Alan Gomes wrote:
druid wrote:
Hi,

As I said a while ago, I'm downsizing and looking for a boat under $20K
CDN - hopefully under $10K purchase price so I'll have some bux to fix it
up. I was looking at the Catalina 27, mainly because it's by far the the
most common 27-footer around here, but...

A poster on BCBoatnet (http://www.bcboatnet.org) suggested an Ericson,
and
I did a little looking. All of them are in the US, most East-coast (or at
least not West Coast ), but some can be had for around $10K, and they
look pretty good.

I know the Ericson is better-built than the Catalina, and the poster says
they're faster too (not sure about that...). So: opinions? stories?
experiences? Noted a coincidence: I just looked at the thread here about
the boat in the surf, and it sure looks like an Ericson 27/28! And I was
impressed by it staying afloat and returning upright after the rollover.
Tough boat!

Oh: also, any idea how much it would cost to truck a 27ft sailboat from
California to BC?

druid

I looked at quite a few Ericson 27s and some 29's of 1970's/80's vintage
when I was last in the market for a boat. I think they are well
constructed boats generally, but for some reason they seemed to have
more issues with deck delamination than some of the other brands I
looked at. Obviously mine was not a massive sample size but, as I
recall, it was nearly every one I looked at. Of course any boat that age
can have problems such as these and needs a thorough going over. If you
can find one in good shape then I think it would be a fine
boat--definitely a better "fit and finish" than the Catalina. (I say
that as a reasonably satisfied owner of a Catalina 30.)

As for Catalina 27s: There are lots of them available here in So.
California, easily for under $10K. In fact, for $10K I'd expect one to
be in outstanding shape and well equipped. But the shipping costs in
your case would turn it into not such a great deal, IMO.

Regards,
Alan Gomes

Just had a Yankee 30 trucked from Marina Del Rey. $1.50 per mile.
Trucker was telling me there are so many used boats in Cal that won't
sell that the owners just abandon them in the marinas and the marinas
chop them up. Masts cut into pieces for scrap, lead keels scrapped out,
and the glass hull cut up and dumpstered. He buys a lot of boats for
resale and may well have an Ericson. AND he will deliver it.
Another nice, nice boat is the Cal 29. And I know he has 2 of those
for around 8k.
Email me privately if you want a name and number.
Gordon

Gordon wrote:
snip

Just had a Yankee 30 trucked from Marina Del Rey. $1.50 per mile.
Trucker was telling me there are so many used boats in Cal that won't
sell that the owners just abandon them in the marinas and the marinas
chop them up. Masts cut into pieces for scrap, lead keels scrapped out,
and the glass hull cut up and dumpstered. He buys a lot of boats for
resale and may well have an Ericson. AND he will deliver it.
Another nice, nice boat is the Cal 29. And I know he has 2 of those
for around 8k.
Email me privately if you want a name and number.
Gordon
The ones that are abandoned at the marinas are typically not worth
having and that's why they are cut into pieces. While I've seen a few
exceptions to that, generally the abandoned boats are trashed and even
getting them for free would not be a good deal.

The Cal 29 is a great boat. The have excellent sailing characteristics.
However, don't get too excited about an $8K price. You should have no
problem finding one for $8K (especially if you don't mind an Atomic 4),
so that's not really such an amazing deal. In fact, there is one for
sale in my marina with a current asking price of $3950. It's a bit dowdy
but not "trashed" by any means. If you want one in really fine shape
expect to pay closer to $12K. On the Cal 29 I'd have the surveyor check
carefully the steel mast support beam that runs athwartships, as these
rust out over time and are beastly difficult to replace so far as I
know. Otherwise, these are terrific boats.

--Alan Gomes

Alan Gomes wrote:
Gordon wrote:
snip

Just had a Yankee 30 trucked from Marina Del Rey. $1.50 per mile.
Trucker was telling me there are so many used boats in Cal that won't
sell that the owners just abandon them in the marinas and the marinas
chop them up. Masts cut into pieces for scrap, lead keels scrapped
out, and the glass hull cut up and dumpstered. He buys a lot of boats
for resale and may well have an Ericson. AND he will deliver it.
Another nice, nice boat is the Cal 29. And I know he has 2 of those
for around 8k.
Email me privately if you want a name and number.
Gordon
The ones that are abandoned at the marinas are typically not worth
having and that's why they are cut into pieces. While I've seen a few
exceptions to that, generally the abandoned boats are trashed and even
getting them for free would not be a good deal.

The Cal 29 is a great boat. The have excellent sailing characteristics.
However, don't get too excited about an $8K price. You should have no
problem finding one for $8K (especially if you don't mind an Atomic 4),
so that's not really such an amazing deal. In fact, there is one for
sale in my marina with a current asking price of $3950. It's a bit dowdy
but not "trashed" by any means. If you want one in really fine shape
expect to pay closer to $12K. On the Cal 29 I'd have the surveyor check
carefully the steel mast support beam that runs athwartships, as these
rust out over time and are beastly difficult to replace so far as I
know. Otherwise, these are terrific boats.

--Alan Gomes

One other comment: Maybe the $8K price is a really good deal if the
delivery to you is included (assuming you can't find Cal 29's up there
for as cheap as they are down here). My comments simply apply to what
the selling prices of these boats down here. $8K would be an OK price
but certainly nothing exceptional or amazing.

--AG