First Boat and I Need Some Help

[Frank The Tank]

Hello All,
I just bought my first sailboat, an 1975 Ericson 27, and I am happy to be the owner. I do,however, need to fix a few things on it. I need to replace the stays as they are original. I have been trying to find out if all specs are the same no matter what model E27 I have, besides the obvious difference between normal and tall rig. Since I am replacing the stays I need the exact measurements and I dont know the best way to get them. I am also going to buy a new furler. I am undecided on which brands are good for the price. I am a cruising kind of person not so much a racer so I am taking that into consideration as well. If anyone has any ideas on the above problems, or any ideas that a new sailor should know I would appreciate it. Thanks all.

Frank

 

[Loren Beach]

Hi Frank,
I hope you do not mind that I deleted your same post in another forum. This Maint. forum seems like the place that will garner the most re-rigging responses.

I would note that the correct length for the new wires will be measured when the spar is down. On any boat of this age one needs to go over all the other stuff on and at the top of the spar, anyway.
Better check over those old turn buckles carefully, as well.

Sheaves and axles do wear. The original wiring should have been replaced once already. You will find VHF coax has a half-life of around 15 years at most. Any old un-tinned 12 wiring you find should be replaced. Check those spreader bases carefully (there are excellent threads on this site with pictures of spreader fixes on other vintage E-27's).

Couple decades ago, I used to occasionally crew on an E-27. That is a lot of cruising boat for it's stated length!
It's really a small yacht rather than a "big dinghy" like some other lighter boats of that size.

Enjoy your searches around this site. There is a ton of info here concerning your model.
Welcome Aboard!!

Cheers,
Loren

 

[Rob Hessenius]

Where's your boy "Blue"

Frank the Tank
Condradulations on you're purchase of the 27'. You bought a great boat, that will provide you many days of enjoyment.
You will find hours worth of informative reads on this site. Poke around on Doc's Specs in "specs and documents", this will be a great place to start.
As far as the rigging goes, I'm sure there are numerous riggers in San Diego that can help you. I will say that WM does a pretty good job at rigging. You will get many responses about furlers and the truth is that there all good. I'm a Harken fan, mostly because there a Wisconsin company and make a good product too.
Living in San Diego you will find many Ericson owners. I'm not familiar with names other than the bigger cities, but there seems to be alot of E's on the left coast. Rob Hessenius

 

[Chris Miller]

yeah, best way to make sure you get the exact right rigging is to take yours off and take it to the rigger and have them duplicate it.
Congrats on your new boat!
Chris

 

[rgoff]

Frank,

From one E27 owner to another ... welcome to "The Club". It's a great boat.

Good decision on getting a furler right off the bat. I waited way too long to get mine. I bought a Harken (w/o doing much research). Lots of other good ones out there, I'm sure.

Happy Sailing,

 

[Frank The Tank]

Thanks

I appreciate all replies to my post. I have now ordered the furler I need and as soon as it gets here I will be able to replace my headstay. Does anyone have any other upgrades or projects they think I should consider? Thanks for reading,

Frank

 

[Sean Engle]

Make Your List - Check it 4 Times....

Frank -

As the others said - welcome!

On your boat - what I would suggest is breaking apart all the systems into categories (rigging, electrical, engine, plumbing, deck, hull, etc) and then go over each one, and make notes about the condition, potential problems, etc.

Once you have that data, you'll want to bump those items which present safety concerns to the top of the list. For example, frozen thru hull valves have a higher priority than refinishing the teak in your cabin, etc.

Stuff that can cause calamity needs to be dealt with first. Your rig, of course ranks right up there - so if the rigging needs replacing, then (as the others have suggested) now is the time to correct the entire stick and pull the entire thing down, re-wire, check your spreaders, etc.

If you're totally new to sailboats, purchase a couple of good books like Calder's Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual or some of the thin books by Don Casey. Here's a hint: once you know what books you want go out to www.fetchbook.info to find/purchase them - you'll save 50-60% or more over Amazon or other new book sellers...

As the others said, also do searches on this database. There are more than 24,000 posts here - and while some of them are goofy, many or most are quite valuable...

Let us know if you need assistance...and enjoy the ride!

//sse

 

[Annapolis E-27]

Frank the Tank,

The most important thing you can do with your E-27 is sail, sail, sail, and more sailing. Honestly, other than ensuring safety issues (thru-hulls, hose clamps, lifelines, etc...) are taken care of there is not much you can do to improve on an E-27.

Have fun!

 

[G Kiba]

Congratulations

My '73 E27 is also my first boat. I don't think that either of us could have made a better choice.

I've had my E27 for almost a year now and I love it. Had the best of summers in a long time. I've replaced the standing rigging, sails, tiller, life lines, wiring, refinished the exterior teak, rebedded ports, and am currently working on the plumbing.

