Our Search

As our search for a sailboat began, I was hoping to spend a relatively small amount of money ($) and get something for my family to enjoy. That's where things went horribly right, so far.

I am originally from Long Island and have since relocated to the Washington D.C. area, so sailing the Potomac doesn't sound appealing to me. We'll have to step up in size ($$). To my wife on mother's day, "let's go look at a marina near Baltimore, meet some owners and see what's available". Nice place, good people...my wife to me, "there's a nice boat over here with a for sale sign". I call the owner, she's a 1981 E-31RH, the first Ericson I've ever really looked into. She is very nice, but seems a little small with respect to a family of 5 that likes to entertain and let the kids bring friends along. I'll look at something in the 33 foot range ($$$). I look at some other boats, but none seem to compare to Ericson now. At the same time I realize, I don't want to run into the "just a couple more feet would have been perfect" problem, I'll look for an E-36 ($$$$). Father's day weekend, we'll go look at some boats in the Annapolis area, and why don't we swing by and see an E38-200 that is nearby, just to get a look at her ($$$$$). She is a very nice boat, great design/layout, but she does need some care. Let's make an offer...we have a contract and are looking forward to the rest of the story.

Anything that can be shared about her specifically ("Happy Viking" Hull #190) or the E38-200 in general would be great.

Cha-Ching! Welcome to Boat Ownership!

Ha ha ha....(pre)welcome to boat ownership!

I love the $, $$, $$$, $$$, $$$$ growth in your description - a very visual representation of the process. I went from a Hobie 16 to a Cape Dory 30 to an Ericson 35-3....and my wife says (in the far future) that we should consider an E41 - if we can find it (although, I already know who owns the one I like, so....). That, of course, is after grad school, after student loans and after paying off the house! :nerd:

We just had the Northwest Ericson Rendezvous in Port Townsend last weekend - and I was sitting in the cockpit of a nice Canadian - talking about boat ownership - how difficult and expensive it is - and yet, how unique the experiences are - that you cannot obtain them any other way...

I don't have anything specific on your particular boat to offer - other than to add this: do a search on these boards with the boats name and model number to look for threads which may discuss particular issues, etc. Most Ericson owners who reside on these boards are pretty aware that some day a prospective owner of their boat may be reading their posts - so we hope that we're building linkages of information, boat-to-boat, model-to-model - aiding people just like you who need the info to make the decision (and to make existing owners realize that they are stewards of Ericson hulls going forward).

Good luck to you - we hope you find the boat and circumstances you're seeking. I sailed the Chesapeake in the early 90s when I was at University of Maryland - and well remember lunch/dinner at Middleton Tavern in Annapolis, the heat and those sandbars!

We look forward to hearing of your progress!

//sse