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Has anybody done any extended cruising on a 38?

Kranich

E38 owner since 2009
Has anybody done any extended cruising on an E38?

I have a 38-200 now and want to take off for a year or more to head south to Mexico and possibly beyond. So I'm trying to figure out if it makes sense to outfit my Ericson for such a cruise or better get a bigger/stronger boat.

If you have done any extended cruising on your Ericson please send me a private message. Would be great to chat.

Best,
Peter
 
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Kranich

E38 owner since 2009
Here's an email exchange with Ryan L who has cruised his E38 from San Diego to French Polonesia:

Hey Ryan,

great to see that you're cruising you Ericson out there! I have similar plan and have a a couple of questions:

1. With all the experience you have, would do it again on an E38, or choose a different boat.

The E38-200 has proven to be an exceptional blue water cruising boat with some important modifications. The solent stay we added with a club footed small jib along with deep double reef main (or trysail) has proven to be critical to keeping her on her keel in the stronger winds/seas that are sometimes encountered out here. If we had a much larger budget we may choose a different boat (I really like boats like the Allures 39.9) but the E38-200 is an incredible amount of boat for the money and in our case it allowed us to spend the cash to upgrade the systems to world class standards thus making her more comfortable, safer, and easier to sail short handed. 38' seems to us to be a good balance between spaciousness, cost, performance, and convenience. Given the same amount of money and time we would gladly choose E38-200 again.

2. If you would go with a different boat, what are some of the main shortcomings you find on the E38?

As always storage is a challenge but it seems to be the case even for our friends with larger boats. In our case the challenge is lifestyle specific. For example finding deck space to practice yoga or a good place to store gear for diving, surfing, etc. We greatly enhanced storage by cutting the aft cabin cushion to allow water resistant bins to be stacked and lashed in the space under the cockpit sole. We also made sort-of lee cloths that extend up from the "shelves" in the aft cabin and v-berth so we can stow a lot of bulky items in that space without it falling off when we're heeled. In terms of performance I think the E38-200 is a bit less "forgiving" of inexperience than some other boats but those aspects of her performance are also what contribute to her best features. For example she is more tender than some other boats and has a lot of sail for her size/displacement. This is a huge benefit in light wind and upwind (as you know) but requires more attention when sailing in areas with changing weather (such as tropical squalls) and the performance gains are lost if the skipper does not have the sail trim, steering, weather, etc experience to capitalize on them. If you have the experience, or are interested in gaining it, the E38-200 will allow to sail in a very wide range of conditions that many other boats simply give up and start motoring or avoid all together. We find that we are often faster (in terms of VMG) than "cruising" yachts with much longer waterlines.

3. How is your E38 performing downwind int he big swells? Is your windvane/autopilot able to keep up?

All boats struggle some in big downwind conditions. We find that with the proper sail selection and set she handles as good as, or better, than many other boats. For us the magic setup in say 20 kts true with 2+ meter following sea is usually a small working jib set on the solent and poled to weather OR a deeply reefed genoa poled to weather. With that set she rolls a bit, like all boats, but sails well with the wind vane steering easily handling the helm. We have a monitor, it has proven to be exceptional. Zero complaints, the thing is magic and actually is also useful for climbing around on the transom while at anchor. Our hydraulic linear drive struggles a bit more in those conditions but still steers well enough to be usable. I think it would do better if I took the time to fine tune the settings but the wind vane does so well we rarely use the hydraulic drive in those conditions. By the way, our hydraulic drive is made by Octopus. It's driven by a Simrad autopilot computer controlled by a B&G Zeus2 MFD. It's proven to be an excellent, easy to use, trouble free combination.

4. Did you install a watermaker?
Yes. A Spectra ventura 200 tropical. I installed it in the aft cabin's clothes locker after removing the locker's liner, coating the surfaces with epoxy, and installing a way for any water to drain to the bilge. We put the brine discharge throughull just below the deck/hull joint in that locker. It is mounted with a seacock. The water intake comes from the salt water intake under the galley sink (I installed a Y valve from Forespar to select foot pump versus water maker). If I could do it again I would probably stay with Spectra but try to find a place to install the next size up. They make one that has two membranes and allows you to select both or just one. That is ideal for our needs but the one we have works well too, just shorter showers etc. If you're going with a DC watermaker you will need the ability to keep batteries well charged as they are very voltage sensitive. We do not like to run the engine for this so we mainly rely on solar and/or a Honda 2000 when it is too cloudy. We started with 400 watts of solar but have since bumped up to 700 watts. We could probably get by fine with 600 but that extra 100w is nice. We have an Air Breeze wind gen but it failed after a year and they want a lot of $$ to replace the "guts" of the unit. It is a known failure (you can google for more info) and they are less than enthusiastic about helping us get back in service so at this point I do not recommend the Air Breeze.

