My Albin, tell us about yours

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Ran across this today while I was looking up info on another Taiwan built trawler,....always respected this gentleman's submissions over on another boating forum

Bob Austin said:
Kha Shing is an old and well respected Taiwan yard (They have built over 1500 boats from 40 to 140 feet in length. Names which they have built include:, Kha Shing (of course), Vista, Spendrift, Monte Fino--and a number of other boats just to certain dealer's "name" and specs.

As noted, there are problems with any of the Taiwan boats. If these are real teak decks, or if the boat had teak decks and they were replaced with plastic teak--run away. These boats did NOT have black iron tanks (although advertised as such) it was just sheet steel, and yes they need replacing at 20 to 25 years. The replacement is expensive and you have to cut up the saloon floor (or some take a hunk out of the side or bottom of the boat--no thanks!

The boat may go 10 knots--but that is not cruising speed. 8 knots is more like it. Once over 7 knots one starts using excessive amounts of fuel--and 10 knots is over the speed by LWL as noted above. The Cummins 150 is the B 5.9 block, rated at 115 hp NA and turboed up to 300 hp in some applications. 150 hp is a good rating and you should have no problem with parts.

If you consider this boat, have a good surveror look at it. Specificallly the decks for soft places and underlay rot. Cabin windows, and rot around the windows. Core rot under the deck house sides and cabin sides, as well as flying bridge. I think that there are some better buys than this out there, but if you like the layout, Kha Shing is a respected builder.
 
Ran across this today while I was looking up info on another Taiwan built trawler,....always respected this gentleman's submissions over on another boating forum



Just some more opinion ...some is accurate...some isn't.......
 
yep...people that think production boats are made well need to disassemble one or watch at the factory closely. If the blocks had been set in epoxy and the entire flybridge not full of holes from screwed together construction...it may have lasted much better.

Since the mid-90's I'd say most boats are built much better but before then only a rare few were...

Having had a 1978 Mainship 34 and being a owner's group member for many years I attended a member's rendezvous in St Augustine in 2000 where they were building the 390 Mainship.
We were taken aback while we watched them build boats the exact same way they built the old 34s...we knew they would all leak into the flybridge core as the old ones did. Yet Mainship thought they were doing it differently. We all had a good chuckle at that.
The only difference was they were using a CNC milling center to make the molds.
 
I guess what I should have said....they are using generally better materials....but some companies still in the wrong ways.

Saw a 39 Mainship (I think that model) a couple years ago being lifted by our travel lift...it crushed in at the fuel fills on the side decks where they cracked all the way though the deck...pretty scary.
 
Replacing fuel tanks is only expensive if the only thing you can contribute to the process is your check book. With some sweat, compromise and ingenuity it can be reasonably inexpensive as psneeld has proven.
 
So glad to have found this Forum!

We bought our Albin-25, the Du NORD, 2 years ago after cruising in our Edey & Duff 28' Shearwater Yawl for 18 years. Prior to that I cruised an Edey & Duff 21' Dovekie for 12 years. I've been sailing small boats since age 10, however, a few years ago a vacation in Norway centered around the home of one of Gayle's cousins including some time out on the Oslo Fiord (which their home overlooks) in their 23' Norwegian Diesel Motor Cruiser (similar to an Albin-25 but without the aft cabin).

Now we're 75 and embarking on a new adventure learning how to handle a single screw power boat.

We were fortunate to find our Albin in Madison, WI, not far from our home port of Rockford, IL. She was formerly the HANNAH from near Quantico, Virginia where she was moored for many years (in case any of you know her).

The Du NORD is powered by her original MD17C.

Our first cruise of any note was last summer on Nipigon Bay in Lake Superior, ideal cruising waters for an Albin-25.

