HELP! Ericson 35 jury rig

[tchiffriller]

Hello all,

Just bought an ericson 35 which I am sailing down the bay tomorrow annapolis-> Deltaville and the starboard side bulkhead is completely rotten !! Soft as a sponge. No motor in the boat so cannot motor it. Need a way to jury rig some sort of strong point to attach upper shrouds.

I have 2 ratchet straps and 1 block and tackle.

I am thinking about running a line underneath the hull in front of the keel and ratchet both sides to the upper shrouds, they would be pulling each other. Or attach the ratchet straps to the tow rail. Are ratchet straps even strong enough for this?

Any and all ideas much appreciated.

Also NE wind so cannot avoid that tack.

Thank you!

[Fiveslide]

I just want to be sure we're on the same page.

The ratchet straps are meant to hold the mast up, relieving some of the tension on the shrouds so that they don't rip the chainplates from the thoroughly rotten bulkhead? For roughly 100 miles?

I think that idea is flawed, for several reasons.

How about an outboard mounted on the stern just to get you down there? Your obviously going to be sinking some money into this boat, put a motor on the back so you don't have to buy a mast.



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[Snowpetrel]

Maybe a sheet of cheap 12 mm ply, a bunch of tex screws, construction adhesive, bolts etc and some longer bolts for the chainplates to sister the bulkhead, then sail very gently. The outboard on the stern, or a tow might be a safer bet.

Are the shrouds inline, or does it have separate fore and aft shrouds to separate chainplates, if so sail more with just a reefed main to load up the lowers, not the caps.

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[Delancey]

^^^what he said is what I was thinking would be your best bet, really depends on what type of connection exists between the bulkhead and the hull and how badly rotten the bulkhead is.

For our I formation which version of the Ericson 35 is it? There were three different ones made.

[tchiffriller]

Yes 35 mk 2, we will be using a whaler as a tow but do not have enough gas to make it down there.

Flawed? Haha I can see where one might think that

[anacapaisland42]

Outboard on the transom or on dink rafted alongside.
Either way put gas tank on deck and refill gas without leaving boat.
Have sailed over 1000 miles like this when engine died.
Don't tow, very inefficient, raft alongside tied tigth fore and aft
Bill

Originally Posted by tchiffriller

Hello all,

Just bought an ericson 35 which I am sailing down the bay tomorrow annapolis-> Deltaville and the starboard side bulkhead is completely rotten !! Soft as a sponge. No motor in the boat so cannot motor it. Need a way to jury rig some sort of strong point to attach upper shrouds.

I have 2 ratchet straps and 1 block and tackle.

I am thinking about running a line underneath the hull in front of the keel and ratchet both sides to the upper shrouds, they would be pulling each other. Or attach the ratchet straps to the tow rail. Are ratchet straps even strong enough for this?

Any and all ideas much appreciated.

Also NE wind so cannot avoid that tack.

Thank you!

[carlheintz]

As one who is pretty familiar with those boats, and their penchant for rotten bulkheads as the result of leaks around the chainplates.... here's some advice...

DO NOT under any circumstances sail the boat. You will have mast in the water at the first tack in any wind greater than a mild breeze. I know where you are sailing, have sailed it and you will have a disaster.

Get a bunch of jerry cans and tow it gently.
You should secure the chainplates before you take it anywhere, towing or otherwise. Out in the main channel, the wind will create enough motion and stress to pull the chainplates out even if you have no sails up. Chainplate gives way and your mast is heading for the drink on the next wave. Your idea of running straps under the keel and to the other side is clever....if done properly it might work well. You might also think of fastening a 3/4" x 6" 48" long piece of lumber to the outside hull parallel to the deck- hull seam but at least 5" below it using bolts through the hull every 6" and reinforcing with small blocks of wood on the interior. Then connect the shroud to that as a temporary external chainplate. ( you will need to attach multiple lines to the bolts and run them to the shroud to distribute the stress) It won't be "sailable" but it should hold well enough for gentle motoring. Never underestimate the stresses from a 50' high mast wobbling around in choppy seas. Yes, you will have to do some fill and fix later, but at least the boat will survive.

Be sure to check the other chainplates as well. As you know, they are "hidden" behind some nice but deceiving woodwork. It's worth it to remove that and see what the real condition is. Accessing from the head does not tell the whole story... check both sides.

[model 10]

Screw right into or through the hull. It's easy to patch a few holes later.

[sailortype]

I just bought a 1978 35-2 and plan to sail it a couple of hundred miles home in the Spring. I had better take another (closer) look at the bulkheads :-|
These boats are notorious for this, obviously a serious design flaw. Impossible to get at the port bulkhead without dismantling cabinetry which will be a total pita and probably destroy it.

[tchiffriller]

Hey thanks for the great advice, also great idea putting the whaler gas tank on board the boat.

Currently passing Calvert nuclear, left annapolis around nine. Have been using the ratchet strap to toe rail under main alone and we have been fine holding four knots. There is still some movement of the chainplate in the bulkhead tho and I think tonight when the wind dies we will stick to motoring.

Does anyone know the consumption of a 25 hp 2 stroke Johnson 98 while on the hip? Gallon an hour?

Thanks!

[tuffr2]

Good luck...Deltaville as you probably already know is a great place to haul out. So good that I am considering it as a home base...

The outboard will be mostly easy on gasoline if run at 1/2 throttle. Sorry I can not give you a burn rate. You might already know the burn rate by now anyway.

It gets dark early and also very chilly. Good luck.

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[NewEnglander]

I wonder how this turned out...

[Orion Jim]

Originally Posted by NewEnglander

I wonder how this turned out...

Clearly a disaster waiting to happen

[unbusted67]

Originally Posted by anacapaisland42

Outboard on the transom or on dink rafted alongside.
Either way put gas tank on deck and refill gas without leaving boat.
Have sailed over 1000 miles like this when engine died.
Don't tow, very inefficient, raft alongside tied tigth fore and aft
Bill

???

This is not good advice. There is a reason push boats only run on rivers and harbors. A long tow is a sea tow. Chesapeake can get rocking and rolling pretty good with very little wind. You can smash your dink up this way.

[tchiffriller]

Finally made it in 7 pm tonight. Everything worked out fine, ratchet strap distributed the load fairly well to the toe rail and stopped the chainplate from coming out although the entire bulkhead does need to be replaced and it was a bit risky. But with luck and good will on my side as well as a bit of forethought and caution the trip turned out to be great fun.

let me say though that a 25 outboard on a classic 13 whaler on the hip of an Ericson 35 drinks fuel like water and winching the whaler to the boat thru a system of lines and blocks very much helped improve speed, fuel consumption, and efficiency.


Must say awesome boat! designed to sail well and fast, handles like a small boat with the accomodations of a big one. Cannot wait to start gettting her solid so I can put her thru the paces.