New Ericson 31 owner down under

Well I appear to be the new owner of the best Independence 31 in the Southern Hemisphere. Despite looking for a larger and younger boat, I fell for the classic plastic look and feel - hook, line and sinker. She is hull #71 and I'm looking forward to varnishing, varnishing more varnishing as well as some coastal cruising and hopefully blue water voyaging too.

I have to send out a thank you for all the detailed and thoughtful input that has gone into the EYO site. Finding first-hand reports of the strengths and weaknesses of the model and similar Ericson boats helped me enormously during the survey and purchase process.

I hope to be a regular contributor and will try to give a taste of the cruising to be found in the Antipodes.

Bill

Welcome aboard.

Such a handsome yacht!

Congratulations on your purchase of the only E'31 down under. I'm sure you'll be hearing soon from Glyn Judson who is the designated Commodore for the E'31 fleet. We're a small but loyal subset of the larger Ericson community.

Don

How did your boat find its way to Australia, and had it already been accounted for in Glyn's near-complete encyclopedia of 31s?

E31 hull #71 in Australia.

Bill, Welcome aboard. I know you will enjoy her as it's hard not to. The was the very last hull laid up by Ericson and there is quite a back story to her that I'd be happy to share with you back channel. I have a bunch of photos of her when she was still here in Los Angeles Harbor when I visited with the original owner. I can share some of them with you including one of me posing with him, etc Contact me directly at glynjudson@roadrunner.com. Cheers, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, the Dawn Treader, Marina del Rey, California

Thanks for the warm welcome.

Christian I agree - far too handsome for my feeble will power! The way she sailed was also a pleasant surprise and sealed the deal.

Tenders - I understand she was bought in the US and imported by an ozzie two owners ago who I suspect also fell for her abundant charms.

Don and Glyn - great to hear that there is a loyal E31 group on the site. I will contact the Commodore directly to pay my respects and glean any info on #71.

My immediate task is to tackle the long to-do list before I take her to sea and sail her the 90 or so miles back up the coast to my her new home in Port Stephens. I am fan of the cutter rig and evidence of a self tacking sheet track makes me believe the boat was a converted from a cutter to sloop rig. My long term plans are to re-install a self tacking inner staysail and I will need some advice about the original set up if there are any cutter rigger E31s out there.

Attached is a pic of the final hand over day with the previous owner Anna.

Cheers Bill