Need Advice on which Model????

Hi All......My first post on this site!

I'm changing back from Power to sail boat. My wife does not like the slap slap bag bang of our 21' Bayliner.....Nor does the dog to be honest. We live in North Saanich BC, near the Gulf and San Juan islands. Lots of places to go in fairly sheltered inside North West Pacific waters.

We have two children and want to be comfortable for weekends aboard. Cook a good meal and chill a brew or two. Shower would be real nice but could get away with a mast head shower also.

We dont want to put a tonne of doe into a sail boat as we will have to pay moorage too.

A friend has an Ericson 23 and just loves it so i have been reading up on the hulls and so on.

I'm thinking a 28 or 29 is the right sort of size but there seems to be many variations in these sizes.


A heater on board would be a must so a proper insulated boat would be better.....newer hulls i guess.

What suggestions do you have for which model and why?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Richard.

Per a listing on Yachtworld, there is a local E-29 with diesel for sale at Vela Yacht Sales, Oak Bay Marina. I know nothing about the dealer or that particular boat, but a visit aboard might be in order to help you sort out your priorities... "Space, the final frontier."

As you refine your search, your limits on purchase price and size of slip you have will be *very* important considerations.
In that general size / displacement range, you might want to look at the 30-2 and the 30+ models, also. And if "mission creep" sets in... an Independence 31 would be another great contender.

BTW, did that well-cared-for (Ericson) Olson 911s in BC sell yet?? It was listed on this site in mid May, but now the ad seems to be gone.

Have fun shopping!
(We ranged all the way from SF to Sidney and Vancouver BC when we spent a year searching for a boat in 1994.)

Loren in PDX

My wife and I bought our E30+ a little over a year ago and are very pleased with her. She sails really well, fast and responsive, yet solid enough to handle stronger winds and waves. We sail in the Strait of Georgia and Gulf Islands, BC.

Although we have had as many as six adults aboard, we find the boat most comfortable with just the two of us, or maybe three. So depending on the age of your kids, I would suggest you think carefully about getting anything smaller than the E30+, and perhaps even consider the E32s. We also find a bit of a shortage of storage space in the E30+, especially if you will be cruising for more than a weekend at a time, again suggesting you think carefully before going too much smaller.

Good luck in your search!

Frank.

Another vote for the E30+

Hi Richard,

Allow me to second what Frank Langer has said about the E30+. I think it is an ideal entry level boat.

We are just finishing our first summer on ours and we love it. We also have two children (adult size teens) and a dog (small lab) and we find the boat comfortable with all onboard, although I'm not sure we could go much smaller. As Frank says, it is downright luxurious when we sail without the kids.

Drawbacks are limited storage (as mentioned) and difficult access to the cabin for the dog (steep ladder, but this is a common problem). Also, if you plan to cook aboard you should shop for one with a propane stove as opposed to the old alcohol "Galley Maid". We did not and I'm finding the alcohol stove a little impractical. A propane refit is possible, but expensive. This is something to consider when making an offer. This site wil also tell you chapter and verse about the pros and cons of the stock universal diesel engine. Ours, which has been meticulously maintained, is very reliable and economical.

Otherwise, the boat sails very well (although we are lake sailors), is beautifully designed and very solid. We are very happy with our purchase.

Louis

Need Advice on which Model

Checked out the one at Oak Bay. Did not have a decent galley table for four to sit around! Needed a bit of TLC on the outside but in general was pretty good.

Would like an 80's boat preferably. I could travel anywhere down the west coast for the right one.

Plenty of time to look between now and spring.

Any ideas how long to sail/motor from LA to Victoria?

Richard.

Richard,

Might see what Loren has to say as I think he has brought his Olson up from Portland, outside, but my experience and that of most people I talk to say a trip from Southern California to the northwest in a small sailboat is tough, it's all uphill (upwind) and while there are places to duck into many have bars to cross. Small boat and limited experience........ if you find a boat you like in California.........ship it on a truck!

Marc
E38-200
WaveWalker

e38sailorman said:

Richard,
Might see what Loren has to say as I think he has brought his Olson up from Portland, outside, but my experience and that of most people I talk to say a trip from Southern California to the northwest in a small sailboat is tough, it's all uphill (upwind) and while there are places to duck into many have bars to cross. Small boat and limited experience........ if you find a boat you like in California.........ship it on a truck!

Marc
E38-200
WaveWalker

Click to expand...

Regarding the trucking comment: What Marc said!

We had our 34 footer trucked up from Almeda, CA. Since the boat was in need of a lot of maint. there was no other choice, anyway.
Note that this trip is somewhat daunting even with a well-sorted-out boat that you are thoroughly familiar with... with a new-to-you used boat...


OTOH, it *is* possible. I helped deliver a 44 foot sailboat from SD to SF a couple of summers ago, and in any sort of good weather this could have been done in most any boat. From SF north, you have some large "weather generating" capes to round, and would need weather windows to manage it, IMHO.
I have only one trip south - Astoria to SF on a 36 foot sailboat - and we were running in gale-force conditions for 36 hours past Mendocino. Those conditions are said to be common there...

