rough around the edges Albin 25

[ssrig]

Kerrye, yeah I don’t think there would be any speed limits broken anyway!

DA, I have been sailing the west coast since 1982 and lived on a CT41 ketch for 3 years and also took 7 months off and did Desolation sound and the Broken group area on the west side of Vancouver island, also did the slow motor up to Chatterbox falls most likely will do it all again as my wife has never cruised much.

If you do get up there pmail me and we can meet up and I will do the same getting close to Phoenix.

[DesertAlbin736]

DA, I have been sailing the west coast since 1982 and lived on a CT41 ketch for 3 years and also took 7 months off and did Desolation sound and the Broken group area on the west side of Vancouver island, also did the slow motor up to Chatterbox falls most likely will do it all again as my wife has never cruised much.

If you do get up there pmail me and we can meet up and I will do the same getting close to Phoenix.

I hope you do get a chance to stop by on your way through Phoenix. Lots to talk about, swapping sailing stories & other tall tales. Particularly interested to hear your take on how the border crossing went, especially compared to other & past crossings. I guess you know all about the KM 21 Mexican Visa station going toward the Nogales POE?

https://ontheroadin.com/Cities%20Towns% ... ossing.htm

Also, if you happen to be familiar with the "Adventures of Shatoosh & Pashmina" Albin 25 blog, the new owner of that boat now resides part of the year during winters (when not traveling overseas for business) in Green Valley, Arizona, which is off Interstate 19 halfway between the US/Mexico border and Tucson. During summers she resides up in Courtenay near Comox. I have her contact info, so PM me if you're interested.

[ssrig]

Hello everyone! I have been home for about two weeks and I have been very busy! Work started on the boat immediately once I got home to get it in the water for July. I have quite a few different projects on the go at the same time because invariably I need some item or piece for each project that takes time and effort to acquire living on an island, with that said I make do with what I have or can find to get the job done which might include some Mickey Mouse or not ideal conditions but thats the way it is.


First job was to get the well travelled anchor a new home! Work is a bit hard with the tarp still over the boat, here the Manson anchor is assembled and looking where it will be mounted. I had a hawse pipe that was being mounted too.

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Once the location was determined a piece of oak was found in my wood pile that I bent with a vegetable steamer in a big plastic storage bin to the contour of the bow, then some forming to lay flat on the deck with a flapper disc in a grinder.

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Prepping the area, Sika 291 was smeared around the hawse pipe opening and holes drilled for the bolts.

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Once the oak was test fit and looking OK I epoxied it along with an aluminum backing plate. The other two pieces that are on the left will be the new ledges for the batteries to sit on.

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[ssrig]

Installed the oak, bow roller and a little anchor holder that I made all secured with the aluminum backing plate. All feels solid and I hope the little bow roller will survive the summer use, it is a little light duty.
Hawse pipe also installed, just some cleaning up to do and get the anchor up onto there, it will not fit yet because the tarp support is too close so I have to wait until I remove the wrappings.

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Anchor holder.

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Ledges set in place bedded in Long and Strong and I used the Long and Strong as a fillet.

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Started glassing the ledges in.

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There were two 12 volt deep cycle batteries that came with the boat, I tested them both and one failed so I will be using the good one as a start battery (green one) and installing two 6 volt GC batteries. They will be linked through a blue sea VSR.
A bit of tidying up of the wiring in the battery area to make some room for the VSR and a few bus bars to free up the battery lugs. I'll save the more detailed re wire for later.

Still waiting for the VSR and a few other items before completing the battery area, I did get the batteries into the trays and did some preliminary wiring and thought I took a pic but nope..

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Also picked this up!

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I am going to hang in my living room as art and use the old prop on the boat!

[WillieC]

ssrig, are you planning to make Ladysmith for the rendezvous? (Man plans, God laughs...)
Unfortunately we won't but will be there in spirit. I consider our visit there last year one of the high points having met so many great folks. I really should jump in the car even if only for the day and a small fortune in ferry fees. Gone are the days when you were rushing to make one of the Sunshine Coast ferries and the gatekeepers just waved you on without stopping for payment as the ferry was about to leave. True story.

I hope your adventures with your new A25 are all you expect and so much more. I just got our engine put back together and the cabin reassembled when the Starfleet Commander came aboard for annual inspection. The first thing she said was we should go back to Desolation Sound! She actually has a retirement date on the calendar, next May, so I am hopeful.

Cheers to you!

[ssrig]

Also started making this.......?

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I want to have some solar onboard and was not willing to give up the forward deck space that we like to use so for the whole winter I was trying to come up with what to do?? I came up with a plan....
more to come.

OK, here's a bit of a story: last year while looking for an A25 everywhere and not finding a suitable one I was getting bummed out and was walking around Cowichan Bay looking at boats when I spotted an A25 so my wife and I wandered over to have a look, it was a nice well equipped boat, I also noticed on this boat a "In Case of Emergency" phone number in the window which for some reason I called the owner to see if it was for sale, nope! But his brother by chance had an A25 that he might be selling! I gave him my phone number and half an hour later his brother called and the next day we went to see it and I said to my wife "I'm buying that boat" even before I saw it!!
Sooo...I did buy it, and just last week the first brother posted up on the Albineers site about having a swim grid for sale, he had a new one made so I called him again and told him I wanted it. Well that awesome nice brother GAVE ME THIS SWIM GRID!! Wow! did I appreciate that!

