1980 Albin 36 owners manual-please help

[fwendt2000]

I regretfully am not an Albin owner, but my father-in-law is. He has bought the boat recently and loves it, but some odd things have been done by the previous owner. He is new to boating and has no owners manuals, schematics, etc... He would love to have a copy of an owners manual, and I figured if I could get this accomplished it would put me in the number one son-in-law spot. Just kidding, but It would truely help him out in figuring out how she was originally suppose to be. I figured it would be a great Christmas present. I am willing to offer some money. Please help a fellow Albin owner out. Again he has a 1980 Albin 36' with a Perkins diesel. He says it's a tri-cabin, but the double cabin pictures on the net look the same. If anyone can help please let me know, it would be much appreciated. I don't know which years and models will cross reference.

[Mariner]

The problem with those old Taiwan Trawlers is that they're all different. There also aren't a lot of owners from that vintage on this site, so I don't think you'll get much info here. There are a lot of those boats out there, though, so I recommend looking at them online or in person. You won't get anything out of Albin. First off, they appear to have shut their doors, at least for now. Second off, their policy is (was?) that they don't provide an owners manual. Not even on their newer boats, much less on their 20+ year old boats that were actually built by a different company.

As for the double/tripple cabin designation, the term "tri-cabin" is a generic term for the many many aft-cabin style trawlers built in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China in the 1970's and 80's, under a multitude of different brand names. The term two-cabin is just a reference that it has two sleeping cabins. The main salon would be the "third" cabin.

[fwendt2000]

Mariner

Thanks for the info. I wasn't sure if it was a Taiwan boat, but you seem to have confirmed it. The tri-cabin thing helped too. Thanks again for the help. My father-in-law has mentioned that the boat manufactorer has vanished that's why I was trying to find a fellow owner. I see you are from Gig Harbor, I'm on Whidbey Island I've checked out Oak Harbor's marina but all I saw was a couple 25 footers. I guess I'll have to try Anacortes and LaConner. Thanks again.[/list]

[jcollins]

fwendt2000,
If your new to boating (or your father-in-law) it would help us, help you, if you could give us some details. What system(s) do you have questions about? As Mariner mentioned you have an older boat, that may not have had much in the way of manuals to begin with. Albin is not known for great documentation. That said, you should be able to get manuals or infomation about specific things like your electronics, appliances, engine, etc.

Give us some details. We love a challange.

[fwendt2000]

From talking to him about things he has had to fix and things that are set up poorly from the previous owner I would say he needs info on the electrical, fuel system, engine, bilge system, potable water tanks as well as waste tanks, power steering system, and lavatories. That pretty much covers everything but the kitchen sink, right. Any info would be greatly appreciated. The more info he can get his hands on the better. As far as specifics about the boat I can probably find out if you would like to know certain things about his systems. As of right now I know he has the 165 hp Perkins 6 cyl. Again, I can definitely help you with specifics if you can help me with info. Thank You!

[RicM]

I would venture to say that with a boat of that vintage the manuals, if they did ever exist, would be pretty useless. Both boats I have owned were used and only one owner at that, but it was still a detective story everytime something needed fixing or mantainence. Boats are not like cars in that they are not built on rigid assembly lines. Then owners feel free to modify wiring and plumbing as they see fit. For help with the motor, buy your father-in-law a 1 year membership to the website www.boatdiesel.com. It's not much $$$ but there will no doubt be a section of that forum devoted to Perkins Diesels that will give you practical knowlege about the motor and it's systems. Either that or subscribe yourself and mysteriously become the fountain of knowlege on all things diesel!

[fwendt2000]

RicM,

Thanks for the info and the good laugh.

[jcollins]

I ran a Google for 80 Albin 36 last night. The first hit was boatdiesel.com

It is worth the money. But, don't be a stranger around here.

[Mariner]

An excellent site for info on those boats is the Passagemaker Magazine's forums. I'm not sure of the exact link, since they seem to change it every few months, but if you google the magazine and look at their site, you'll find it. The members there are all hard core trawler guys.

I hate to refer people away from this site, as we're trying to increase the catalog of available knowledge here, but until we get more members from this vintage, there isn't much here. Just be sure to bring what you learn back with you and share it with us.

[happytimes]

I have an 1981 albin 2 cabin. I have owned the boat for about 10 years and the last owner provided me with the orginal owners manual. Not sure what info you are looking for or if it is even in the owners manual. Let me know what info you are looking for. Maybe I can help.
Bob (happytimes)

[jleonard]

Bob,
I'd take any info you would be willing to share.
jleonard@kipinc.com would be the best place to e mail if it's in pdf format.
Thanks in advance

[Boatmon]

Fwdent2000,

Where you ever able to find the manuals that you where looking for?? I had some copies printed from the originals on our 1982 36' We have them for the A36, the steering system, the Lehman diesel, and the Westereke generator. We also have the original manuals from ALL of the original equipment and electronics, If you still need any let me know