Most importantly - I made the time to do plenty of sailing! Found some great new friends at my marina to race, cruise, crew, and work with on each others boats. All that and still made time for family (they like being out on it also) The E27 is a great sailing boat. It's fast, it's tough in rough weather, and a heck of a lot of fun.

And, if you haven't realized it yet, you will soon learn that this site and it's members are the best. So much good advice and ideas. I would have been lost without it.

Good Luck and be sure to sail it as often as you can!

 

[jkenan]

Frank-

I re-rigged my 1977 E29 this past year. It was a challenging, but very rewarding project. The top ten things on your to-do list you should strongly consider while the mast is down are:

1) Remove mast-step, inspect deck & core underneath for wetness, and re-bed.
2) Rewire with tinned wire (appropriatly gauged) and new VHF wire
3) Replace upper and lower tangs and bolts. Lefeil Manufacturing (http://www.lefiell.com) has an excellent solution
4) Inspect sheaves and replace if necessary, and replace sheave bolts.
5) Replace standing rigging. You should consult a professional rigger.
6) Thoroughly inspect, and strongly consider replacing chainplates as a matter of point. On these older boats, they can be a point of catastrophic failure. Why risk it?
7) Inspect masthead where forestay and backstay attach for clevis pin hole elongation. Strongly consider reinforcing these areas (requires welding). Again, this can be a point of catastrophic failure.
8) Inspect spreader bases (lots of info here on repairing this area if necessary.
9) Inspect, repair or replace if necessary all lighting fixtures, antennae, windvane, etc. It is a good idea to spray anti-corrosion spray on all electrical contacts.
10) Any point where stainless steel touches aluminum should be treated with an anti-seizing compound.

Additional things you should also consider while the mast is down and you have the opportunity are:
1) Run halyards internally (requires drilling entry holes in masthead and installying exit plates near gooseneck. A harness can also be installed at spreaders to restrain halyards from slapping if that bothers you).
2) Install electical conduit in mast, riveted to mast wall to protect wires (actually, this should be in the top-ten, but who ever heard of the top eleven list?)
2) Install eletronic wind instrument if that is in your budget
3) Install lightning protection if you subscribe to that school of thought.
4) Paint mast and boom (looks great, but must be done right!)
5) If all hardware is removed from mast, excellent opportunity to re-think how cleats, winches, clutches, and anything else could be re-configured and reinstalled. Old holes can be filled with JB-weld and sanded (and hidden if mast is painted). That said, you don't want to go arbitrarily drilling holes in your mast, as each one weakens it somewhat.

I've done many of these things, and wish I had done more while I had the opportunity. Let me know if your interested in some of these suggestions. I'd be happy to tell you how I approached it.

Best of luck.

 

[SAILSHIGH]

holy crap....

John,

I am tired after reading your list. Damn I have a lot more to do on my E29 . I thought I was almost done but now I think I missed a few things. What a great list of items.

Well thought out.

 

[jkenan]

Yeah, I've said 'Yikes' many times when I'm putting together my ToDo lists. Being a little hyper helps...

The inescapable truth is that economics plays a huge part, and unstepping the mast, hauling the boat, etc are expensive. At least consider everything that could/should be done while you have the opportunity, and then decide if now is the time to do it all, just some of it, or wait until the time is right to do it all! At least you've considered everything, and won't be kicking yourself later saying 'could've, should've'...

Oh yeah, one other thing to add to that list is to consider how a spinnaker halyard block would be installed, as well as a topping lift. On mine, I've got another clevis pin hole in the masthead above and forward of the forestay attachment point. From here, I'll attach a toggle and block to allow the halyard to clear the forestay as the kite jibes (once I get a kite). As far as topping lift goes, I've got the tang above the spreaders if need be, but plan on using an asymetrical, so a pole is not on my radar.

 

[Glyn Judson]

Mast base inspection.

Frank, John's list of things to do is a good one and I can't stress how important inspecting your mast base is. If your mast has not been unstepped in a while, and given where you and the boat are, San Diego(?), might I suggest spending the money to unstep your mast to see what's in there? My deck mounted mast base was in good shape 11 years ago when I last stepped it after buying the boat in South Carolina and having it brought out here. But this last summer I unstepped it for the first time since then and the base crumbled into little pieces when we lifted the mast. What wasn't chunks of aluminum had turned to white powder. Saving money is always important but i can think of no better way than to see what condition the base is in so as to possibly prevent losing the entire rig. I don't know how longer my base would have lasted but I'm sure glad I checked it and replaced it with a new one. If your mast was made by Le Fiell you can reach a very helpful guy there, Rodney Higuera at 800.451.5971 for a replacement. He's been with the company a long time and is a great source for our older spar needs. As I recall mine cost something like $30 or $40. The rigger I was using wisely had it sent out to be anodized after I had a 1" diameter, 5" high aluminum riser welded to it right over the existing wiring hole in the deck and had drilled three 1/4" scuppers in it from the inside of the lip to the bottom of the base on a 45 degree angle on the port, starboard and aft edges. This way salt water can now exit freely and fresh water can be flooded in there on occasion, something I didn't have the luxery of on the old base. If you do take your mast down, consider rebuilding the wire harness and replacing the coax while you have access. Saving a lot of money sometines takes spending a little money. Good luck, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey CA

 

[ChrisS]

John has put together great list in his answer above. When I had my mast down in May I should have done a few more things he mentions! I do recommend that you install a rigging plate under the mast step. It will faciliate matters if you decide to run lines back to the cockpit. It also helps spread the mast load over a greater surface of the mast pad.

