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E27 waterline

SteveS

Member II
I pulled my '74 E27 for a bottom job. As you can see from the photo, the actual waterline is angled relative to the previously painted lines indicating a possible stern down bow up resting position. I've heard that Ericsons may "squat" a little in the water. I don't know if the original bottom paint was accurate either. My Palmer P60 engine weighs a bit more than an Atomic 4 and I believe the boat has been low at the stern. How can I determine what the true waterline should be with the boat out of the water? Thanks in advance.

Steve Slaughter
 

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Walter Pearson

Member III
I don't have a good answer on how to exactly predict the final waterline position, but can confirm there tends to be some stern squat with my E27. On mine, some blisters extended up into the boot stripe, so when the bottom was repaired and barrier coated, the boot stripe had to be redone. I had it moved up some in the stern, but unless I purposely load the bow somewhat, there is still some stern squat relative to the stripe.

When I first had my boat, it had a water-logged rudder which added to the squat, so the first time I had a few crew in the cockpit and throttled up a bit under power, the engine exhaust went so far under water, I though we were sinking. Just one of those new-owner anxiety attacks that we learn to handle.

Good luck.
 

Seth

Sustaining Partner
Waterlines

If you check the US Sailing database, there are some IOR certificates issued for E 27's. They will have forward abd aft freeboards which will be very close to designed numbers.
Also check the MORC database for the same info. Finally, you can take the dimensions right off the original sailplan.
Good luck.
 

Jim Baldwin

Member II
Why worry?

Why do you care where the exact design waterline is supposed to be? You are now looking at the true waterline. Unless you plan to change things around a lot, why worry about it?

I have helped build and launch a few boats and I can tell you that the designed waterline is usually...just that. The best way to locate the true waterline is after the boat is launched, fully fitted out and loaded with fuel, water and everything else. Then you can just pencil mark it while sitting in your little rubber boat. Of course, now the boat has to come out of the water again and that's the real rub...

Most boats are painted complete from plans but there still is no better way to locate your true waterline than by a dip in the ocean.

Seeing is believing, so why not just go with that? Is the stern squat that bad?
 

rssailor

Moderator
Painting the bottom

Go ahead and prep the bottom well and just take the bottom paint an inch higher all the way around and do not worry about it. The water line is already there. When the boats are built, they take the best guess as to where the waterline is supposed to be. Take my advice as I have done my own bottom a lot. Look at where the existing water line is and use that as a reference. Take it up higher as needed, but do it uniformly around the boat. Do not worry if the bottom paint comes up above the water line in the water. Good luck and when you tape off use a good quality tape that the paint will not bleed through. Ryan
 

Martin King

Sustaining Member
Blogs Author
When the boats are built, they take the best guess as to where the waterline is supposed to be. Take my advice as I have done my own


Best guess to where the DWL is located? I hardly think so.
Weight studies are part of the naval architects job, and in
Ericson's case, every hull coming off the line was
floated in a pool to check stuff like that. The smaller the
boat, the more sensitive it is to weight aboard. If the boat is
out of trim, check out the location of any gear or stores
brought aboard particularly in the ends of the boat. Addition
of items like chain, extra tankage, and other heavy items makes a huge difference in how a small boat like the 27 will float. Sometimes moving stuff even a couple of feet can have a big
impact on trim. If the boat trims out ok but is still floating to
low you can always raise the bottom paint and/ or boot stripe.

Martin
 
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