40' North Sea Cutter (2006)

GaryG · Post by **GaryG** » Sat May 24, 2008 6:49 pm

Hi all. I'm not an Albin owner yet but considering it. I'm looking for feedback from owners, particular of this boat, on the pros and cons of the boat. I am considering it for use along the pacific coast. As far North as Seward and as far South as Cabo. I am not an experienced blue water person yet so would really like to know you thoughts. The broker is recommending this boat or a Grand Banks Clasisc (1992). Any information would be appreciated. Thanks a lot!

TrawlerTim · Post by **TrawlerTim** » Mon May 26, 2008 1:46 am

Welcome to the Albin owners group, and yes, we might be a little biased, but I think you might find Albins pretty decent boats for the buck. Mine's a '79 36' tricabin trawler which I picked up in Sitka and have lived on for 2 years. We've cruised around in her around southeast Alaska and had a great time at 2 gal/hr... Every bit as good as a Grand Banks, objectively speaking.

As far as bluewater boats go, they ain't Nordhavns, but then again, I got mine for around 900K less than one, and I am heading up to Valdez next month via the Gulf of AK. No apprehensions about its seaworthiness and ride.

Then again, ask me around the first week in July...

Regards, Tim

Post by **Veebyes2** » Mon May 26, 2008 2:34 am

I took a look at one, no interest in buying, at the Annapolis show a few years ago. To be honest, I was far from impressed with the fit & finish, but that was superficial stuff. Overall the boat seemed solidly built & bang for the buck wise better than a Grand Banks, also a great boat, which rides an awful lot on it's name.

Tough call. How much is in your wallet?

jcollins · Post by **jcollins** » Mon May 26, 2008 9:43 am

GaryG,
Welcome to the group. The Albin is a good solid boat. But as others have mentioned the 40 had many fit and finish complaints.
If you can overlook some of those things and your a d.i.y. kind of guy you will be happy.

TrawlerTim,
If you have time, document your travels in the cruising forum.

Thanks,

GaryG · Post by **GaryG** » Mon May 26, 2008 12:19 pm

Thanks for the comments.

TrawlerTim - I'll check back with you in July. I'm going to SoCal the first week of July to look at a 42' Navigator. This is my wife's preference as it is more on the luxury side. Honestly, I don't think she'll spend much time on the boat so I was looking for something more practical for my fishing habit but also allows for a very comfortable live aboard for exended trips.

Veebyes2 - I noticed the fit and finish problems when I took a look at this boat. This was a 1 owner boat with 100 hours on it. (Port engine only had 8 as it was just replaced due to a problem but Yanmar paid for the replacement). There were minor issues throughout which the broker informed me were all being taken care of as it just had a recent survey. All said, I thought it was a beautiful boat and great price. I started to think "you get what you pay for" so what's up here.

The broker said there wasn't a lot of these produced so demand is low and that the market is exceptionally soft due to the economy and fuel costs. Of the few boats (not just Albin) I've talk to brokers about, they are lowering the price an average of 25% before I even start talking about an offer. Having never bought a boat, I found this odd. There seems to be a lot of motivation among sellers.

I would prefer to stay around $200K. As I said, the broker recommended a 92 Grand Banks (which he also happened to have). He said they hold thier value much better. Not sure why he was pushing me to a different boat.

I love to fish and I'm looking for something that I can spend a couple weeks at a time on traveling up and down the Pacific Coast. We'll soon have an empty nest. After looking at several boats this seems to have the best layout and functionality for me. However, I am such a neophyte at this and it is a lot of cash so I don't want to make a big mistake. Any thoughts?

Post by **Veebyes2** » Mon May 26, 2008 1:21 pm

Cast your boat shopping net a bit further to look at different styles in the trawler genre then be brutal & narrow them down to the style that is the best compromise.

For extended cruising, look at the sundeck style. They may not have the eye appeal of a traditional tri cabin trawler but the space inside is incredible. Albin produced a 43' sundeck too.

Post by **Mariner** » Tue May 27, 2008 7:45 pm

I agree that you should cast your net wider than just those two. There are quite a lot of boats that are suitable for what you're describing. The 40' North Sea Cutter is, unfortunately, a failed experiment in boat building. There were problems with fit and finish, as well as some cosmetic problems with the gelcoat on the hull. But she is, by all accounts, still a solidly built boat with excellent seakeeping ablilities.

The Grand Banks is the Gold Standard in Pacific Northwest Trawler style boats. There really is no equal. They are beautiful, reliable, stable, and prestigious to boot. Of course, they aint cheap either. They are, as far as I know, pretty much all full displacement hulls that will not get up and plain, which is what kept us away.

Other boats to consider are the offerings from Nordic Tugs and Camano Marine. Nordic is another one of those manufacturers upon which everyone else bases their comparisons on. They are flawless, efficient, and solid. Camano is very similar to Nordic, but they offer only two models, one of which I think might be a bit small for your needs, and another which is probably well out of your price range (you won't find any used ones and there is still a waiting list for new ones). There are probably numerous others, but those are the ones that pop to mind. Although the GB's are built overseas, the company is HQ'd in Seattle. Nordic builds their boats up in Burlington, WA, and Camano builds them in Richmond, BC, outside of Vancouver. The latter two are always quite happy to give factory tours to prospective buyers. Obviously that is not as easy for GB, and simply impossible for Albin.

$200,000 for a one year old 40' North Sea Cutter would indicate that they really are desperate to unload the thing. We paid considerably more than that for a 2 year old 36' with about the same number of hours. Of course, the economy was in a different state at the time and fuel was much less expensive.

GaryG · Post by **GaryG** » Wed May 28, 2008 10:14 am

Thanks a lot Mariner. I appreciate the feedback. I do like the Nordic tugs. The $200 is where I wanted to be when I started my search. I just wasn't finding anything I liked at that price so I moved up to $300. That's when I ran across the Cutter. They were asking $299 but willing to entertain a lower offer which I haven't made yet. I don't think they would go to $200 but somewhere in the middle.

Post by **Mariner** » Wed May 28, 2008 1:22 pm

Ah, I see. Yeah, that sounds more like it.

jcollins · Post by **jcollins** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:32 pm

TrawlerTim wrote:Welcome to the Albin owners group, and yes, we might be a little biased, but I think you might find Albins pretty decent boats for the buck. Mine's a '79 36' tricabin trawler which I picked up in Sitka and have lived on for 2 years. We've cruised around in her around southeast Alaska and had a great time at 2 gal/hr... Every bit as good as a Grand Banks, objectively speaking.

As far as bluewater boats go, they ain't Nordhavns, but then again, I got mine for around 900K less than one, and I am heading up to Valdez next month via the Gulf of AK. No apprehensions about its seaworthiness and ride.

Then again, ask me around the first week in July...

Regards, Tim

Tim,
It's the first week in July. How was the trip?

Albin Owners Group

Albin Owners Group

40' North Sea Cutter (2006)

40' North Sea Cutter (2006)

Hello Gary...

Re: Hello Gary...