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Is the E32 a desirable boat

toddster

Curator of Broken Parts
Blogs Author
Well... beyond the slip fee, slip availability may be a factor. Around here, if you go over 30 feet, it's the difference between a 3-year waiting list and an 8-year waiting list. Hopefully other boating areas aren't so limited.
 
YES Love this design

We've owned our 32-2 for 5 seasons now. We were not planning on buying a new boat but when we stepped on board both the E32-2 (1973) my wife and I said we have to get this one...

There's something just right about the design, the layout, the way it sails. When you step on board you see what I mean. Having said that it's not a perfect boat but it is a fun boat. We sail it most of the summer, the longest trip being one to Block Island (from New Jersey - 3 days each way as we didn't want to go on the outside and we slept nights on the hook on LI sound). If the sails are good, it will sail upwind in amazing fashion. Downwind it's slower and you will need a lot of sail area, and it really wants to be 20-30 degrees off in order to take off. I have an asymmetrical but have not used it much to really be able to tell.

Ours was updated with a yanmar 2gm20 which is not a 20hp as the name would imply... It's a but underpowered for the river we have it on which has a 4.5 knots reversing current. But for most sailing places it would be fine. I would only buy one if the motor has been replaced with a diesel, or figure that into your cost. (get a beta!). The v-birth is huge huge. Larger than a king size bed. Really. We've done some cool upgrades like a fridge that is powered both from shore power and only draws about 2 amps from battery when under way. Also solar etc. PM me and I can send pictures.

One of the good features is that the keel is encapsulated. Last summer we had an "encounter" with some rocks. OK it was bad. We were doing 6 knots under power. My wife at the helm, and she asks "which side do I have to take these white buoys?" Oh... you mean the ones that say "danger"???? We hit hard on rocks. We got stuck. Eventually waited for the tide and broke free. Upon haul-out, the keel was badly dinged up. The rudder stock bent back (3 degrees or so) and a large chunk of the rudder was cut off like a shark bit it off... (the rudder we had when we bought the boat had been elongated as the boat was used as a racer, so it was really too long)

Of course we kept sailing and made it back because... the keel is entirely incapsulated. There are pellets of led, and the top of the keel is also encapsulated. So no water inside the boat.

We repaired the keel, and just patched the rudder (the bit that ripped off was an added bit to make it bite more downwind in following seas). It's still bent a bit but no water intrusion and it means we can still sail. We were told don't bend it back or then it really weakens it... New rudder is about 2k... so we're not doing that... Anyway --- encapsulated keel is great.

In terms of room, for two people it's ideal. No problems, we don't need extra space. Sometimes my two daughters also stay with us (10 and 15) and it gets small. Up to two nights it's ok. After that it gets to feel small. But for two, we sometimes spend 10 days non stop when the kids are with my exwife and the boat feels great. Really the v-birth is the roomiest (and much larger than the E38 we almost bought last summer). Not sure how that compares with the newer 32-300 etc. But If the 35-2 has the same size vberth - if it's in good shape and if you can afford the 35-2 go for it. It's the same boat virtually only bigger. Probably harder to singlehand...

I would add this. If you have the winches in the back area (it's where the spinnaker winches would have been originally) and the handy traveller next to the steering wheel where it should be, the 32-2 is a joy to singlehand. I can tack the genoa with no issues. However the tradeoff is the boat does not make it easy t have a bimini. So plan on large hats...

On the Chesapeake I would sail an E32-2 any day. In fact if you want to sail with us lower NY harbor for a test sail maybe we can trade you for a sail on the Chesapeake. Oh one more bad thing about the design. Access to stuff... The motor just about fits... But to replace the water pump (which on Yanmars is facing backwards) I have to remove the sink. I do that once a season to do the maintenance. The stuffing box is hard to reach. You have to go through a lazarette which if you're small and do yoga might be good. But I find it a bear. I had to replace my cables for steering and that was not fun... So when you replace things you'd have to make sure you do it right the first time because most things you end up swearing a lot and vow to never want to do THAT again!

All the best, and let me know if you want more pics.


All the best,
Eugene
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Really the v-birth is the roomiest (and much larger than the E38 we almost bought last summer).

The actual berth sizes of many Ericsons are listed here.

