Survey Results

[Jim Picerno]

Greetings. I'm the"new kid on the block". as I've just become a member. I've recently had a survey done on an 1989 38-200. I've yet to receive to full survey report, but I thought I'd post a few pictures of items that stood out for meI during the survey. Firstly there is some minor cracking/separation between the keel stub, and keel. Is this the proverbial "Eriscon smile? An issue caused by improper adhesive application? Btw, the surveyor I engaged didn't think it was a big deal. Second is a cosmetic issue. Apparently there was some leaking from the companionway cover (turtle?), and the hatch just forward of it. There was also some leaking from the fixed portlights. This resulted in staining of the fascia around both fixed portlights (towards the stern). According to the broker all these items were rebedded and sealed by the seller. Assuming this is true, I'm left with a cosmetic issue I'm not sure how to tackle. Any and all comments would be appreciated.

 

[Christian Williams]

The discoloration means leaks, which have to be located and fixed. All 40-year-old boats have probably had their portlights re-bedded at some point, or need to. It's just age.

The forum has many threads and descriptions to guide you in the repair, when the time comes. The staining is just cosmetic, but making it look good again is a challenge. There are workarounds. Let's hope there isn't a lot of such cosmetic damage, because the beauty of an Ericson interior is one of its best attributes.

Replacing Fixed Ports (Windows): https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/replacing-fixed-windows-research-master-thread.9603/
Replacing gaskets on Fixed Ports (Windows): https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/thread...main-large-windows-ports-master-thread.13578/

The keel joint is just caulk failure, if the surveyor shrugged. By the way, there's a proverbial "Catalina smile" but no proverbial Ericson smile . It's routine for a boatyard to fill and fair the gap when repainting the bottom.

 

[Kenneth K]

A portlight leak would normally show up as damage below and near the perimeter of the portlight. Staining like your picture shows looks to me more an indication of something leaking up on deck and running down along the headliner.


Could be that it's from the leaking hatch you identified, or it could be from other deck hardware.

 

[Jim Picerno]

The discoloration means leaks, which have to be located and fixed. All 40-year-old boats have probably had their portlights re-bedded at some point, or need to. It's just age.

The forum has many threads and descriptions to guide you in the repair, when the time comes. The staining is just cosmetic, but making it look good again is a challenge. There are workarounds. Let's hope there isn't a lot of such cosmetic damage, because the beauty of an Ericson interior is one of its best attributes.

Replacing Fixed Ports (Windows): https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/replacing-fixed-windows-research-master-thread.9603/
Replacing gaskets on Fixed Ports (Windows): https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/thread...main-large-windows-ports-master-thread.13578/

The keel joint is just caulk failure, if the surveyor shrugged. By the way, there's a proverbial "Catalina smile" but no proverbial Ericson smile . It's routine for a boatyard to fill and fair the gap when repainting the bottom.

Thanks Christian for your comments. Glad to hear there are no Ericson "smiles", at least not of that variety. It's a shame that the seller was not attentive to this water damage problem, as the rest of the interior (barring the white upholstery) is in very good condition.

 

[Christian Williams]

Looks like the cabin sole is in good shape. That's expensive to replace.

Were there other concerns? Yours are few for most potential buyers.

If the boat has a public listing, you might post that. Usually draws knowledgeable comments.

 

[Jim Picerno]

A portlight leak would normally show up as damage below and near the perimeter of the portlight. Staining like your picture shows looks to me more an indication of something leaking up on deck and running down along the headliner.
View attachment 51646

Could be that it's from the leaking hatch you identified, or it could be from other deck hardware.

Thanks Kenneth. I agree water generally is not running uphill. I can only hope that the hatch and "turtle" which were the likely culprits were repaired correctly. And I'm still looking for some ideas on repairing this.

 

[Jim Picerno]

Looks like the cabin sole is in good shape. That's expensive to replace.

Were there other concerns? Yours are few for most potential buyers.

If the boat has a public listing, you might post that. Usually draws knowledgeable comments.

Good idea. Here's the listing.

