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Would Love to Hear Thoughts on Ericson 41

Nordicmermaid

Junior Member
Greetings everyone. I'm a new member here.

Tomorrow I am looking at an Ericson 41. I don't know a whole lot about the boat. She has a fairly new bottom, a three-year-old mainsail, a ten-year-old rig, a V-drive that has some alignment issues, and an interior that needs a lot of work. She is priced well under $10,000.

For context, I am a single, 50-year-old woman. I lived aboard and cruised singlehandedly, first on an Islander 44, then I bought an Allied Princess II. My very first boat was a 48-foot, twin-screw power boat, but I fell in love with cruising and switched to sail.

This will be my first large boat in many years. I l live in Mexico and have two pangas (24 feet with a 60 hp Yamaha, and 25 feet with a 75 hp Suzuki), but I've not sailed in a long time. I know it's a big boat. I live in a lovely sailing area. I don't expect to start off with full sail area and will gradually get used to the boat in a prudent way. She will live on a mooring near my house, and I will haul her out if it looks like we have any really bad storms coming.

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts. I'm fairly handy, and labor prices in Mexico are very reasonable. I believe I can take my time with this boat, restore her, and gradually get my skills back. Thanks so much for any input.

Edited to say I grew up with boats, but nothing large. I didn't mean the 48-footer was my very first boating experience. And second, I have 11,000 singlehanded miles along the Eastern Seaboard, Bahamas, and northern Caribbean, but I was in my late twenties and early thirties at the time. I'm fit, healthy, and strong.
 
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Nordicmermaid

Junior Member
Thank you all for your input and resources.

I bought her.

She's a disaster. Sort of.

Her whole bottom was redone five months ago. All new gelcoat on the entire hull, paint, and bottom paint. The Westerbeke was rebuilt and has only 20 hours. The mainsail has only been raised twice since new.

She needs so much work! But she is also such a beautiful, gentle lady, and when I got on her, I felt like I was at home. The interior was much better than I expected. One leaking porthole and a tiny leak in the mast boot. The sole is garbage. But all the cabin wood is surprisingly good. The headliner has some mold and could use replacing. She was in far better shape than I thought. The foredeck has been redone, but poorly. That needs to be redone. The stern is solid. The rig is worn, but still okay. The topside is better than I thought it would be. Winches are old Barlows. None are self-tailing, but they are really smooth and in good shape. No anchor windlass. Stanchions need to be rebedded.

I know what I'm in for. In some ways, she was a lot better than what I expected and in some ways, worse. But I bought her. And I can't stop smiling. I know I'm in for a lot of work. She felt like home, and I have been looking for the right boat for a long time. She's the right boat. I love her.

So, I expect I'll be posting here and contributing and supporting a lot more. I'm now a very happy and proud Ericson owner.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Congratulations and welcome to the Viking ranks!
You might want to study a lot of the blogs here for narratives of what other owners have done to their "good old boat" and also get used to doing searches to find threads relevant to every part of the boat that you need to work on.
Regards,
Loren

ps: some friends of ours are now cruising Mexico on a Cascade 36 that they restored to new condition. Here is a link to their extensive restoration blog. https://gypsykramer.com
Click on Archives and enjoy their preparation and the detailed restoration.
 

gabriel

Live free or die hard
Thank you all for your input and resources.

I bought her.

She's a disaster. Sort of.

Her whole bottom was redone five months ago. All new gelcoat on the entire hull, paint, and bottom paint. The Westerbeke was rebuilt and has only 20 hours. The mainsail has only been raised twice since new.

She needs so much work! But she is also such a beautiful, gentle lady, and when I got on her, I felt like I was at home. The interior was much better than I expected. One leaking porthole and a tiny leak in the mast boot. The sole is garbage. But all the cabin wood is surprisingly good. The headliner has some mold and could use replacing. She was in far better shape than I thought. The foredeck has been redone, but poorly. That needs to be redone. The stern is solid. The rig is worn, but still okay. The topside is better than I thought it would be. Winches are old Barlows. None are self-tailing, but they are really smooth and in good shape. No anchor windlass. Stanchions need to be rebedded.

I know what I'm in for. In some ways, she was a lot better than what I expected and in some ways, worse. But I bought her. And I can't stop smiling. I know I'm in for a lot of work. She felt like home, and I have been looking for the right boat for a long time. She's the right boat. I love her.

So, I expect I'll be posting here and contributing and supporting a lot more. I'm now a very happy and proud Ericson owner.
Congratulations! Any pictures?
 

Nordicmermaid

Junior Member
Greetings all. I went to get my new boat Saturday and brought her back to her new home. She sails a dream! I'm absolutely delighted.

Basically nothing works on her. Nothing, I have a lot of work to do, but she's at least here, and I'm thrilled to have her at the price I paid. I'll post some photos soon. She has no dodger or bimini, and it was a long eight hours in blazing tropical sun to get her here. I didn't feel all that great yesterday and took a rest after I went down to secure her with a second anchor until I can get her mooring made. I can't believe I own this boat!
 

Mike Brockman

Ericson 41
Welcome to the E41 club. Great boats but after 50+ years most need lots of TLC. We are in our second year of a major refit, we had it stripped down to a bare hull and are slowly putting it back together. If I can help with advice let me know.
 
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