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Ericson Blue Water Capabilities

Glyn Judson

Moderator
Moderator
Re: You should ask Teddy Seymour.

Alfonso, Thanks for digging up and sharing the article for us. Along those same lines, close to ten years ago I was invited to a couples home near ours here in SoCal to visit with Bill Pinkney (pronounced Pickney) for an evening. He is the first black man to have circumnavigated the globe via Cape Horn and had just come from a speaking engagement earlier that evening at Orange Coast College. It was a wonderful one on one evening spent in our friends living room with him. Fast forward six or eight years and Marilyn and I found ourselves standing in line in the Galley, the cafeteria-style restaurant at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut when, despite the passage of time, I seemed to recognize the voice of a man standing behind me. I turned only to be looking at Bill who I remembered ourselves to back in that living room years before. It took him a matter of mere seconds to put it all together until he recognized us. Here are a few links to him: http://captainbillpinkney.com/ http://forum.wgbh.org/wgbh/forum.php?lecture_id=1284 http://www.opencourtresources.com/teaching/OCRunits/journeys/journeys.html http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=590 He captivated the minds of children in schools everywhere by checking in each day to report his travel progress and to share his daily experiences. These children were able to plot his journey and live what he was living through associated school text and other resources. At the time I met Bill again in Mystic, he was the first Master of the Amistad America, a modern day replica and good will ship built to honor those brave black men who were enslaved on her who were finally given their freedom. Read more about it here. I treasure both visits with Captain Pinkney and consider myself lucky to have met such a fine and gracious man. Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA
 

JEESails

Member I
Blue Water Cruising Log Cascade 36

http://mariahiii.talkspot.com/aspx/templates/blank.aspx/msgid/305236

I came across this on my own quest to answer the "what makes a blue water crusing boat" question. A couple from Canada are sailing their Cascade 36 from Florida, thru the carribean, thru the Panama Canal, across the pacific and are currently in Australia. I've been following them (I know, sounds creepy, but its not :egrin:) for a while now. The log is pretty interesting - a real snapshot of the adventures and mis-adventures of cruising life...
For those not familiar - The Cascade's are a solid layup hull, fin keel, spade rudder, fairly light displacement, sloop rigged boats. Sound familiar?

Everytime I "check in" on Rob and Lil I remember that my E-38, properly prepared, is perfectly capable of taking me almost anywhere I might want to go - the most important thing is DOING IT!!!

Current plans are to head from the Puget Sound, south to Mexico in 2009. After that - who knows...
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Fin Keels and Blue Water

http://mariahiii.talkspot.com/aspx/templates/blank.aspx/msgid/305236

I came across this on my own quest to answer the "what makes a blue water crusing boat" question. A couple from Canada are sailing their Cascade 36 from Florida, thru the carribean, thru the Panama Canal, across the pacific and are currently in Australia. I've been following them (I know, sounds creepy, but its not :egrin:) for a while now. The log is pretty interesting - a real snapshot of the adventures and mis-adventures of cruising life...
For those not familiar - The Cascade's are a solid layup hull, fin keel, spade rudder, fairly light displacement, sloop rigged boats. Sound familiar?

Everytime I "check in" on Rob and Lil I remember that my E-38, properly prepared, is perfectly capable of taking me almost anywhere I might want to go - the most important thing is DOING IT!!!

Current plans are to head from the Puget Sound, south to Mexico in 2009. After that - who knows...

We discussed the Cascade 36 a bit in this thread, also:
http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=3720&highlight=cascade+36

The Cascade 29, 36, and 42 all have "zillions" of blue water miles in their wakes. One of my two longer west coast delivery trips was on a Cascade 36, FWIW.

Loren
 

boethius27

Member II
I have to say, this thread is awesome. We've been living on a powerboat (only having recently ever even seen the ocean for the first time) for the last year. During that year, we've decided we love the ocean and would like to make the move to a world cruiser sailboat sometime. We figured it'd likely be in a couple years. We'd been doing lots of research and had found a number of full keel heavy displacement sailboats/motorsailers which we liked.