Moby Nick
 
We bought our Albin-25, the Du NORD, 2 years ago after cruising in our Edey & Duff 28' Shearwater Yawl for 18 years. Prior to that I cruised an Edey & Duff 21' Dovekie for 12 years. I've been sailing small boats since age 10, however, a few years ago a vacation in Norway centered around the home of one of Gayle's cousins including some time out on the Oslo Fiord (which their home overlooks) in their 23' Norwegian Diesel Motor Cruiser (similar to an Albin-25 but without the aft cabin). Now we're 75 and embarking on a new adventure learning how to handle a single screw power boat. We were fortunate to find our Albin in Madison, WI, not far from our home port of Rockford, IL. She was formerly the HANNAH from near Quantico, Virginia where she was moored for many years (in case any of you know her). The Du NORD is powered by her original MD17C. Our first cruise of any note was last summer on Nipigon Bay in Lake Superior, ideal cruising waters for an Albin-25. Moby Nick
Welcome aboard! :thumb:
 
The decks were made completely different on my Albin. When we removed the teak decks, they ground all the gelcoat off below the teak. While washing the dust off the fiberglass became transparent and you could see that the deck was cored with many plywood blocks, about 4" square, but spaced about 1/4" apart with all voids filled with resin. With this design, any leak could only affect the core in that small spot. I only had to do one small repair around one deck fill and the rest of the core was solid as a rock. Not sure how to improve on that design. Boat is a 1988 model 43.
My flybridge has factory nonskid and is solid as can be.
 
The decks were made completely different on my Albin. When we removed the teak decks, they ground all the gelcoat off below the teak. While washing the dust off the fiberglass became transparent and you could see that the deck was cored with many plywood blocks, about 4" square, but spaced about 1/4" apart with all voids filled with resin. With this design, any leak could only affect the core in that small spot. I only had to do one small repair around one deck fill and the rest of the core was solid as a rock. Not sure how to improve on that design. Boat is a 1988 model 43.
My flybridge has factory nonskid and is solid as can be.

That's the way my flybridge was but just because it "looked" like the resin filled all the gaps...it didn't on mine and it was cracked and disintegrating so a large area flexed on my bridge.

Almost ANY coring job I have seen or done makes more sense than the "block" encased with cheap resin and no fiber to add strength from cracking. Had they used a decent epoxy with some strengthening filler...it may have had a better life.

Anyone who didn't or hasn't had a problem is either lucky or maintained the teak deck well.
 
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My Albin is the same construction as Brent's only on mine they used 3/4 or 1in teak scraps as the core. Not sure if ply or teak is better but personally I still think this is better construction then just glassing over sheets of plywood whereby large sections of core can rot. Mine however "does not" have teak decks or any other teak for that matter. My flybridge & decks are all surfaced in factory non-skid same as Brent's & also solid as a rock. That said, psneeld's findings and that of numerous others is proof that the general construction techniques and quality of the resin used must have been as inconsistent as hell.
 
If those blocks weren't epoxied and bonded with filler...and I doubt any TT yard did...it's substandard construction (otherwise it would be used today as a technique ...and it's not).

Anyone that hasn't had a problem with it should be on high alert to keep water out and freezing temps away....otherwise soft spots are in your destiny.
 
Anyone that hasn't had a problem with it should be on high alert to keep water out and freezing temps away....otherwise soft spots are in your destiny.

And I do keep my fingers crossed that the integrity of my decks do not get breeched.
That said, I am skilled in core repair and non skid gelcoat application:thumb:
I once owned and old Mainship Nantucket.
 
And I do keep my fingers crossed that the integrity of my decks do not get breeched.
That said, I am skilled in core repair and non skid gelcoat application:thumb:
I once owned and old Mainship Nantucket.

If you need a hand and start going south for the winter...I'll be glad to drive your boat, towing mine while you work on your decks....:D
 
And I do keep my fingers crossed that the integrity of my decks do not get breeched.
That said, I am skilled in core repair and non skid gelcoat application:thumb:
I once owned and old Mainship Nantucket.

We have one of the first new Mainships, 1997 hull #32 (called a 350 in the day). So far no rot or soft decks anywhere. Maybe still too new, but we are very happy with the construction of our boat. Biggest issue I have is the location of the generator under the cockpit. Almost totally inacessible for maintenance. I understand that they went with smaller gensets w/ no hard sound shields in later builds which mitigated this problem to a degree.
 
