When Opportunity Knocks; or E is for Ericson

As mentioned in my earlier thread, the Ericson 28 and 30 Plus were at the top of my wish list.
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But when one of you recommended an Ericson 29, I added it as well. So when a 29 showed up as part of the City of Long Beach’s annual boat auction, I thought I’d go check it out.
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The auction was scheduled for this past Saturday. So I stopped by Friday morning for a look. But only a few boats were there. Most would be delivered later, a clerk told me. I didn’t see the E29, however a fairly modern racer/cruiser caught my eye. Although it was dirty and suffering from years of disuse, she looked way too nice to be let go for back rent. I didn’t recognize the design and nothing on the auction flyer looked to be this new. I asked the clerk but she had no clue. ‘If it’s not on the list, it’s not be part of the auction,’ she said without interest.
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Perplexed, but undaunted, I snapped a few photos with my phone and went back to work. That afternoon I came back. Still didn’t see the E29, but the R/C boat was still there. Potential bidders were milling about and several were paying special attention to the mystery boat. One guy with a clip board and looking like he came straight out of that auction show, “Storage Wars” was making notes. I ask him, ‘hey, is this one in the auction?’ </SPAN>

‘Yeah, he says. It’s the Ericson 29?’
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‘You sure?’, I retort.
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‘Yep’, he says knowingly, with a tip of his red cap, ‘Typical ’70s Ericson. Made as a racer. But look at all that freeboard. Never was successful. So now it’s just a big ol’ daysailer. Looks cool, but not worth much.’ </SPAN>

OK dude, whatever. The boat looks nothing like a ‘70s vintage Ericson. I’m calling BS. But why argue? So I continue sniffing around. Something about it looks familiar. I’ve seen those funny oblong slots in the transom before. But where? </SPAN>

I look up, across the turning basin and spy Brown Sugar, an Express 37. Same transom. I pace out the length. Thirty feet. Hmm, Never heard of an Express 30. </SPAN>

I rush back to my office to hit the internet. There’s an Express 34 and a 27. No. Neither fit. Let’s try another approach. The express 37 was drawn by Carl Schumacher. Did he design any 30 footers? I check sailboatdata.com. There’s the Sonoma 30. Nice, but not it. Capo 30. Could be. Check the auction list. No Capos listed. Olson 911. That’s it! But the windows are wrong and there's definately no Olson's listed. 911SE. BINGO!!! The E is for Ericson and it’s 29 feet and change. </SPAN>

I’ve lusted after an Olson 911 for years. Almost as fast as my old J29, but with standing headroom, enclosed head and bunks for six. Marlo, my wife, might just go for that.
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I’m gonna buy this thing!!!</SPAN>

But first I gotta get the boss’s OK. And then there’s the actual auction. </SPAN>

Fortunately, my wife is awesome. I met her on a race boat and just this past Wednesday, I babysat the kids while she raced on her dad’s boat. Over a glass of wine, I pop the question. She gives me the go ahead.</SPAN>

The next problem will be my minuscule five-grand budget. I’d just started shopping. Researching, really. I hadn’t planned to buy before next winter, when I’d have enough saved to afford a late 70’s or early 80’s fixer. An Olson 911 wasn’t even on my radar. As many of you know, the 911 is a well-loved and sought after racer/cruiser that sells for way more than I’ve got. And auctions can turn into bidding frenzies driving prices to atronomical heights. Who knows what this one will fetch.
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But… No one knows there's a 911 up for sale. It’s being advertised as an Ericson 29. So I got that going for me.
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Saturday morning: official inspection starts at eight. I show at seven. There are already a couple of dozen people walking the dock. By eight, the crowd numbers around 100, and everyone’s talking about “lot 32”, the fast-lookin’ Ericson 29. Most people are confused. It doesn’t look like an Ericson, they say. Maybe it’s a one-off. They’re scribbling notes and kicking tires, strutting around, talking big. Most are clearly duffers and won’t be a factor. But I'm watching the guys that’re keeping quiet, lurking around the fringes. You know the type, wheelin' the boats you don’t see in the box until about ten seconds ‘til the flag drops. Those are the guys I’m worrying about. Long Beach may not be Annapolis or Newport, but we’ve still got plenty of sailors that know what’s what. The boat’s been moored in plain sight for several days and it was naive of me to think I’d be the only one to recognize it.
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The auction starts at nine AM sharp. First up are the sabots, kayaks, and inflatables lined up around the parking lot. Bidding is spirited. A crappy sabot goes for 3 times what I pegged it at. Same with several other boats. </SPAN>

