Ericson 25, Gallery, Main Salon Table, Formica Original

One of the options offered by Ericson Yachts at the time of purchase in the 1970s was a main salon table. This table, typical of that era, consisted of a Formica laminate on top of plywood. Fortunately, Ericson resisted the urge to follow all the trends of this era, and for this reason we do not find Formica anywhere else in the Ericson 25. All other non-fiberglass components on the interior of this boat are either solid mahogany or ribbon-strip mahogany veneer. In this gallery, I present images of the original Formica table as it was designed to be used in this boat. All of these images are of boats other than Oystercatcher, my own Ericson 25. I provide them simply for educational purposes.

The original, Formica table was designed to be stowed against the bulkhead on the starboard side of the main salon - when not in use. Similarly, it was designed to be mounted on the bulkhead - when in use. Notice the brackets at the top of the table in the picture below. These are for the mounting of the table on the bulkhead - when in use.

To deploy the table, for those who still possess one of these Formica originals, you insert the table brackets into the stainless steel receptacles that are permanently mounted on the bulkhead. These receptacles are not visible in this picture.

 The original Formica table had three, spring-loaded, folding legs

This original, Formica table was spacious and convenient, but, in my opinion, it had some serious weaknesses, all of which I have described at length in my article on the custom mahogany table that I built for Oystercatcher. Suffice it to say here that this original, Formica table was, for me, annoyingly unstable.

 Here's a close-up of the bracket receptacles. Same receptacles, but different type of boat.

 Here's a close-up of the brackets. Once again, same brackets, different type of boat.

One of the benefits of the table was that you could easily fold up two of the three legs and drop two-thirds of the table top out of the way - while leaving one-third still standing. I mimicked this design feature when I built my custom mahogany table.

Alternately, you could deploy the two port side legs and fold up the one starboard leg. This would allow you to deploy the berth extension without having to stow the table against the bulkhead. This was another design element that I incorporated into my custom mahogany table for Oystercatcher.

Ericson also cleverly designed the table - when kept in the stowed position - to give free clearance to the berth extension. This way, you didn't have to relocate the table to some other area of the boat whenever you wanted to use the berth extension. This was yet another element of the original design that I used in the construction of my custom mahogany table for Oystercatcher.

This is the only wood-toned original Formica table that I have ever seen. All the others I have seen are solid white.