Looking For Olson 34

Tiz

New Member
I am boat shopping. The Olson 34 looks interesting to me. A while back there was a beautiful one in Wickford, RI. Currently I see one in Maryland listed on Yachtworld.

1) would anyone know anything about the one in Maryland?

2) would anyone know of any others that might be for sale?

I am in Connecticut.

--Kevin
 

treilley

Sustaining Partner
I went and looked at the one in Maryland last Feburary. Here are my observations:

- The boat has sat for an extended period(uncovered) with little or no use. Running rigging sitting in wet piles on the deck and in the cockpit. I get the feeling the owner bought a new boat spring of 2005 and simply parked this one.
- If you look closely at the photos on YW you will see a water stain about 3 inches up on all the bulkheads and doors.
- Many(4-5) impact spiders in the gelcoat on the deck and cabintop
- Very many(30-40) poor gelcoat repairs on the topsides
- Damaged rigid vang
- Impact damage on the hull/deck joint
- Hull seemed blister free but the boat has been on the hard a long time
- Some interior cushions recovered probably due to water leaks(cause of stained wood mentioned above?). Not all cushions recoverd so they do not match.

General O34 observations: This is a racer/cruiser with the emphasis on racing. While the interior is a nice balance of wood and white laminate you will find canvas covers instead of wood doors on the cabinets. The aft cabin/head setup is nice(similar to the E34) but I thought the aft cabin was better suited for children as it was fairly cramped. I understand they are a great sailing boat. Loren can tell you more about the O34 in general. Here are some more threads on this boat:

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=2831&highlight=olson

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=2847&highlight=olson

I would have considered making a low-ball offer($20k-$30k) if the boat was local. The broker did absolutely nothing to answer my questions after my inspection. 4 months(3 weeks ago) later I receive an email from him stating the owner is anxious to move the boat but there has been no price reduction since February.

I believe I still have some pictures left on my home computer from my visit. Send me your email address and I will send them to you.
 
Olson 34 for sale

Hi, I have an Olson 34 I'm pretty sure I'll put up for sale soon. Sunwood is lying in Seattle. I am the second owner, and have had the boat about 14 years. Not interested in low ball offers, but if you are seriously interested, contact me at JonesBlake@aol.com.
Best,
Jim Jones
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Kevin,
I'll bet that the great looking dark blue one that was in RI is now sailing in SF Bay; I have had a nice guest sail aboard it while down there for the Strictly Sail show in April.
That blue LPU hull is quite handsome, IMHO. And it drove sooooooo easily in a strong breeze....
:)

On to Tim's comments about the one presently for sale on the right coast... as I was reading this thread, sitting on board our boat with my iBook via the club's new WiFi/Airport set up (way cool, BTW), it occured to me to look again at our own interior. (No comment on the vang -- we scrapped ours in '94 when we bought the boat -- and cushions and running rigging are in the replacement mode due to age on many boats from the eighties.)

When we purchased our "fixer upper" in '94 it had sat in its slip in SF Bay for 3 years and the interior had a lot of mold and mildew. More interesting was the amount (little piles, literally...) of salt crytals in the bilge. I figured that the stuffing box must have allowed water in to then evaporate and leave the minerals behind. :rolleyes:

There was no rot or damage to any sole or bulkhead plywood, but... still... there remains a slight discoloration up about an inch at the base of the bulkhead(s) on both ends of the main cabin. When we get to them in our ongoing varnishing program, that discoloration will go away.

After pondering this a while it seems like the problem is that any water ingress of over 10 gallons or so is going to produce water to slosh all around above the sole in ANY boat with an arc-shaped bottom and no "sump" per se. And this would be many many boats built in the last 20 + years.

Thinking back to my trip down to SF several years ago on a Caacade 36, we had water sloshing above the sole for a little while, at 3 am, while three of us were clearing it out with large sponges (!). (The motion was too vigorous to use small cups to capture the water as it moved around.) In that case we were in breaking seas, enjoying 36 hours of gale conditions off Mendocino, and were pooped once which put water in around the laz. seat hatch seals. That model of boat has a very similar bilge and floor timber layout as the Olson. No sump. Bottom of the hull is maybe 5 inches below the sole.

The point to this rambling discourse is that almost any quantity of water that gets in will spend some quality time around the interior woodwork before the pumps catch up with it and/or you sponge it all out. The King-designed 80's Ericsons have a molded in sump, AFAIK, and this is A Good Thing. :egrin:

I now wonder if there any Olsons, excepting those maintained by fastidious owners, that would not have some sea stains at the base of the bulkheads? FWIW, with a thru-stepped mast the forward bulkhead carries no load at the sole level, and is glassed in at the overhead and sides.
I hope this does not come accross as an overly-sensitive owner defending his particular boat, but the description of the other Olson did get me to thinking, always a risky endevour. :p

I would have the surveyor *really* concentrate on the cracks and old repairs, however. [Personal Opinion:The thru-bolt overlap hull-deck joint, considered on its own, is arguably more leak-resistant than the inside FRP-covered joint on Ericsons of the same era.]

Loren in PDX
 
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Tiz

New Member
Loren,

Thanks for the comments. I agree about the shallow-bilge situation. I'll have to get use to that I guess. The Cal40 I just sold had a 4' deep bilge and I never saw water on the sole (thanks goodness).

I'm more concerned about repairing deck cracks and damage at the hull/deck joint. Those are big projects to me and I'm not up for that at the moment. Cleaning, rigging, mechanical, plumbing, wiring are all fairly easy for me. Cosmetics and wet balsa are not.

On top of it, the seller doesn't seem to have a grasp of the condition vs what he's asking. Not sure I want to fight that fight.

Keep your eyes and ears peeled for another!

--Kevin
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Price lowered quite a bit

In taking my weekly browse at Yachtworld, I note that the Olson 34 listed in Maryland is now priced at $44.5K.
The broker sez this price drop took place 7-25-06. Sounds like reality has finally set in...
It also now sez "offers wanted." :rolleyes:

http://www.yachtworld.com/core/list...=30&man=olson&slim=quick&is=false&searchtype=

Here is the link.
Let the Negotiations begin!
(Not be confused with the "feast of a thousand hams" -- for you other two Futurama fans...)
:D
Loren in PDX
 

CaptnNero

Accelerant
gets your attention, doesn't it

Besides the condition report that we recently saw, that is an older boat without many direct comps to use.

There is more to the story of course but the best source for that is the listing broker.

Loren Beach said:
In taking my weekly browse at Yachtworld, I note that the Olson 34 listed in Maryland is now priced at $44.5K.
The broker sez this price drop took place 7-25-06. Sounds like reality has finally set in...
It also now sez "offers wanted." :rolleyes:

http://www.yachtworld.com/core/list...=30&man=olson&slim=quick&is=false&searchtype=

Here is the link.
Let the Negotiations begin!
(Not be confused with the "feast of a thousand hams" -- for you other two Futurama fans...)
:D
Loren in PDX
 
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treilley

Sustaining Partner
This would be the third broker at least in as many years. It has been listed for about a month. I would say someone making an offer of $25k would probably get the boat. The offer would not be accepted at first but I bet they would call back after waiting for a buyer to make a counter offer.

I figured out what all the random gelcoat repairs were on the topsides. I saw the same thing on a boat here in Maine recently. They were probably caused by a boat yard employee who did not know how to operate a heat gun while shrink wrapping the boat.
 
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