What do you love (or loathe)most about your Nic 38

[Thomas Jones]

Could member of the group please tell me what they love most about their “Nic 38’s and why?

And maybe some of the things you DO NOT like or would change?

From comfort, ease of use, cool features, grin factor etc…. to the bad…

 

[Moderator]

Hi Thomas –

I refer you to a posting I made several years ago, which I just reread and still agree with. And here’s another one.

I would suggest that the  worst Achilles heel for the Nic 38 is the cockpit drains, as discussed throughout this thread.

Our boat has FRP decks, but plenty of comments from owners of teak decks suggest their may be another issue for those builds. Here is an elegant solution to their common sagging aft deck problem.

All Nic 38’s are showing their age by now, in both good and bad ways.

They are rugged beyond belief in comparison to the disaster stories I read about more modern boats.

But if they have not been well cared, they could have complex problems, such as the aluminum backing plates embedded in the deck expanding due to corrosion and cracking the deck near stanchions, for example.

And if a previous owner did their own ’embellishments’ to the original design, then it all depends on the skill and care of that work. For example, we had problems with how a professional shipwright installed the windlass for the previous owner. Sloppy work and disregard for the deck stringers lead to a soft fore deck and minor rot of the bollard backing plate 20 years later.

I’ve offered lots of comments about maintenance here, so let me end by saying that if you are looking for cozy and reassuring comfort while 2 people are cruising, the Nic 38 is a great sailboat. She’s no race boat, but sails well on all points of sail and is easy to liveaboard.

Good luck finding the right one.

Marilyn, moderator

[Czarina Blue]

For me it is perfect in so many ways. And in the ways it isn’t , I put up with it. For me the big negative is that I spend too much of my life stooped. I am 6’2″, or I was before I started living aboard! If they built this boat 15% bigger in every dimension then it would have been a really amazing boat. I can only stand up straight  in the cockpit, on deck and below the saloon hatch.

eg sleeping: My feet are in the sail locker in the v berth, in the aft cabin I must sleep diagonally in the small double to be able to stretch out. So apart from it being built for medieval humans, it is perfect.. Bags of class, character, beauty and sails like a dream, rock solid.

I met a bunch of other sailors who would have loved to own one, but it was ‘too small’. But for a couple, esp a compact couple, it is great.

[Author]

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