Potential new owner questions

[Brother Albin]

Greetings,
Peter at Prestige in Stamford encouaged me to join this group. It was agreat piece of advice. I have learned a lot an awful lot in just the few days I've been here.

I've been in the market for a downeast hull for some time now and have progressed pretty far down the road of having a lobster boat built. However, just like designing a house, I find myself about 50% over budget before a single strand of fiberglass has been laid. A couple of friends, whose boating advice I hold in high regard, encouraged me to look at an Albin. Once the budget issue got me past the "I have a bteter idea" phase I did take a look and there was the boat that I had been trying to design all along...an Albin 28 with the "L" shaped seating arrangement. I believe it is called the Newport Mk III.

I would appreciate some help couple of noobie questions from this community.
1. What happens when I need warranty help from a company that is no longer in business
2. I'm unclear about the effect of "bow steer" in the flush deck models. Does it effect high or low speed handleing. Is it really something that impacts the heavy weather efectiveness of this hull. How do the trim tabs help/hurt this (never had a boat with them)
3. is there anything in particular that I should look for (negartive or positive) in a new or left over.
4. I have looked at a couple of used boats and both had an inordinate level of fuel odor in the cabin. Is this something associated with Albins or have I just been on a couple of boats that need to be aired out?

Thanks for your help.

Steve

[AlanD]

Hi Steve, I own that model Albin 28, and as she is new I think I can answer some of your questions... Here goes

1. What happens when I need warranty help from a company that is no longer in business.

Answer - Good Question! I asked the same thing in regards to my Hull, but not sure the answer still. Luckily, the Hull appears just fine and I have no real issues with this craft. The Yanmar warranty is separate as is my Raymarine stuff, so everything else is pretty standard.

2. I'm unclear about the effect of "bow steer" in the flush deck models. Does it effect high or low speed handling. Is it really something that impacts the heavy weather effectiveness of this hull. How do the trim tabs help/hurt this (never had a boat with them)

Answer = No issue on my end, I have found she handles just fine in pretty nasty conditions, and with a following sea, I keep my bow up and don't use the trim tabs.

3. is there anything in particular that I should look for (negative or positive) in a new or left over.

Answer = I think the Yanmar/engine should have a good inspection on any boat purchase as well as any sign of leakage.

4. I have looked at a couple of used boats and both had an inordinate level of fuel odor in the cabin. Is this something associated with Albins or have I just been on a couple of boats that need to be aired out?

Answer = Beats me on that one, I have not had any bad diesel smell piloting her, and just this week I had a guy fishing with me who commented on the lack of engine smell as we trolled around Lake Michigan all day.

Personally, I love the boat and the Pilot House L Seating is great, plus we have that convertible bed option there as well and my 12 yr old son thinks that is pretty cool.

Hope that helps...

[RicM]

Many folks worry about warranty issues on boats and think they are analogous with the type of service/warranty issues that they are familiar with from cars. As Alan says, the Yanmar engine, the largest and most expensive single element of the boat is covered under it's own warranty. Most boats are actually a compilation of parts from other manufacturers and almost all spare parts are readily available for Albins.

If you are dealing with Peter at Prestige Yachts in Stamford CT you are in good hands. We bought our '03 28TE from Peter and we still love it and would highly recommend Peter as a patient, concientious, and knowledgeable broker.

[Elizabeth Ann]

Greetings Brother Albin!

We bought from Peter too!

Customer service and warranty work was always an issue with Albin - even when they existed. Luckily, like it was said earlier, not many issues have come up with the hull itself. Most of the things that need attention are mostly cosmetic or daily maintenance.

As far as the fuel odor is concerned on a few of the boats you looked at, did you check the bilge for fuel?.

Good luck with your search.

[Brother Albin]

Alan and Ric,
Thank you very much for responding to my questions. I'm in my research mode right now and I am devouring the info on this forum. I' am prertty much coming to the same conclusion...."Albin builds a great hull and everything else is covered under the manufacturer's warranty".

Alan,
I found this thread regarding the fuel odor. It may or may not be relevant to the boats that I looked at. viewtopic.php?t=1543

Also, I didn't realize that the convertible was available with the L seating. That sounds like a geat package. I'd love to see a picture of it.

Steve

[jcollins]

Brotheralbin,
Welcome to the group. The smell of diesel in the bilge is most likely from sloppy maintenance at one point or another. As we all know spills happen and the odor can hang around for awhile. If there is a leak it will turn up in the survey.
I own a convertible with the engine box. (95) There were 13 built between 95 and 2005.

[Brother Albin]

Thanks John,
Great article in Soundings. You hit all of the right buttons necessary to win my wife over on this.

I've owned both diesel (sail) and gas powered boats and these two boats that I looked at were well beyond what I'm accustomed to....especially the gas model. I will be sure to insist that the surveyor covers the info that I found in that thread. (By the way, the URL link feature doen't seem to be working or I'm misreading the input format)

I have seen the convertible 28 before, just not one with the "L" shaped seating arrangement in the "Newport". In fact, I don't think that I've seen a convertible in anything but a engine box configuration like yours, which is a beautiful example.

Steve

[jcollins]

(By the way, the URL link feature doen't seem to be working or I'm misreading the input format)

You had a couple of extra brackets in there. []
all fixed.

I'm sure there were a couple convertibles built. (flush deck)
But rare.