If your model isn't included, please measure for the database.


 

supersailor

Contributing Partner
The hollow bow that allows the late model 32's and up to cruise so comfortably through the sloppy head seas is what limits the berth size. I will gladly trade the great ride for a smaller V-berth. Perhaps it should be mentioned that the area I sail out of tends to have fast tides and very sloppy seas.
 

sgwright67

Member III
You're welcome. My son is currently on a business trip but I will speak with him when he returns. I may be repeating what you've already done but, a quick search on my own found a 35 II on the East Coast for $14,900 you might want to take a peek at: https://www.boats.com/sailing-boats/1976-ericson-35-sloop-6693104/

A lot of work 34'er in Pasadena, MD. for only $7500. (She had water ABOVE the engine) Photos are probably BEFORE the water intrusion??: https://www.boats.com/sailing-boats/1987-ericson-sloop-6635696/


Also a '77 29' in Gilford, NH. for $9500: https://www.boats.com/sailing-boats/1977-ericson-29-6333828/

Thanks for that. Unfortunately, I'm on the West coast, and in my price range, transport doesn't make a lot of sense, except maybe from California, but prices there don't seem to be much less than here in BC. But I have looked at very Ericson on YW in the past 3-4 months just to get a feel for the different boats. They just aren't that common here, and even fewer are up for sale. I walked around two of the three marinas in Comox yesterday, and only saw 3 Ericsons - a 29, a 32-2, and a 35-3 (the first one I've seen), out of some 150 boats.

Unfortunately, I'm at the point now where I'm just going to buy the first boat that seems to tick enough boxes to get us sailing for a year or two. At present, a Crown 34 (later sold as San Juan 34) is on my radar, as is a Peterson 35. Both are Vancouver built IOR boats, but the Crown is reported to sail much better than most IOR boats, with a skeg hung rudder. I missed viewing one a few months ago before it sold. The interior is not as well laid out as an E32 or E35, but otherwise it looks pretty good.

That, and an E-27 showed up, but it has an outboard. At this point, I'd take a decent E27 with an inboard I think.

As for the discussion on length vs. moorage: around here, it seems 30' slips are a bit easier to get than 35-40', but it's hard to say as there are very few of either. None of the desirable marinas have any space at all, and several are in rebuilding mode after a bad series of winter storms took out many docks (and boats...).

I will probably look at short term moorage and consider putting a mooring buoy in one of the local bays for longer term.
 

debonAir

Member III
My two cents:

- For me, there were a few big deciding factors between all the affordable 30-ish foot boats I looked at and the twice-my-budget E35-3 I ended up buying

1 - Shower. it sounds silly, but the boat's secondary purpose is a Summer home/getaway for my wife and I. Having a separate area to take a *hot* shower after a day on the water without having to go ashore and find / pay / beg for one is actually a huge plus. It takes about 35' of boat to make room for a stall, and its a great place to hang wet foulies as well. Can't imagine boat life without it now.

2 - Bermuda. Its there. Just 600 miles away. A bit too scary for me in a 30' but doable in a 35 with almost a 100 gallons of water and 40 of diesel. I may never get there, but I could damnit

Its a sweet spot in boat length. Any smaller and you lose headroom (standing and bathroom) and speed. Any bigger and the sails and other equipment become too large and heavy to deal with alone. I can easily single-hand the 35 and (for now, at least) I can manage to get her sails on and off the boat and flaked with some effort.

Finally, I wouldn't discount outboards at all. In fact, I really miss that feature on my last boat. In a few weeks I'm going to be attempting to replace the timing gear cover gasket and crank seal on the inboard diesel. Paying someone else to do that might cost about the same as a brand new working outboard. And just getting at the thing is a yoga lesson. There are plenty of 27' boats out there with a nice quite clean 4-stroke on the back and a rusty lump of Atomic 4 inside for ballast. Happy searching!
 

Forde35

Junior Member
Thanks for all the feedback. Lots of food for thought. I have found a 77 e32 and a 76 e35 that happen to be near each other, go figure. In all the preliminary talks both have pluses and negatives. At this point I believe I’ll go for the one with the better hull/bones. I figure I can add my own icing as needed. :egrin:
 
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