I owned a 49' Albin Tri=Cabin with twin 3208 Cat Naturals. I loved this boat. High bow. Tracked very well. Idle speed got her up to 5MPH, so it didn't take too much more to hit 10MPH. She just easily glided through the water. A lot of room. Fiberglass the decks. That teak is good for 25 years at best IMO. The boat handled really well, did not roll too much. She seemed to want to continue to cruise as I was looking for a port in the storm. One of the two Starboard tanks sprang a leak in a weld, high up on the tank. Talk was of spending several boat units to move the engine to the center of the boat, cut the tank out, and replace both tanks with two smaller tanks. The other, and more reasonably priced option was to cut out the side of the boat to replace the tank. Yard stated that they could save about 50% that way and rebuild the fiberglass side to stronger than when she was new. Turns out a welder stated he could weld the tank in place. He did just that and a $5000 to $10,000 project was fixed for a $200 weld job. If I were buying an 80's Albin with original tanks, I'd reduce the price considerably or walk away. However, I would not start the project until it was 100% mandatory. i.e., don't fix it until it breaks. The wiring is another area of trouble after 25+ years, as is the cheaper stainless steel used that does not hold up as well as we would like. Even with all this, I loved that boat and cruised Florida to Boston a few times and Chesapeake to Florida another few years. Those 3208 always started, never smoked, and the fuel usage was reasonable for me at the time, about 10GPH. Saddest day of my boating life when Hurricane Jeanne took her to the bottom.
 
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Put it on a truck. It will be faster and safer, not to mention cheaper. Were you thinking of piloting it all the way around to SF?
 
Mine hasn't fallen apart yet. Not a bad boat and reasonably solid built hull, and the Lehman keeps on chugging away. Mine is almost 40 years old.

Just can't get excited about the newer looking boats, and I can walk entirely around the cabin without any steps, which is nice. Have an opportunity on a 43' Hatteras D/C which has a ton of room, but I'd need a boarding ladder for the floating dock and the ladder for the flybridge has a number of steps. Between my bad knees and the Admiral's spine surgeries, flat / low / easy is good.

mike
 
My 1979 Albin 33 that I owned from 1981 to 1984 was not falling apart but I needed a raincoat inside.
 
Operations normal, everyone has different standards....
 
Hi from Fort Lauderdale.
Here is my 2001 Albin 28TE during survey and sea trial last month.
She comes with a Yanmar 6 cylinder turbo diesel with 800 hours.
Looking forward to numerous Bahamas trips. :thumb:
 

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All boats are falling apart! If you have not enjoyed the natural rhythm and pattern of repairs and replacements, you have not owned your boat long enough.

I owned a 49 Albin Tri-cabin and she was a great cruiser. Much tougher than I was. She had cruised from South America to Maine and she put up with my inexperience and my ineptitude and she showed me new worlds and taught me new skills and always brought me home time after time. This was before I knew anything about stabilizers. I soon learned how best to approach an 8' roller. This was before I understood the most dangerous item on board was my itinerary. I soon learned that if you ever say to your first mate: "Let's poke our head out of the inlet and see how bad it is', you should just stay in port. This was before most of the advancements in GPS. I learned to study the currents and tides and to pay attention to the winds and to be aware of the contrasts of the the coastline.

Albins are great boats! Like most of us, they have their health issues. Had they spent more on her fuels tanks and/or the decks and/or the wiring and/or the stainless steel and/or the seating of her windows and ports and/or the installation of her fuel lines, she would have been ........ well .... she would have been much more expensive and I would not have been able to afford to buy her!
 
Hi from Fort Lauderdale.
Here is my 2001 Albin 28TE during survey and sea trial last month.
She comes with a Yanmar 6 cylinder turbo diesel with 800 hours.
Looking forward to numerous Bahamas trips. :thumb:

Congrats on the new boat sir! Have fun. I wish I was in FL now.
 
Congrats on the new boat sir! Have fun. I wish I was in FL now.

Yup, having fun.
Started with oil and oil filter change, then fuel filters.
Next day 5 zincs.
Then coolant change last week and today tranny and tranny filter change.
Forcing myself to learn the motor and the maintenance.

Next project is installation of an EGT probe and gauge.
It is all good.:thumb:
 

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