I downgrade my expectations. Oh well, it’s been fun dreaming. And it was a fixer-upper anyway. Dirty as hell, no spin pole or race sails. Running rigging is green with mildew; motor is missing a starter. But the deck hardware looks good. Harken all around. Upgraded winches. Self tailers on the house and 3 speed primaries. And most importantly, the deck feels stiff and strong.</SPAN>

After twenty minutes the action moves down on the dock. I follow the crowd. The auctioneer efficiently moves through the list, but I’m not paying a lot of attention. Most of the boats are derelicts you’d have to pay me to take home. I slink over to my target, getting in position. </SPAN>

Then before I know it, the guy with the mic is hailing, “Next up. Lot 32, an Ericson 29”. The crowd packs tight around the boat. There’s defiantly a buzz in the air now. Bidding starts low. I count about a dozen cards raised as the price moves rapidly from $500 to a grand, to fifteen hundred. Then I notice my feet are wet. There are so many people crowded around the boat that the dock is sinking!</SPAN>

A couple of guys drop out as the number gets to $2,500. By three, only a few are left. I wade in, trying to be casual, yet putting out a vibe that says, ‘don’t bother boys. This one’s mine’. At least that’s what I’m telling myself. But the bidders are thinning out. By thirty three hundred there’s just a couple of guys and me. At this point, I just keep my card up, signaling my determination. My ‘buy-it-at-any-price’ vibe is working .
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Then I hear it. “SOLD, to…” And the auctioneer is pointing at me, looking for my bidders number. But I’m in shock. My card’s upside down and the inked number is all-but bled off into my sweaty palm.
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Did I just buy a 1990 Olson 911SE for $3,700? Hell yeah I did! Woooohooo!!! Several other whoops go up across the crowd and a few bidders shake my hand in congratulations. One guy asks incredulously, ‘you do know what you just bought, don’t ya?” </SPAN>

It's been a few days now, and I’m still in shock, pretty overwhelmed. Gonna have a ton of questions. So you’ll be hearing a lot from me.</SPAN>

The adventure has just begun.
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Steve Aichele</SPAN>
1990 Olson 911SE,
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Cheers!

Welcome to the Ericson/Olson ranks!
Wish there was a video of your auction adventure...
Real reality is lots better than fiction (or all those staged "reality" shows on tv)!


Way to Go!


LB

Good job man!

You never know, maybe that boat wanted you as much as you wanted her.

Enjoy

Congrats

Boat well bought! We are ready when you are!

Enjoy! Hope the fealing lasts a long, long time! Edd

Wow! Pics or it didn't happen.

Great writeup and nice to see you over here Steve. I think you'll really enjoy that boat.

I'm already itching for tomorrow, gonna try to knock off work around noon and take ours out for a few hours.

I just re-read your previous thread. I don't know much about the other Ericsons you were asking about, but with a toddler, you'll like how well the O911 sails short handed.

My wife and I just had our first, she's 4 months now and we took her out sailing for the first time a couple weeks ago. With the tiller, tiller extension, and mid cockpit traveller, one of us can do pretty much everything while the other keeps an eye on the little one. We also added one of these to aid in that regard until we figure out what sort of AP we want. It almost works so well that my wife doesn't see why we need an AP. oops.

Hey, I wanna post up some photos. But I guess I'm too new to the site.

Andy, good to know it's practical to take the babies out. We have two toddlers to deal with.


That tiller device looks interesting. You like it? We've considered lifeline netting to help keep the rascals onboard. But I really don't want that stuff on my boat. And it makes sitting on the rail impractical.

"Otto Von Helm"

Pokey said:

Hey, I wanna post up some photos. But I guess I'm too new to the site.

Andy, good to know it's practical to take the babies out. We have two toddlers to deal with.
That tiller device looks interesting. You like it? We've considered lifeline netting to help keep the rascals onboard. But I really don't want that stuff on my boat. And it makes sitting on the rail impractical.

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I have never used a tiller-lock type of device, but I recall clearly how amazed-and-pleased we were with our first tiller pilot, back in the mid-80's. That was one of those sailing "extras" that became a neccessity the moment we first dropped it on the pin on the tiller and clicked the on button!


With the tiller pilot I could single hand for a week's vacation and when the Admiral was aboard either one of us could run the boat while the other napped or made a sandwich or whatever.