As fate would have it, a friend in the marina was forced to sell his E35 dirt cheap and we were in the right place at the right time. We had about 4 days to look up the ericsons and decide that they would be cool for now at least to learn about sailing on and perhaps move to a blue water boat next.

Well, this thread is making me very happy with the realization that after a fair amount of work and some upgrades we may well have already purchased the world class cruiser we'd been dreaming of.

:egrin:

I'm loving these boats...

I can see why you all seem so happy and friendly on this forum. You all have great boats.

-Justin
 

Steve

Member III
Captain Pinkney (Glyn)

Glyn.. FYI, we were out in a bit of fog between Fishers Island and Montauk, NY or about 12 miles SE of Mystic a few years back when we had a bit of a spot on the radar descending on us, about a mile out, likely I saw it about the same time as the other craft as we made radio contact, rather coincidently they was calling as we were grabbing the mike to call her. Turns out it was the Amistad America heading into Mystic. Curious, we came along side safely to take a look before she slipped again into fog..

Steve e35-3 #159
 

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Brookelise

Member II
Ericson 30+ sails around the world

Don Anderson mentioned in a previous post an Ericson 30+ that sailed around the world. The boat was a 1982 Ericson skippered by a Russian émigré scientist, Dr. Andrew Urbanczyk. We saw the boat in Branford, CT, in 2005 when it was called INKLINE (after the owner at the time). The owner wrote:

"As a documented vessel, INKLINE has two birth dates; 1982 and 1985. In 1982, Ericson Yachts of California completed modifications to the vessel for its upcoming circumnavigation by a single-handed sailor and scientist, Andrew Urbanczyk. As safety at sea was of paramount importance the vessel was modified and reinforced for the rigors of open ocean sailing. A flotation chamber was installed in the forward area under the "V" berth, the rig was modified into a masthead configuration with a beefier spar and heavier standing rigging. Because this was an exercise in "Green" conservation no engine was installed.

"The interior used for the regular production boats was not installed so as to allow for maximum storage of sails, water, food and other provisions. The circumnavigation took approximately two years. Upon arriving in California, after successful completion of the circumnavigation, the company returned the boat to its production facility and installed the motor and the top of the line interior joinery that Ericson is so famous for. In 1985 (after refitting was complete) Nord was offered for sale to the public. Hence the reason for the two birth dates on her documentation."


Andrew Urbanczyk, who is now 73, has been on some other remarkable voyages, on other remarkable boats also named "Nord." There's a photo of him here: http://www.wetasschronicles.com/archives/2005_03_13_archive.html

INKLINE had a beautiful interior, with light South American teak.

Urbanczyk also sailed an Ericson 27 from San Francisco to Japan and back: http://www.latitude38.com/letters/199808.htm

That site says he escaped by boat from behind the Iron Curtain, too. (The boat might have been a raft.)

Read another account of Urbanczyk's sailing (and rafting) adventures here:
http://www.goodoldboat.com/newsletter/febnewslett22.html

World's biggest raft expedition

We received information from Andrew Urbanczyk who is planning to take a raft across 12,000 miles of Pacific Ocean using the northeast trade winds and the north equatorial current to carry him to Japan and the northwest winds and the Japanese current to bring him back home to San Francisco.

Don't be mistaken. This is the classiest raft you ever saw. Andrew writes: "We started building the raft from seven redwood logs 2 feet in diameter by 40 feet in length, sealed to be watertight. The three sails total 500 square feet in area. Her crew is four tough, experienced sailors." To this we would add that there is a pretty nifty sail plan and a small deckhouse on the raft, which will provide some shelter from the sun. For more, go to Andrew's Web site:
http://www.rafttranspacific.com.

This isn't the first time Andrew's done something of this nature (OK, call it a stunt, if you will). In 1957 he crossed the Baltic Sea by wooden raft. In 1975 he crossed the Atlantic in an open lifeboat. In 1979 he single-handed from the U.S. to Japan and back (with a non-stop return), this time in an Ericson 27. In 1984 he did a solo circumnavigation of the world with only three stops in an Ericson 30. And between the years 1989 and 1992 he made three attempts to sail nonstop, single-handed around the world in 100 days. We wish him well on this newest adventure.


