1977 Ericson 27

Hi all

I am new to sailing and shopping for my first boat for the past several months. today I checked out an E 27 1977 which was very clean with a new rebuilt deisel, fuel tank and heat exchanger. the boat is lacking an "evicerator" and I'm a bit concerned about the functionalithy of the ancohor chain and rode storage, as the entry hole is rather narrow. Interested to hear if adding the evicerator is an east/difficut/expensive project and also if hauling in and storing the ancohor (especially in chop) is toublesome or not. Also, have blisters been an issue with the E 27s? I do plan on having a survey before closing.

thanks
Joe

Do you mean "macerator," a chopping device on an electric head, or "windlass," an electrical device that helps haul up an anchor?

Neither are necessary.

Macerattor and anchor rode

Yes sorry I meant the macerator. The owner informs me one can be installed. The holding tank is under the v berth and I don't know enough about the boats layout to determine if that makes a difference or not. As to the storage for the chain and rode the design just seems awkward but the owner reports he has never had any difficulties.Thanks for your response.Joe

Hi Joe,

Welcome. Why are you thinking about a macerator? I think you would only use it to empty the holding tank at sea. If you are thinking about sailing mostly in the Bay you won't be using it. Hopefully other E27 owners will chime in on anchor management. I have no access to the "chain locker" from the deck so I stow the anchor, chain and rode in the lazarette and haul it out when needed.

Fitting a macerator or how to plumb your head system.

Joe, Welcome aboard. Do consider a simple method of plumbing your head/holding tank system, a slight variation of the West Marine Advisor "Our favorite method" as can be seen page 490 of the 2011 catalog. Substitute the Y-valve, #8 in the illustration with a T-fitting and you'll have simple and effective system. I've installed this very design in two of my boats and several others of my friends. Hope this helps, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA

Thank you

Glyn and Mark

thank you both for the feed back! did not occurr to me to use the lazerette as alternate storage location for the anchor. will check out the west marine suggestion as well.

Joe

Hi Joe,

The lazarette anchor storage is not ideal but if you keep the anchor/chain/rode organized and on top of anything else in the lazarette, it's workable. I have managed to cut down on the E27's limited bow space with other stuff .

I'd like to hang my Fortress anchor off of the stern rail and be able to deploy it from the cockpit and still anchor off of the bow. Has anyone done this?

On La Petite I sewed a large heavy Sunbrella bag with Sunbrella mesh sides for ventilation and heavy handles for the 22 pound bruce with 15' of chain and 300' of line. The handles were big enough so I could put it over my shoulder (not across the back, just one shoulder) and walk up from the cockpit to the bow with almost both hands free. Kept things organized and the heavy mesh let everything dry out as well as anything can dry out in a lazarette.

Just don't put it across your back; over just your shoulder so you don't have to worry about getting tangled up if an errant wave knocks you overboard. One dock neighbor in Marina Del Rey almost drowned when he was carrying his rode and anchor up to the bow with the rode coiled over his shoulder and back and took a tumble out at the Isthmus. He did get untangled but was way down before he got loose.



-Sven

The lack of a anchor locker is one of my only complaints about my E-27. I think I would probably anchor more and save on mooring fees if I had a true locker. Deploying the anchor is not much of a problem, although I have to remove a cowl vent on my boat that is in front of the hawse pipe. When I retrieve the anchor, I bring a small plastic bucket up to the bow and then I can just drop the chain into the bucket with out marring up the deck. Then once under way, I can take my time and feed the chain and rode back into the hawse pipe. I have only anchored my boat a half a dozen times in the last 9 years since I have owned the boat. Partly because it's just too easy to pay for a mooring at Catalina.

Oh, yeah. Very important. I installed a bow roller very soon after the first time I anchored out in 70 feet of water. I have a 13lb danfourth with 40 feet of chain and 300 rode. It's not bad hauling it up from 20 to 35 feet without a roller, any deeper is a chore.

As far as a macerator goes, I had one installed on the bulkhead under the V Berth just above my 12 gallon holding tank. I also had a Y valve installed so I have the option to use a pump out or discharge at Sea.

Sorry, not pics of my plumbing system. BTW, if you do get a macerator, it's a good idea to run it offshore once in a while. I have had to do the rebuild a couple of times for leaving it ideal too long. Also turn that Y valve once in a while, they like to freeze up too when not used.

When I purchased my boat some nine years ago, it had no holding tank at all, just flushed over the side. Adding a new head, holding, macerator, Y valve and all new plumbing was the first project I took on. Next was to replace all the thru hulls.

Had no idea there was so much interest in and support for a 34 year old boat

Hopefuly I can close the deal and get out on the water soon enough

Hey Man, It's a Classic Plastic! Good Bones. My boat's 37 years old, and I have sailed her hard for the last 9 years.

Get that survey done, you may need to replace some costly things like rigging as well. Have plenty of extra bucks for your hole in the water.

Good Luck & Welcome!

Jeff

Surveyor in Dana Point area

I have a surveyor but he may be headed out of town for awhile. If my guy is not available I would appreiate any referrals for one in the Dana Point area. Thank you all. Joe

Mine is Like Jeff's

My anchor set up is similar to Jeff's. These are the best pictures I could find. Shot at v-berth shows access to locker from inside. I have owned my 27 for just over a year and have not had the opportunity to use the anchor yet! I don't have a recommendation for a Surveyor, but I will PM you with the surveyor who did mine. I believe he was technically sound, but I remember that I did not feel like I got what I paid for.

Surveyor

Got a referral today and we will check out her out tomorrow! Stay tuned!

Great pictures

Mark, Jeff, ToddPictures very helpful...thank you. Joe

StatUs report

Survey went well and very thorough. Owner agreed to make all recommended repairs and upgrades. Should close next weekend end. Wanted to check with you all on one issue. My understanding is that the e 27 has an encapsulated hull and therefore keel bolt deterioration is not a concern. Would that be correct. Pictures to follow after closeThanksJoe

You're correct. Ballast is inside the hull cavity. No "keel bolts" holding it on, as it were.

LB

Hand held radio

Thank you Loren!Tomorrow being Father Day my wife asked me what I would like. So I asked for a hand held radio, something small that floats and not too expensive. My hearing is not so good and therefore a radio with a powerful speaker is a must. Suggestions?If all goes well I close next weekend and then set sail from Dana Point to King Harbor. Joe

Getting a good handheld.

Joe, Don't discount getting a good used handheld radio too. For years I had rechargeable handhelds and about the time the batteries wouldn't take a charge any longer, the manufacturer would stop making these very expensive packs. That drove me crazy so I gave them all away and resolved to come up with another plan, namely getting radios that would operate on AA batteries. The two I landed on as being the best pick for me are the ICOM IC-M2A and the ICOM IC-M3A, a little old but perfectly acceptable for our application. Here's an eBay link to a M2A for $50.00, not a bad price to pay for a good little radio 230635626245. Then there is the M3A as seen here on eBay 110702023408 Both these radios will accept either rechargeable batteries or standard AA's. It just so happens that I have several of the 3A's, specifically three on board (redundancy) and one at home to monitor the weather. I was patient enough to look for them on eBay and have never paid more than $40.00 for any one of them. As a matter of fact, my last one cost me the princely sum of $20.00 on Craig's List and every one of them are perfect. I even convinced David (E31 hull #44) of this list to consider one of these great little radios and as I recall he paid somewhere in the vicinity of $40.00 for his M3A on eBay. Give it some thought and spend the money you'll save on another boat project. Happy fathers day to you and all, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA

Great idea !

Thank you Glyn...very helpful.