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Came with a kicker motor mount and these awesome bronze brackets with the great patina on them!

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After a light power wash it came up pretty nice.

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There are a few repairs needed but it is really ready to go on.

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Also:
I failed to notice that the keyway on my prop shaft is slightly larger than the key way was on the old prop that I gave my prop guy to use as a template for measurements so.. I had to step the key a little bit to fit.

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I have determined that the prop nut is M20 x 2.5 which for now I have a stainless steel nut for and will be mounting the prop with that and will search for someone to fabricate a proper castle nut in the future.
Gathering up some stuff for the prop install: Prussian Blue, valve grinding compound, stainless steel cotter pin, going all out for the install, dont want to lose my new prop!

[ssrig]

ssrig, are you planning to make Ladysmith for the rendezvous? (Man plans, God laughs...)
Unfortunately we won't but will be there in spirit. I consider our visit there last year one of the high points having met so many great folks. I really should jump in the car even if only for the day and a small fortune in ferry fees. Gone are the days when you were rushing to make one of the Sunshine Coast ferries and the gatekeepers just waved you on without stopping for payment as the ferry was about to leave. True story.

I hope your adventures with your new A25 are all you expect and so much more. I just got our engine put back together and the cabin reassembled when the Starfleet Commander came aboard for annual inspection. The first thing she said was we should go back to Desolation Sound! She actually has a retirement date on the calendar, next May, so I am hopeful.

Cheers to you!

Well WillieC, I am trying to get the boat ready to go to the rendezvous, that is my timeline date and I am hopeful I will make it there. It was nice to meet you and DA there last year, you were both very inviting. Hopefully you will get there as it sounds like it might be well attended and the location last year was great.
One thing that you said to me on this thread last year: "Be bold! Make it how you want it!"
That was good advice that I am fully applying.

Hope to see you there!

[DesertAlbin736]

Sent from aboard La Dolce Vita while camped in an Okanagan Wenatchee National Forest campground in Washington State en route to & 170 miles from Blaine, WA (yes we're on the road again!): Looking good!! You'll love the swim grid & wonder how you ever did without it. Looking forward to seeing your handiwork in Ladysmith. We were going to try for Canada Day in Sidney, but instead we're going to stay in the San Juans until July 4th & celebrate our Independence Day in Fisherman's Bay on Lopez Island before heading for the Gulf Islands. If you finish your projects in time, have a valid passports, and a mind too, you're cordially invited to come down & party with us in Fisherman's Bay. It's a large anchorage & we could raft up at anchor. We have our dinghy to help you get to shore if need be

[DesertAlbin736]

PS, it won't be just us. Our sailing friends from Flagstaff, AZ and my wife's sister & BIL from Oregon will be there too

[ssrig]

DA, thanks for the invite but we have a get together on Gabiola Island, hopefully go by boat..

[ssrig]

When I bought the boat last year the seller threw in a rear pulpit from a sailboat, I cut it in half so that I have two identical pieces and they wrap around the back a bit on both sides, a bit of pipe bending and coercing with a hammer and I got them sitting okay then put them together with a few fittings and mounted them.
They fit really well and bends around the stern following the same lines.

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Not sure yet if I will use a wire rope with quick release or just leave the back open.

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[ssrig]

Progression of pics of the solar project.


Started with the arch, mounted on the aft cabin it came out vey solid, one panel sitting on top for conceptualizing...

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Plan is to have two up there.

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Back to the shop to make something up.

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Coming together, bottom panel will slide out aft.

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And nesting.

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[ssrig]

Bolted the slider directly onto the solar panel.

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Top panel remains stationary and the bottom panel slides out, little pieces of yellow are UHMW spacers.

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Bottom panel out.

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Back down to the boat for fitting.

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Still to do: Attach panel assembly onto arch( just sitting on there now but very solid already)
Get the wires flowing over, through and around the panels,

It is all hooked up as I write this and it is charging, although the boat is in the trees and no sun gets through. I have to do some testing to see which method to wire the panels in, ie, parallel or series. Right now they are in series but I have the connector to make it parallel, the solar will be needed while at rest, while motoring batteries will be charged via the altenator, get to and anchorage, slide the panel out and should be good to go.

[DesertAlbin736]

I hope this reply goes thru. We're at anchor in Garrison Bay on San Juan Island with iffy cell signal. More often then not when I try to post via smartphone I get kicked off & lose all my text. That's quite the installation. Anyway, FWIW we have a little 20 watt solar panel on the wheelhouse roof that seems adequate to keep our pair of 90 amp hour dual purpose AGMs charged. The trick is that all lights that we use most often are LEDs including the anchor light. Also added a change controller & a switch to shut it off when running the engine & not confuse the voltage reg.

[DesertAlbin736]

Can't wait to see it when you get to Ladysmith.