Happy to answer any other questions you may have. For what it's worth we came across two or three other E38-200's while cruising through Mexico and we know of two others that made the jump to the South Pacific ahead of us. If you saw the wide range of boats out here that safely made the passage you would have zero concerns about an E38-200 being up to the task...

Best,
Ryan L
Currently Hiva Oa, Marquesas

Thanks in advance for your reply. Fair winds!
Peter
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
strength ponderings

One more comment about the original question concerning "bigger, stronger"....
You can go bigger, but "stronger" is an engineering quantification and the EY boats will meet than standard as well as any upper-echilon production boat.
I know a cruising couple that lived and cruised for ten years on a Valiant 40. Two Atlantic crossings, all around the UK, and some time in the Med. After returning to the West coast thru the Canal, they sold their boat and bought a retirement house near Puget Sound. We helped them, inexpertly I should confess, while they did a load of upgrades before leaving Portland. The basic structure was sound, but numerous interior changes were made, the traveler relocated, and just a list of adds/changes were made to prepare it for continuous sea duty.

I was aboard for the initial delivery trip down the WA coast and we bounced off a small log in the dark in the Straits. Really gets your attention! No harm. Over the decades I have whacked small logs with the Olson and one very large one in '14 with no damage at all.

These are strong boats -- and I would judge that most any boat from that "upper quality tier" would be roughly equal. That might be Ericson (and Olson), Cascade, Valiant, PSC, Sabre, CS Yachts, Hinterhoeler, some C&C, Yamaha, Jason, and.... well... you get the idea. :nerd:

A diligent owner can strengthen almost ANY hull to make it safe, but the cheaper the product you start with, the more money and material and design work will be needed to bring it up to standard.
Beyond the hull structure, there is the vital hull-to-deck joint. This is a huge 'plus' for the EY-built boats. Their main line of boats have this all-important juncture glassed over with roving on the inside. The Olson's have a full-overlap thru-bolted joint. You will not find this on lower-price production boats --- too labor intensive.

To borrow a line from the aged knight to Indy, "choose wisely" !
:0

Advice dispensed all too commonly, and worth maybe $.02, max.
:)

Regards,
Loren
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
A big issue is how many people on the cruise. Two people, 38-footer fine. Four adults, bigger gets better fast.
 

Ryan L

s/v Naoma
A big issue is how many people on the cruise. Two people, 38-footer fine. Four adults, bigger gets better fast.

I'd suggest that this is true if you intend to keep four adults on board at all times (or have constant guests) as bigger boats are generally more difficult to handle double handed (or single handed if one crew becomes incapacitated). Many boats will have three or four crew for passage then double hand from then on. For example, we know a fit young Aussie couple (woman is 22, man is 30ish) who have a 43' Beneteau. They had three onboard for their passage from Galapagos to Marquesas. Now it is just the two of them and they are actively considering installing one or more electric winches because of the effort needed in handling their large mainsail. 38 to 43 feet is a bigger jump in size than most people realize, especially in boats that have powerful rigs like many Ericsons.

We had 3 adults on the three week passage from Mexico to French Polynesia. Worked fine. We find that for us (E38-200) it's more a matter of who rather than how many. We know a number of "kid boats" (cruisers traveling with their young family) who have two adults and two or three children who are in boats 35-40' and do fine. We also know people doing that with larger boats. When I used to work on large sailboats we found that even a 120' boat can feel small when you have the wrong people onboard!
 

Joliba

1988 E38-200 Contributing Member
E38-200 extended cruising

I know I'm a bit late jumping into this thread, but I have a few thoughts. I think the E38-200 with proper upgrades & preparations would be great for extended cruising. I sail mine on Lake Michigan, but have also spent a few weeks aboard Ryan's boat (a 1988 sister ship of Joliba) in Mexico. This boat is as big as I would want for short handed extended sailing. Last year I made a Pacific passage as the 3rd crew member aboard a 44 footer and years ago I spent a year aboard a 30 footer with 2 and sometimes 3 crew members. Though all these boats were well up to the task, the E38-200 passes the Goldilocks test for "just right." Ryan's 38 is super prepared. Most cruisers would feel comfortable and safe with fewer upgrades. Nonetheless, his preparations and recent experiences should serve as an excellent guide. I have thoughts about my priorities, as I'm sure you have, as well. Please feel free to send a private message if you wish.
Good luck!
Mike Jacker
 
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