The photo of Andrew below was taken by Matthew Thayer of the Maui News. It shows a 30-foot lifeboat he had planned to sail with two crew members from San Francisco to Hawaii in the fall of 2004. (The story of that short-lived voyage is here: http://www.wetasschronicles.com/archives/2005_03_13_archive.html)
 

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Sven

Seglare
Hatches, wood or metal ?

Lastly Ericson's vary wildly in their capability depending on year of manufacture. For example wood with Plexi hatches OUT OF THE QUESTION! If you get rolled you'll be wishing they were water tight!

I asked Simon (GOODONYA) about this after he sailed his E39-B (formerly Pacifica) from San Fransisco to Australia. He answered that he had no leaks despite some rough going, but he never got rolled.

The current hatches on our E39-B either need some serious refurbishing or replacement. I'm tempted to replace them with new teak and acrylic hatches, for a bit of brightwork, but I worry that the Ocean series of Lewmar hatches might be a more sensible choice.

Thoughts ?


-Sven
 

Guy Stevens

Moderator
Moderator
Install the Lewmars and be done with the work

We had all new Lewmars on Pneuma and thought that they were the only way to go. Much better than any of the frames with acrylic that were installed originally.

An expensive upgrade, but one that I would make if I were going offshore on a 39 again.

We also carried a piece of plywood and closed cell pads from REI for emergency hatch covers should anything too interesting have happened. They were stored under the V-berth, and occasionally received use as a workbench...

The Closed Cell pads make a good gasket for the board if it was needed to be fitted over a missing hatch area.

_____________________________ Board

=========================== Pad

++-------------------------++ Whole in deck where hatch/lens used to be.

Now we were knocked down twice in the southern ocean and did have waves breaking on the boat, the hatches did just fine....

Guy
:)



Guy
:)
 

treilley

Sustaining Partner
The original hatches on my 35 were Lewmar ocean series but very crazed. I would imagine this would make them much weaker. I replaced them last year with new Lewmar oceans. I also looked at select plastices to replace the acrylic but it was not much less than the new units which have much improved hinge and latch mechanisms.
 

Sven

Seglare
Hi Guy,

We had all new Lewmars on Pneuma and thought that they were the only way to go. Much better than any of the frames with acrylic that were installed originally.

An expensive upgrade, but one that I would make if I were going offshore on a 39 again.

We also carried a piece of plywood and closed cell pads from REI for emergency hatch covers should anything too interesting have happened. They were stored under the V-berth, and occasionally received use as a workbench...

I will consider that advice very seriously.

The emergency hatch cover is actually also something I've been considering. Did you have some pre-drilled boards and bolts to put on the inside to snug the exterior covers down ? Kind of like the temporary covers you might put on when working on removed hatches ?

I also read the Pneuma story about the genoa getting dragged over the side and causing a rather drastic healing episode very early on. What caught my attention was the mention of the sink (in the head ?) taking in water and filling the "pit" or some such space. Was the pit one of the large spaces under the settee ?



-Sven
 

Sven

Seglare
The original hatches on my 35 were Lewmar ocean series but very crazed. I would imagine this would make them much weaker. I replaced them last year with new Lewmar oceans. I also looked at select plastices to replace the acrylic but it was not much less than the new units which have much improved hinge and latch mechanisms.

Do you use covers over your hatches ?

If you do, how do you attach them ?

Thanks,


-Sven
 

treilley

Sustaining Partner
I do not yet cover them. I will probably sew some covers for them this winter. I will use elastic to keep them on. There is a pretty good lip under the frame that will help hold the covers on.
 

Guy Stevens

Moderator
Moderator
Hi Guy,
What caught my attention was the mention of the sink (in the head ?) taking in water and filling the "pit" or some such space. Was the pit one of the large spaces under the settee ?
-Sven

That was the galley sink, and the "pit" was the area outboard of the sink under the forward galley locker (The one with the sliding plastic doors). That area was huge, and was our space for storing extra canned goods, we could get a lot of food in there... It was not however somewhere that you could get to in a seaway....


