Hello from southern NH

My name is ken. My wife Peigi and I are looking to move up to a trawler for coastal cruising and to be our house on the water. Having grown up in a boating family on Cape Cod i have extensive boating experience up to 27' and i even built my current boat (a 25' Tolman pilothouse). In addition we're both members of the USCG Aux and have various seamanship, navigation and SAR training both on and off the water. We currently boat out of the Merrimack river in Massachusetts. We'll probably stay there for the foreseeable future, but once we retire (6-9 yrs) who knows?

When we started looking we were thinking of a GB classic 36 and have looked at several, but fell in love with the design, size and layout of the Albin 43 Trawler which is now our focus.

I've been lurking here a little while cramming every bit of info available about trawlers and trawler systems (i'm an engineer) ahead of our trawler purchase.

Ken

Welcome aboard, Ken. Sounds as if you have a solid boating background, and can really contribute to our Forum. Even if you are an engineer. (Just kidding -- I still have a real live slide rule that I used in my early engineering classes a long, long time ago).

jwnall said:

I still have a real live slide rule that I used in my early engineering classes a long, long time ago).

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Welcome Ken, I also have my slide rule still in my desk, but haven't even thought of actually using it for the last 30 years. Enjoy the forum.

Welcome Ken,
We have a 43 Albin Sundeck and absolutely love our boat. It didn't check everything but checked all the must haves for live ability and space. It had been neglected for a while by the PO but we are slowly bringing it back and it is a labor of love and enjoyment. The Albins have good bones and all though not without problems often associated with this vintage of Taiwan trawlers are a good vessel and very sea worthy.

Welcome Ken!

I bought my trawler last year, also doing a bit of restoration. I didn't own a slide rule, but at one point did own a pocket protector, if that counts.

Albins are good boats, I looked at a lot of them. Focusing on a few models that fit your needs is a good strategy, but don't let it blind you to other options that may come along. I'd never even heard of (nor can figure out why anyone would use) the name "Prairie" for a boat. Now I own one.

CaptTom I now know what you mean about not being too focused on a particular model. We "discovered" the Albin trawler almost by accident and found that we liked it much better than some of the other boats we had been looking at which included Cheer Men, Monk, GB, and Marine Trader. I also found a Tollycraft that looked real interesting. Unfortunately, its just a bit out of our price range.

We're going to be taking second look at one of the Albin trawlers on Tuesday. I think after that we're going to have to either @#$% or get off the pot.

You guys are killing me with the slide rule jokes. I'm telling you I haven't even LOOKED at my slide rule in at least 20 years (But I know where it is). :^)

Thank you all for the warm welcome.

Ken

Welcome, as an engineer you can appreciate that fuel economy is not determined by the name trawler or the size and number of engines but the displacement, hull form and operating speed.
I n todays used boat market thee are a lot of boats at good prices. I suggest not limiting your search to a specific type until you have studied many designs. Interior space is really important IMO for long term cruising and a little bigger is better than too small. All boats shrink within a few months of ownership so make sure your choice still is satisfactory then.
Check the "what is trawler thread" for a lot of opinions on "trawlers"

Ken, Welcome Aboard!
You should never have mentioned your engineering background. You will now be the recipient of all the questions that even remotely involve engineering.

Things like, "I have a twenty three foot boat. My anchor is a 100 pound Rocna. I have a roll of cotton twine. Can I run the twine back and forth to the anchor a few times and make an anchor rode?"

Oh damn! I said the "A" word. We never say the "A" word.

log, log, deci, trig was important but I cant remember why.

HopCar said:

Ken, Welcome Aboard!
You should never have mentioned your engineering background. You will now be the recipient of all the questions that even remotely involve engineering.

Things like, "I have a twenty three foot boat. My anchor is a 100 pound Rocna. I have a roll of cotton twine. Can I run the twine back and forth to the anchor a few times and make an anchor rode?"

Oh damn! I said the "A" word. We never say the "A" word.

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Actually, my specialty is electrical, though my real love is mechanical engineering - did I say I loved engines? Never met one I didn't like.

Ken

I still even have the leather case my K&E sliderule came in.

Bob

I remember using my slide rule in my college calculus II class and the that was about that time the first electronic calculators were coming out that were the size of your hand and had minimal functions that could now be accomplished through the calculator function on your cell phone. My college made the decision to let students use the calculators but with the limited function the slide rule was a better option. Texas Instruments however changed all that with the TI 93 that could derive and integrate functions.

HopCar said:

Ken, Welcome Aboard!
You should never have mentioned your engineering background. You will now be the recipient of all the questions that even remotely involve engineering.

Things like, "I have a twenty three foot boat. My anchor is a 100 pound Rocna. I have a roll of cotton twine. Can I run the twine back and forth to the anchor a few times and make an anchor rode?"

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Actually, you *could* make an anchor rode out of a ball of twine, but it would have to be a pretty big ball and you'd be better off twisting a bunch of the strands together - (maybe a couple hundred, but it really depends on the tensile strength of the twine) - then splicing in a proper thimble or splicing to a chain. The 100lb Rocna is really overkill, a Rocna model 6 or 10 would be more appropriate.

Ken

Ken, The correct response to that statement is your anchor's too small, it's the wrong kind and you have to use all chain. That's always the answer when the A word is used. That's why we must never mention the "A" word.

Cathy and David said:

I remember using my slide rule in my college calculus II class and the that was about that time the first electronic calculators were coming out that were the size of your hand and had minimal functions that could now be accomplished through the calculator function on your cell phone. My college made the decision to let students use the calculators but with the limited function the slide rule was a better option. Texas Instruments however changed all that with the TI 93 that could derive and integrate functions.

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A little thread creep here.

Exactly. I took a full year of financial math using complicated formulas for amortization, sinking funds, and such. Then after college TI and HP came out with financial calculators that did all that and more. Any idiot could follow the steps in the manual, and come up with the correct answer. I suppose that it is good for some people to know the math behind the functions, but it was useless to me.

Welcome Ken


Sergio "Alemao" Sztancsa
Sent from my iPhone, using Trawler Forum

Taking our current boat (25' pilothouse) to Provincetown on Cape Cod for a few days of vacation starting tomorrow. Survey on the 43 Albin went well with only some minor details to be taken care of. So it looks like we'll be the proud owners of an Albin 43 in a couple of weeks!

Ken

Another sparky ?? Welcome!