Prana 38ft 1989 Ericson Yacht For Sale Prestige Yacht Sales

Prestige Yacht Sales provides expert and personable yacht sales and services world wide Search our huge database of yachts for sale now Prana is a 1989 Ericson 38ft 38 200 This Cruisers for sale is located in Groton Connecticut Call today

www.prestigeyachtsales.net

 

[Loren Beach]

Welcome to the Ericson owners site. I hope you enjoy the deep deep archives here on systems and maintenance.
It's likely that some of the same crew built out my boat in late '88, and they did an excellent job of sealing down all the deck and cabin hardware. That said, sealants do have a life. When we removed all (!) of our ports, hatches, tracks, cleats, and stanchions for a major repaint and refit in 2021, I found several places where the original 5200 sealant was about to allow moisture to get totally under it.
Better news: there was proof that the guys at EY had countersunk all the holes for high stress parts like the bolts for the genoa tacks -- this allowed much better sealant adhesion.
As part of our project I over drilled/epoxy filled/redrilled 100% of the holes so that no coring will ever be affected even if some future day water might sneak in around a bolt. Any boat over 25 or 30 years old needs this, but few owners seem to care until rot ruins parts of the core or water stains the $$$ teak on the inside of the cabin.
Regards,
Loren

 

[Loren Beach]

69K....? Wow. If the description is accurate, that is, IMHO, like getting it for half price. Believe me, I know what an Awlgrip paint job costs.
When you look at ours after it was painted, that's two color coats and three clear coats. The finished coats were all buffed. Note that current Awlgrip formulation is repairable, unlike their products 2 decades ago. Tough finish. Shiny as all heck.

Some pix of the process in my blog entries. https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/ubs/authors/loren-beach.28/

 

[Kenneth K]

Thanks Kenneth. I agree water generally is not running uphill. I can only hope that the hatch and "turtle" which were the likely culprits were repaired correctly. And I'm still looking for some ideas on repairing this.

Glad we agree on gravity's general effect on water. My point is that if the hatch and turtle were not the culprits, and that is what the PO "fixed," then the boat likely still has leaking hardware and potential damage to the wood coring in the cabin top. You can check for such core damage by "tapping" the affected areas and measuring with a moisture meter.

 

[Christian Williams]

No wonder you have few questions. Lovely specimen!

 

[Prairie Schooner]

Ayuh, she's a beauty, Jim.

I would note that it is a CNG galley stove and natural gas can be hard to come by. We recently swapped the CNG kit out of our E35-3 for a new propane stove, plumbing, and tanks. A new stove alone can run you $1500, with another ~$500 worth of hoses, regulators, safety solenoids, etc.

What's the deal with the cardboard and green tape at the nav station? I admit, I didn't watch the video, so perhaps the answer is in there.

When we bought our boat the sails seemed crispy and we thought we could address that several years into ownership. But in fact, they were blown out of shape and the jib was UV damaged. So, I wouldn't use mere crispiness as a metric.

Did they just never use the engine or was it rebuilt at some point? That's really low hours for a 1989.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from purchase. I'm just suggesting there might be other expenses down the road sooner than later.

Keel:
In the link below Eric details all the work he went in rebedding his keel. In the end, if I read him right, he decided it wasn't necessary. If you're an inveterate data diver, there's good information in his blog that will help peel away the veil.

E38-200 - Rebedding the Keel

Preamble I had heard of my vintage of E38's (1986) having poor keel-stub adhesion due to the factory not removing the mold release wax before fitting the keel. For this reason, and also having experienced crevice corrosion in my previous boat, I...

ericsonyachts.org

In a complete redo of Kismet's bottom last winter, we just filled in the smile and faired everything out. It still looks great after a season in the water, properly solemn with no smile.

Our boat lived in Stonington, CT in its prior life, a mere 15 miles from Groton. Would you use the boat in Florida?

The gray Y-valve control next to the toilet makes me wonder if they installed a freshwater flush option. A very nice touch, if so.

@peaman did a really sweet refurbish of the portlight side panel on his E32. I don't have the link at hand, but perhaps he can chime in with that.

New electronics in 2024? Niiiiice.

Good luck!
Jeff