The genoa getting dragged overboard was probably leaving the straits of Juan De Fuca, when we got caught in a white squall, freaky thing if you have never seen one before, and could not get it down in time. We did not have roller furling at that time... It took a lot of effort to get it back aboard, but we did.... Just a few less kilo calories in the crews bodies :)

The reason that we had some water getting in through the sink was that we had not closed the galley sink seacock because..... well it was flat sailing and there was not reason to close it until the squall then we have our hands really full...

A later update was to place a manual bilge pump connected to the sink drain. It was a "below decks" pump with a small slit in the counter top forward of the starboard edge of the sink. No one noticed it when they were aboard until they wanted to know why the sink was plugged. We would tell them to put the handle in the hole and pump.... This allowed for completely drying the sink on any tack, and was a very effective one way valve so we no longer had that issue. (That is on the project list of Aiki before we head offshore again.)

Guy
:)
 

shevrin

Junior Member
Advice on Long Distance Cruising with an e29.

We are new to sailing, but me and my wife are the "total adventurers", having backpacked all over, and traveled quite extensively.

Buying the e29 was a great purchase for us poth for us and for our kids.

In the next couple of years my wife and I would like to take her from our home port of Oceanside, Ca to Hawaii and back.

Can you give me any advice on the changes you made to your 29 footer in order to make such a long distance trip?

sHevrin
 

amadon light

Member II
the i 31

i purchased a 31 INDEPENCE ,the gps onboard documents the passage from SAN FRANSICO CA. down the west coast throught out MEXICO south to the PANAMA CANAL round the YUCATAN PEN. across the GULF OF MEXICO to MOBILE ALA. where the cruise ended. many ports along the way to resupply GUNKHAULING i would say,maybe not really bluewater but an attest to the capibilities of these well designed boats you can rest assured by the number of this design still sailing that you will be rewarded greatly in your purchase if you are careful in your iINSPECTION AND SELECTION of a ERICSON i KNOW I AM AND I HAVE NOT EVEN SAILED MINE YET!!!!!
 

Greg Ross

Not the newest member
The Jury is in and Ted Brewer has spoken!

Reference "Good Old Boat" Issue 69 Nov.- Dec. 2009 and turn to Page 56.
Article title;
"Three true bluewater voyagers-comparing the Ericson Cruising 31 with two close rivals"
His negative comment towards the Cruising 31 (no bowsprit) is the "trailboards" he sees no purpose for without a bowsprit. (The Independence 31 with cutter rig nixed that)
He mentiones in his text (The article compares the Ericson Cruising 31, the Columbia 9.6 and the Seafarer 31 Mk II) and he references crunching numbers on 7 other boats, Tanzer 31, Cal 31, Hunter 31, Islander 30, Newport 30, C&C 30 and Tartan 3000 and classes all 7 as lightweights and not in the same league as the "Huskies" (his term) compared above.
He ends with (and I quote);
"I would say that, given proper gear and good condition, any one of these three will take experienced Skippers wherever they want to sail-in safety and in comfort-and bring them home again"
 
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Emerald

Moderator
Hi Greg,

I just saw that article and had the same feeling - the cutter rig, which was by far the greater number produced, not only addressed his cosmetic fret, but also takes the boat one step further into the blue water category with the flexibility the cutter sail plan provides.

I think we've got pretty neat boats - a proudly biased opinion, of course :egrin:
 

Jeff Asbury

Principal Partner
Ericson 27, over 15,000 ocean miles

Andrew Urbanczyk sailed an Ericson 27, over 15,000 ocean miles - including a voyage from San Francisco to Japan and back.

A letter from Andrew Urbanczyk from Latitude 38 Letters - August 2000 in response to a article that said the E-27 is not a great sailing boat

https://www.latitude38.com/letters/200008.htm

NOT A GREAT SAILING BOAT?!

I never growl. Not even when - it just happened - UPS needed 14 days to deliver my express mail to Europe. I do not boil. Not even if the doors of a restaurant with a big sign reading 'Open', are closed. I do not call a lawyer if somebody, instead of paying me $2,200 as he should, asks me to pay him $4,400. But this time I must object, because I have an obligation to object!

