Ericson 38-200 Comments

[Jon J]

My wife and I are looking at a 1988 Ericson 38-200. Originally, we were not going to consider anything older than 1999. However, she appears to be in fine condition at a price that get us out sailing now verse 3 years form now.

I am eager to hear any ones experience with this Model Ericson and thoughts on resale 5 years from now when we start looking for a 42- 45.

Lastly, we are coastal cruisers. We we mostly be in the Sea of Cortez near San Carlos Nuevo Guaymas. Our goal would be to cross and visit LaPaz once we built up our skills and confidence with the vessel.

[psk125]

We had friends who enjoyed their Ericson 38 quite a bit. It seemed quite capable and commodious. Thoughts on resale: In five years you may not want to deal with the larger forces necessary to handle a bigger boat. A well-built and well-maintained Ericson, that you know, may be worth more to you than a bigger boat that may be more difficult to handle and which may have other issues that you only find out about after you've bought it.

[Ericson38]

We had a 1982 model (not -200) in Los Angeles for 7 years in the 80s (#64), and a 1987 model (was a 200, #237)) in Ventura for about 8 years in the 90s. They are great boats, down wind, up wind, and beam reach. Fairly dry and great cockpit and galley. The chainplate design is VERY stout, with fore and aft lowers, intermediates, and uppers. The 82 model was only 3 years old, but already needed a new 60 gallon fuel tank, but other than that, excellent sailor. It had a total of 100 gallons of water in 3 SS tanks. The '87 model had 80 gallons of water and 55 gallons of fuel, but the same engine Universal (Kubota) model 40.

There is an Ericson forum you could ask also.
https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/