 

[Glyn Judson]

Mast plate under the mast base.

All, Chris's note gave me a chuckle. In refitting my boat I REMOVED that plate, choosing to use blocks through-bolted to the cabin top adjacent to the mast base instead. I ended up using one each Harken #1544 double block on either side of the mast and are seated in Harken #1634 Stand-up bases. Four 1/4" bolts secure each base to the cabin top and have held up under some pretty heavy sailing just fine. I suspected and ultimately found that the stainless organizer plate under the mast base was a mess of debris, old bedding compound and tell-tale signs of pooled water here and there. The new mast base sans the plate is now well bedded to the deck and I'm relieved to have that old plate out of my life. I might add that I did a series of test drills through the glass and into the plywood looking for water damage and luckily found none. Regards, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA

 

[The Blue Heeler]

Re-bedding Mast Step

I'm going up to work on my new E29 in February, since I can't have it shipped down to me until April!!!! However, the mast is down and laying beside the boat so I have great access to the mast step. What do I look for and what does it mean to re-bed the step? Also, on that 1" dia. 5" high riser, does it have a cap on top of it to keep the water out? Did you drill the holes at an upward 45 degree angle large enough for the wires to exit? When you talk about a electrical connector, are these special and where do I get them or do you rig up something? Once I raise the mat and step it, can I access the wires inside or do I need to connect the wired before raising the mast. These are some of the questions that puzzle me!!

This is my first sailboat and I haven't even gotten to play with it yet but I've now owned it for over a month. Any details would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Glyn Judson]

Rebedding the mast base.

Bart, I just typed a full description and then lost it before being able to hit the Submit Reply button. Email me back channel at glynjudson@adelphia.net and I'll describe it all over again along will several attached descriptive photos that should make all clear. Regards, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA

 

[Luffin it]

Welcome aboard Frank

You have a wonderful boat which will bring you lots of happiness. John's list is a great way to start. I myself have Hull #1287 which was one of the last 27's built. I have wheel steering with the st4000 auto pilot which is a must if your single handling it, also Harken furling with a 130 geny. The one thing I suggest you check first is the aft side of the spreaders. The ends are pointed and create a crack in the mast. I am in the process of stepping the mast on our boat and have made some alum backing plates for the fix. I will drill the ends of the crack with a .03/.06 dia. so it will stop the cracks from contining on. I will use epoxy and pop rivets to attach them. Once I get the mast stepped I will take pictures and send them in for an owner project. I will also rewire the mast. Some of the projects I took on was replacing the Head and running all new odor free hoses. Expensive but worth it. My last project was a complete rebuild on my Atomic Four, I added fresh water cooling, three bladed prop, oil filter system all from Tom Stevens at Indigo Electronics. And lots of parts from Moyer Marine. But as you''ve heard before, sail, sail and sail some more. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. Tom Miskell, 1979 Ericson 27 "Luffin It" P.S. The reason for the engine rebuild was not realizing that if you continue to crank the engine over with the thru hull for engine cooling system open you will end up with the water backing up in the manifold, cylinders and carb. I'm in salt water and learned a hard lesson. Good learning experience though.

 

[bigtyme805]

Frank the Tank,

Did you have a surveyor go your boat before you bought it? If you did not I would have one done and they will give you all details that should be done and proper specs on how to do it if it's a good surveyor. Being in San Diego you should be able to find someone good.

The true key is keeping up on the maintenance of boat. Post a couple of pics so we can see the shape of it.

The Ericson is a great boat and you will soon see why when sailing and being at the dock. Also, if you ever get caught in a blow and big seas you will realize that the E27 handles well. The people on this list are very talented and helpful, most likely the best owners group you will find.

Good luck with your new boat you will be very happy.

 

[Frank The Tank]

Atomic 4

Well I started on my first major project(the rest I havent received all the parts yet), which was my engine. The atomic four on my boat ran ok but I decided to take it apart to get a good feel for how it was treated and the condition of everything. This is my first time working on any engine so I had a friend help me that just did the same thing to his atomic 4. I only had a few snaggs with things as I had to order some parts that I didnt know i would need(i.e. water jacket plate, head gasket) but nothing was really bad. I am actually still in the middle of it, I am at the second coat of primer. I am still waiting on my items above, they wont get here until tomorrow. I will post pics of my work, I have pics of the take apart and will have pics of the put together. Hopefully I wont end up with any spare parts.

Frank