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Old 04-10-2018, 10:04 AM
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CajunSpike CajunSpike is offline
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The totally honest reason I got this boat was not because it was an Ericson. I got it because it was cheap.

All my life, I've never been in a position to just go and buy a good, new, modern version of anything.

I think its insane when I read of people spending tons of money for a boat they could lose at any time.
Just ask all the people who got hit by hurricanes. I really do live in New Orleans. I did actually visit a local marina
after Hurricane Katrina to find dozens of boats piled one on top each other on land and many more visible only as
mast's poking out of the water. So I do understand what can happen in the wrong circumstances.

Still though, the idea of getting outside and enjoying the world and life, is very appealing.
I just couldn't afford do it at full price.

I've bought used/dead VW's for years to drive because I could fix them and it was cheaper then buying a new car.

I had a used/old lafitte skiff for many years that I configured for inshore shrimping.
The seller wanted me to promise when I was done with it, to sell it back to him at 1/2 price. Apparently he had a good business selling it and buying it back when the buyer became tired of it. He never got it back from me.

The hull eventually became badly damaged and it had to be parked.
Later for reasons I'm not sure I believe, the boat disappeared.

That skiff was one of the few things in my life where I could do absolutely anything I wanted, without somebody telling me I couldn't do it.
It was gone.

I just lost interest in doing outside things and did a lot of sitting at home.

Few years later, I started watching all the youtube's about people going sailing and fixing up old boats. It reminded me the fun I had building up the skiff to be a usable machine after it was bought.

So I started scanning Craigslist and discussing the idea of a sailboat with my wife.

She got big ideas about sailing to places we had gone visit on the cruise ships. The reality of it was I didn't have a lot of money in savings to pull this off and I knew what it would take to fix up anything that needed work.

Found this boat for sale locally at a price I could afford. Went check it out and was generally surprised at the fair condition, although the motor not running literally scared me. As much mechanical work as I have done in the past, starting over with an unknown engine messed with my head a lot. The next day I was 5 seconds from sending an email to the seller telling him I didn't think I could revive the engine and wanted to back out of the deal to purchase the boat.

My wife saw that I was doing and said "don't send that and just get the boat".

So now 4 months later the hole in the water that couldn't move is now a usable sailing craft that I have good faith in. It could have been any make of sailboat, just happened to be Ericson.

So to me, this boat is not just something that floats. Its a purpose to get out and do things again instead of just sitting and getting old.

Thanks for listening.


And yes I read about the transom rotting in some models where people cut out the back of the boat to hang an outboard off of it.
This particular hull is pretty unmolested and intact. That fact would not have made a difference simply because this was a boat I could afford
to buy and work on. Even if it sank the day I got it, losing $2000 wouldn't kill me.

So either way, there was not much to lose but a whole lot to gain if it could be fixed.
__________________
Bill L.
1972 Ericson 27
Hull #61
Atomic 4

Last edited by CajunSpike; 04-10-2018 at 10:23 AM.
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