Suffer a little and have the time of your life.

Christian
cdlloyd.blogspot.com

Well a big Hello to you Christian. Thank you for chiming in and explaining some of your modifications and some of the sailing characteristics of your boat. Do you still have Altair? I am originally from Washington State and sailed extensively through Puget Sound, the San Juans and BC as a kid and young man. Also did a bit of sailing around the Alaska pan handle.

I am very impressed on how you were able modify your boat in such a "Econo" fashion. Your videos are amazing, love the professional quality and the the sound track music, not to mention the kite filming. What did you use for communication offshore? Just VHF or did you have a Sat phone or single side band? Well I guess a lot of my questions will be answered if I finish reading your Blog.

Hat's off to you Mr.Christian, Bravo Man!

From Sterling Hayden's book "Wanderer":

"To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea... cruising, it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about. "I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of security. And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone. What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by, the dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed. Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?"

 

[Christian Williams]

Hayden a very smart, poetic guy. Also, quite surprised to be shot in the forehead by Mikey Corleone.

 

[Jeff Asbury]

Hayden a very smart, poetic guy. Also, quite surprised to be shot in the forehead by Mikey Corleone.

Well Hollywood just had to get a little payback for Colonel Jack D. Ripper blowing up the world trying to protect the essence of his precious bodily fluids.