In the July issue of 'Cruising World' magazine, there is an extensive article about small, used boats. On page 52 it evaluates the Ericson 27 by saying, "This isn't a great sailing boat . . ."

I could object on the grounds that in 1980 'Latitude' published an eight-page article titled 'Ericson 27, Class Act,' giving the boat an excellent review.

I could object on the grounds that at the time there were about 100 proud and happy Ericson 27 owners on San Francisco Bay alone. There was even a class association and it had been a one design racing class.

But I will object on that grounds that I singlehanded 'Nord III', an Ericson 27, over 15,000 ocean miles - including a voyage from San Francisco to Japan and back. I made the return voyage non-stop in 49 days, which was listed in the 1980 edition of the 'Guinness Book of World Records'. I later singlehanded 'Nord IV' an Ericson 30+, around the world.

Only Poseidon, the god of all seas, knows how many Ericson 27s are still alive. However, I believe that we - owners and ex-owners - share respect and maybe even admiration for these brave little boats. Brothers-in-sails, three cheers for the Ericson 27, for we know better than 'Cruising World'!

Andrew Urbanczyk
Montara

Andrew - The validity of the 'Cruising World' claim boils down to what they mean by a "great sailing boat". If they mean speed around a race course, they've got a point, as the Ericson 27 gets a significant amount of time in most PHRF fleets from similar size and similar era boats built by Cal and Catalina, to name just two. The Ericson seems to have suffered - in terms of pure speed - from an overly rounded bottom, an inefficient keel, and limited sail area.

But if "great sailing" means an ability to carry on in pretty rough weather at a reasonable pace, we think you proved that with your boat. So did Vito Bialla in the first Singlehanded Farallones Race, when he sailed his Ericson 27 over most of the course in 45 knots and more of wind, a race in which a number of boats were dismasted and at least one multihull was flipped. We had a small interest in an Ericson as our first boat, and thought it looked nice, sailed reasonably well, and had quite a bit of interior space.

This was from Ocean Navigator back in 2002 although the link does not seem to work anymore.

http://www.oceannavigator.com/January-February-2003/Redwood-raft-to-sail-from-California-to-Japan/

Redwood raft to sail from California to Japan

What is it with Northern Europeans and their raft expeditions? Andrew Urbanczyk, a Polish-American with some 100,000 miles of sailing to his credit, most of which is single-handed, has departed on a proposed 12,000-nm, round-Pacific cruise aboard a redwood raft. Urbanczyk's raft is built of seven 40-foot logs and has three sails that total 500 square feet in area.
"Everything is in order, and we are excited about the adventure," Urbanczyk proclaimed a few days before departure from Santa Cruz, Calif., in September. He had recently completed his shakedown voyage from Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz and was confident that the trip, with three comrades, would proceed smoothly. He plans to sail to Japan, some 6,000 nm from the California coast, with help from the North Equatorial Current and the northeast trades, and then proceed back to the United States via the prevailing northwesterlies and the Japanese current.
The raft is powered only by wind and electrical power, supplied by solar panels. Rain water will be gathered in buckets for drinking and washing. Waste will reportedly be burned in a "garbage crematory," a source of heat that will be used to cook meals.
The 66-year-old Urbanczyk has sailed alone around the world in a 30-foot Ericson, achieved a record-breaking crossing of the Pacific in an Ericson 27, and sailed at the age of 21 across the Baltic Sea in a raft. He has a Ph.D. in world single-handed sailing, 1876-1993. He is in no hurry to complete his latest voyage, he said. "It may take a year; it may take eternity!"
The Raft Transpacific Expedition, based in Montara, Calif., has received sponsorship assistance from Davis Instruments, North Sails and Big Creek Lumber. *

More about Andrew: http://translate.google.com/transla...zej_Urba%C5%84czyk_(%C5%BCeglarz)&prev=search

And this. Not sure if he ever did complete that last expedition, but i'm guessing so:

http://www.hmbreview.com/raft-rider...cle_6faa95db-41e4-5fb2-a6df-00ddc9d32b80.html

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/artic...yage-across-Pacific-2776395.php#photo-2200436
 

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