decisions, decisions

[grommet]

Hi all, I''m considering making an offer on an Islander 36. Does anybody have any experience with these boats? How would you characterize them and how do they compare to other brands? I am also considering an Ericson 38 and am having difficulty deciding. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[grommet]

I know all of you experienced sailors have an opinion on this matter. Please weigh-in...Thank you.

[grommet]

Come on people, I know you more experienced sailors have an opinion on this matter...any advice is greatly appreciated.

[msl]

Patience please. All the experts on this matter could still be stuck in airline terminals, waiting to get home :-)

[WHOOSH]

...or still trying to track down their luggage.

Jack

[Jeff_H]

Hi Grommet,

Islander produced three different 36 footers. The most common are the 1970''s and early 1980''s era Islander 36 and Islander Freeport 36. The Islander 36 was an Alan Gurney designed IOR era racer/cruiser. The Freeport 36 was a Robert Perry designed liveaboard cruiser. Both boats have a reasonably strong following. Build quality was good but not great on either boat. These boats are getting up in years and in reality the build quality of any individual example at this point will be as much the result of owner upgrades, and maintenance as original build quality.

Of the two boats the Gurney designed boat offers the better sailing ability and a more pragmatic interior, while the Perry designed boat offers a better liveaboard interior although the layout is one that I would consider really ill suited for offshore cruising.

There were also two very different Ericson 38''s. The later ones were quite well built but were very dated designs for the period in which they were constructed.

Jeff

[DaveB.]

There''s a pretty active Islander 36 website, with most of the activity centered around SF Bay. There was a review in one of the "classic plastic" sections of either Cruising World or Sailing Magazine a few years ago, which I might be able to lay my hands on in a pinch. An experienced West Coast sailor/cruiser recommended them to me once as a reasonably priced coastal cruiser with the potential for more, and Jeff H. has written cautiously favorable comments about them here in the past, so I''ve had my eye on them, too, though I''ll probably end up with something a little smaller. How are you planning to use it? I hope you keep us posted!

Dave.

[DaveB.]

Dare I quote Jeff? Here''s what he wrote about Islander 36''s a couple years ago (hope you don''t mind, Jeff--you already know that there are people out here who are paying attention to you!) -- "These are neat boats and have a lot to offer but again, they began as race boats and so were shaped more by racing than by cruising. This was an era when lighter weight race boats such as this, really did not tolerate carrying the kinds of heavier loads that are commonly associated with distance voyaging. That said, I have run into folks who have very successfully cruised them over very long distances."

These comments were in the context of someone asking about a boat under $40K with the potential to do some offshore cruising. Actually, Jeff''s comments were posted on this board Dec. 29, 2002, and he suggested other possible choices, too. This board doesn''t have very good search capabilities, but you can probably find his message.

Again--my apologies, Jeff.

dave.

[DaveB.]

OK. Sorry to be doing this piecemeal. I did some searching... You can find both Jeff H.''s and Jack''s comments by searching for "Islander" (which will also bring up a handful of other relevant threads on this board). The thread I''ve been referring to is titled "Your thoughts on Albergs and Islanders Appreciated" and both Jeff''s and Jack''s comments on this and other potential cruisers in this modest price range are very helpful (which is why I printed and saved them).

dave.

[dman]

One thing to look out for is that they used lead keel and cast iron.