So, again, the truck idea seems safe.
Best,
Loren in PDX
ps: link to my south-bound delivery trip -
https://listserv.surfnet.nl/scripts/wa.cgi?A2=ind0109D&L=YACHT-L&P=R1045&I=-3

Trucking Sailboats

I talked with someone in the Gulf Islands who had shipped a So Cal sailboat to B.C. and he saved more than a thousand dollars by having it launched in Puget Sound.

Transporting a boat north.

All, I too had a new E31 owner in need of moving the boat from SoCal to Victoria, BC. In that case also the owner saved a great deal by trucking her north, putting the boat in at Port Angeles, WA and sailing her over to Vancouver Island. Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA

We had our E34 trucked up from San Deigo last spring. Truckers charge a lot extra to cross the border & some will not even quote. We had it brought to Blaine, Wa. & were quite pleased by the rates the yards there were asking for anything to do with relaunching. Trying to pin any trucker down on an date to bring it north was a problem. There were a lot more boats heading up north than there were going down south to California.

There may be a nice 29 or 30' coming up for sale in the Campbell River area. About 4 weeks ago, we briefly spoke with the owner who said that he was looking at upgrading to a larger Ericson. Sorry, I don't recall the name of the boat.
Best of luck,
Erich

Need Advice on which Model

Thanks for all the answers and info. In fact i had thought of somewhere around Seattle as a drop off point and Sail to Victoria.

Is it a tonne of doe for road transport? Cant even start to guess at a cost.

Richard.

Don't you know-once you buy a boat it all goes downhill from there. You never have enough money or time.

MPower said:

Thanks for all the answers and info. In fact i had thought of somewhere around Seattle as a drop off point and Sail to Victoria.
Is it a tonne of doe for road transport? Cant even start to guess at a cost.
Richard.

Click to expand...

Contact several boat transport companies -- you will find that it is xx cents a mile. Then add for yard time at each end...

I know some thriftly Portlanders that motor their trawlers north to Kalama, WA, and then have the truck back the trailer into the water and pick up the boat and haul it to Olympia for re-launch. This costs the least due to being the fewest miles.

Loren

I know my experience is probably unique, but I had our 32 trucked from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to Los Angeles. In road miles, this was about a 2000 mile trip. The trucking company charged $6900.00. There was keel damage done at the yard in Mexico and with the cost of repairs and the costs incurred at both ends of the trip, the whole thing ran close to $10,000 from water to water.

Jim McCone
Voice of Reason E-32-2 Hull #134
Redondo Beach, CA

On moving boats: I've heard good things about Dudley Boat Movers:

http://www.dudleyboats.com/

//sse

Dudley Boat Moving

I had an E-39 moved from San Francisco this spring with Dudley and they were fast and efficient. Guy Stevens was a great help in preparing it for loading, and although the truck was available earlier than we expected, it all went well and the boat showed up at Blaine within a few days. One thing to keep in mind is availability of someone to step the mast, tune it, and just to have space on the hard to do this when it shows up. Book them as early as you know the delivery date.
Another thing was to have help at the other end to get things ready for shipment, unless you have lots of time to be there yourself. The mast has to be down as it is shipped strapped to the truck, and everything has to be held down and padded in some way to prevent abrasion during shipment.
It was cheaper to put it in on the US side of the border. Getting it through customs was as easy as doing the paperwork and with 2 boats now the customs people haven't even looked at the boats, as long as you have proper bills of sale etc.

John Gleadle
e-27, e-39

Go to yachtworld, find a 30 footer in the SD area, click on the "ship it" button, and fill in the info for the boat. HAve it dropped at the destination of your choice and in a couple of days you will have three quotes for the shipping. This will be a good ROM for your boat. Good luck!

Dudley

Ditto for Dudley. We had our boat trucked from Alameda to Portland last year after purchase. None of "his" trucks were available, but he subcontracted it to a responsible and friendly individual. An aquantance of ours trucked a boat that same year, and saved about 15% by going to the lowest bidder. He ended up with mast damage due to mishandling that cost him far more than he saved.

- Cory

Insulation and heater

My E27 has alway been great for an adult crew of four for long weekend cruises, so a family of four could easily be accomodated as well.

On my E27 we have a Force 10 heater below deck and it has allow us to sail in the shoulder seasons with out a chill (at least you can warm up and dry out below decks). For years in the Pac NW I routinely sailed from mid March to Veterans Day.

We also used a rubber backed walk off mats to insulate all of our storage areas. The material is ribbed so the things stored in that do not get mildew covered. I believe it has really helped since our water temperature is always around 45-50 degrees.

Dock side, I use a ceramic 110V heater that is ran around the clock and a DriZ air dehumidifier to strip out the moisture in the cabin.
KJ