I AM that new guy with all the questions! 43 Albin?

Hey guys,
I am that new guys that will annoy everybody within a few days with questions. My wife and I currently have an Egg Harbor sportfish 33 that we have had for a few years, but are starting to think that a Trawler may better fit our lifestyle. We bought the Egg with visions of fishing in the gulf stream and filling the freezers with wahoo, mahi-mahi, grouper, and other great sea fare. We have now discovered that we do not fish as much as relax, and probably couldn't afford the electricity to run the freezer if we went out fishing that much on an Egg with twin gassers.

So, considering a boating style change, we are thinking about a trawler. We have taken a peek (pictures but not in person) at a late 70's Albin 43. Is there anything specific to these vessels I should know about? Any feedback on items that would need special consideration in making the move from the Egg to a trawler?

Thanks experts out there!!

First you can read albin boats here Albin - Trawler Forum


NBs

Same issues that you would have with your Egg you will have with an older trawler or any boat in the 70-90's. Water intrusion getting to coring/interior wood/fuel tanks/septic systems/engine maintenance etc. Basically it really comes down to who had it before you, was it loved and cared for or was it a marina queen. Again not too much different from your egg purchase I'd image.

When I was shopping, many people raved about the Albin quality build.

Well, after 5 years of rebuilding her from keel to mast......and tearing into her heart which is what you have to do to really know how a boat is built.......

If Albins are in the upper half of the Taiwan crowd, holy cow!

If you find a well cared for older boat, any poor design and construction details may have escaped the wear and tear through the years...but many with leaky windows and teak decks may be a project boat for years..... if you want it to last and look good.

Sure there are "proud" owners for every manufacturer out there.... but before blindly accepting their word for it, ask them have they ground the bottom off, pulled and glassed the leaky teak decks, replaced large amounts of deck coring material, replaced the windows, replaced the wiring, replaced the plumbing, replaced the fuel tanks, ensured the exhuast systems were adequate for expelling coolant water, made sure all the wood veneer inside isnt so saturated with moisture that a good freeze doesn't ruin it, etc..etc...

Most of the things above may survive a history of good maintenance, mine didn't. I knew many of the problems before hand, but not all. So make dang sure you inspect older Taiwan built trawlers thoroughly, and don't just go by reputation.

Greetings,
Welcome aboard y'all. One of the things you may miss is the option of speed. Even though you may not use your "Egg" to it's rated capacity, for whatever reason, pretty well any trawler you move to will be limited to less than 10 knots.

IF you have a desire to fish the "canyons" (I think they're about 30+ miles out off the Carolinas) you could spend 4 or 5 hours just getting to the fishing grounds.

As I'm sure you already know, EVERY boat is a compromise.

RT, we never really trolled any, so almost all of our fishing was bottom fishing and jigging anyway, and our holes we hit start at about 18 - 20 miles out with one good live bottoms at about 25 miles out. So yes, speed matters then. The old Egg isn't fast at 16kts, but when you compare that to 8-9, it sure changes the dynamics of a trip. My wife and I had always talked about a trawler for a retirement boat, to just stay on the water, and the economy of travel, but now, it is looking like it might be the practical choice before retirement is even near. Plus, I hear they have much bigger refrigerators than the Egg. Only being able to hold a 12 pack in the fridge is seriously becoming an issue if we consider overnighting somewhere.

Like all boats, it really depends on the crew that built it and then maintenance. Like psneeld, I have been all through my boat, but it seems they were built on different planets. I'm extremely pleased with the quality and robustness of my boat's build. I also got lucky that it was apparently well taken care of.

In the process of finding my current boat I looked at some typically well regarded brands that *should* have been great but once you looked closely were in tough shape.

If you're interested in an Albin or ANY other boat, all I can say is inspect thoroughly before purchase.

My first rule to avoid collision: make all effort to avoid a ship (or tug with barge) at its earliest detection. When in doubt, bear to starboard and to edge or channel.

Saw the albin today and fortunately it rained pretty heavily last night. Several leaking windows which is no surprise but a couple had clearly been leaking for quite a while. Teak deck was spongy under my feet, so definitely would want to pull that up and glass it. Volvo turbo diesels with Fischer panda generator but couldn't see much in the engine room because of all the junk. I think these people classify as hoarders so not being able to see everything clearly is worrisome. My egg had known problems, but when I cracked her open to do those the problems exploded and I basically wound up cutting the whole top decks and covering boards off and starting over. Don't want to try that again however, I would love to see more. But the price definitely went way way down after seeing the issues. Something that looks neglected usually is in my experience.

Oh, I figure just whT I can see on the exterior that is truly required is probably 8-10k just to get everything buttoned up tight and start running the dehumidifier inside to dry it out and see what else is going on in there.

Btw, how difficult is it to pull and seal those windows?

Are the frames wood? Any rot?
If they have been leaking the water will have been going somewhere. Inside, yes, perhaps into the surrounding wood. Lots of potential for what I call "the strawberry punnet syndrome"(the deeper you go the worse it gets).

So far...

No fan of leaky teak decks.

No fan of leaky wooden windows.

No fan of Volvos.

No fan of Fisher Pandas.

Sure personal preferences...but they are mine.....

There's a lot not to like in that boat you viewed and of course that's what you could fairly quickly see. I would assume there is just as much that you didn't see. Considering that repairs typically take twice and long and cost much more than original estimates puts that boat very close to being a "project boat".

When I was looking at trawlers, Volvos and teak decks were on my "No way" list. Spongy decks? Lots of work right there.

Ken

yeh, it would have to be dirt cheap for it to even be a consideration at this point. I do not have the time to do the work anymore like I used to. Last boat was pealing back the top layer of the onion and replacing everything underneath, and I call it the onion because when I pealed back that layer it brought tears to the eyes. Unless the guy pretty much wants to give it to me, I am done with projects. If you are on the hull truth, you can see my adventures with the egg harbor. they were not fun.

Oh, and by the way bruce, no rot in the actual window trim because it appears to be teak, but all of the plywood underneath is another story. Delaminated plywood everywhere.

The teak underneath my windows were rotten a bit in really bad spots. However, most of it being teak ply I am guessing, was in great shape compared to the thick 4 layer veneer on top. That I have been peeling off by hand for 5 years.

Yep, when looking for my last liveaboard 20 years ago, I passed on dozens of 30 plus foot Eggs from the 1980s because of the rot below decks and near windows.