Lifeline netting is one of those compromises that might might make the difference between having little kids safely aboard more often and having them grow into the sailing life, or maybe not so much.
I once read an article by a guy that talked about sailing slowly and carefully for many days/years while he and his wife patiently watched their kids pull toy boats along on strings and gererally "play" all around the boat. Mom and dad decided to keep drama extra low and reef early.
He said that when the kids got physically stronger/older they liked the whole sailing life and got more and more into sailing and then the boat could sail faster. He looked at it as investing in the future for the family. Don't know if his plan would work for everyone, but it sounded good.

As for photo posting, all the sailing sites with this basic software package have an administered permission process that can limit attachments until a new member reaches xx # of posts. I do not know if or how Sean has set that limit here. Often it's something like 5 or 10 posts.

Cheers.

The tiller lock thing was a boat show pickup. It's better designed and built than anything else like it that I've seen. Once I balance out the sails and the helm I can lock it down and wander around the boat to do other stuff. It's not a tiller pilot, but it can buy you a couple minutes. The price was right too.

We've also thought about putting up the netting once our daughter is more mobile but we'll look into that further when we get there.

Speaking of sitting on the rail. Have you noticed the hiking ramps yet?

Loren,

Your right, "investing in the future for the family" is the way I need to be looking at it.

Andy,

Not sure what you mean by "hiking ramps".

The big news is that we got the motor to run like a top yesterday. When I bought the boat, it was missing a starter and I didn't know what else was wrong. A little steam is coming out of the tail pipe, but that shouldn't be a real big problem. Put her easily in forward and reverse. Transmission seems to be working fine. But I'll need to fab a new bracket for the shifter cable.

Quite a bit of electrical work needs to be done. The control panel is in bad shape. Only the temp gauge is working. Had to hot wire the motor to engage the starter. Both batteries are good, but I don't know if the alternater is charging since the gauge is broken or not connected.

by hiking ramps I mean, take a seat on the rail anywhere aft of the shrouds and you'll notice that you don't have the toerail digging into the back of your thighs. I think they are called a "crew retention feature".

On the exhaust, you should have some water coming out the tailpipe. If not check the raw water side of the system for bockages or bad impeller. Directly above the exhaust there is also a little plastic thru-hull fitting. This is the outlet for the vented loop on the exhaust stream. If a bunch of water is coming out of that, you have a blockage at the exhaust elbow, probably at the raw water injection point.

Slick470 said:

by hiking ramps I mean, take a seat on the rail anywhere aft of the shrouds and you'll notice that you don't have the toerail digging into the back of your thighs. I think they are called a "crew retention feature".

On the exhaust, you should have some water coming out the tailpipe. If not check the raw water side of the system for bockages or bad impeller. Directly above the exhaust there is also a little plastic thru-hull fitting. This is the outlet for the vented loop on the exhaust stream. If a bunch of water is coming out of that, you have a blockage at the exhaust elbow, probably at the raw water injection point.

Click to expand...

Agreed.
Universal Diesel? (Some of the last Ericsons built had Yanmars installed and that brand seldom used the syphon break hose-to-the-transom like all the Universals.)

Given that the boat has not had any preventative maintenance for a long while, I would replace the raw water impeller pronto. Those little rubber vanes can break off, both reducing flow and plugging some of the tubes in the heat exchanger.

Loren, Ours actually has the Yanmar, but when our elbow clogged up last summer, I learned that even though the arrangment between the Universal and Yanmar is a bit different, the problem and the results are the same. The fix is a little different though.

This is some great info guys.

I'm seeing a lot of water coming out with the exhaust, which is good. And just a little steam.


But also, there's water spurting out of that small orifice just above the exhaust.


It this a problem?


The reset toe rail is a very nice feature and will be much appreciated by my future teammates. </SPAN>

I would wager that the small orifice above the exhaust is to a siphon break, and yes, it's OK for it to spit.

A little water coming out of the vent is ok, but keep an eye on it. If it increases it means you have a growing blockage. If all the water comes out the vent and none comes out the exhaust, you're plugged up.

I'm late to the thread but just want to thank you for a wonderful few moments reading about your auction purchase. You are a great writer. I was on the edge of my seat in anticipation of the climax of your story. I'm so glad it turned out as it did. Good luck on your new boat. You're on the right site to get great advice from an amazing group of sailors.