Express Trawler, Command Bridge

[ken&sandy]

Hi, My wife and I are getting ready to retire and have been looking at boats on line. We are going to be based in N.C. and intend to travel for 4 to 6 months a year by boat. I have quite a few years experience on the water and Sandy has a few. We would be interested in any comments, advice or conversation reguarding the express or the command brige as to how they would work with our "plan". THANKS IN ADVANCE Ken

[jcollins]

Hi, My wife and I are getting ready to retire and have been looking at boats on line. We are going to be based in N.C. and intend to travel for 4 to 6 months a year by boat. I have quite a few years experience on the water and Sandy has a few. We would be interested in any comments, advice or conversation reguarding the express or the command brige as to how they would work with our "plan". THANKS IN ADVANCE Ken

ken&sandy,
Welcome to AOG. My unbiased opinion is that you can't go wrong with just about any Albin. I own a 28 but if I was going to spend 4-6 months aboard I would look very hard at the TE 35. Plenty of room in a express boat. My next choice would the 35 command bridge and 36 express trawler. Search around the board here for pictures.

Once again, welcome. You will find some very knowledgeable owners.

[powerboater56]

Ken,
I have a 2005 35 Command Bridge and my wife and I have made several cruises on it, one lasting almost a month. The Command Bridge is a great boat, easy to handle, performs well, laid out nicely for a couple. My only reservation about cruising for the time you suggest -- four to six months a year -- is lack of space in the main cabin. The stateroom in the bow is enormous and has more than enough stowage space for long term cruising, but the main cabin seems too small to me for long-term living aboard.

I specifically miss the ability to walk around, as there is only standing headroom in the walkway along the galley. If you have cruised extensively on sailboats, you may not mind the lack of walkable floor area. But if I buy a boat for long-term cruising I will need more "elbow room" than I have in OTTER. Also, for long term cruising I would like a boat with the ability to see out and around from the main living area. When you are sitting in the main cabin in my boat you cannot see outside at all, and that is a drawback to me. Still, the 35 Command Bridge is a fine boat, and my wife and I enjoy cruising on it very much.

The 36-ft express trawler may alleviate some of these concerns, although I am sure it has drawbacks of its own.

Good luck!
John Schieffelin

[Veebyes2]

JMO, but as much as I like my 32CB I can't imagine using it for any more than a month or so of cruising. It is a great boat for a couple & does rings around any other <35' boat that I can think of but after awhile the pointy end gets closer to the blunt end.

For the last 4 years our cruising has been done in a 5th wheel trailer which has 3 slideouts (12'6" interior width) & 36' LOA. We have as much space as a 40-45' trawler. We would not want to go long term cruising in anything less. An Albin 43 Sundeck would fit the bill very nicely.

[jleonard]

One reason we ended up with the old 40 Albin trawler is one because it has enpought "sppace" to live aboard for a while, and also because it has a seperate galley and salon. The galley down is nice, but has some drawbacks, you need to decide what you think you might like.
I didn't like galley up because they all had dinettes and no place for a comfortable sofa or chair.
Ours is all open in the salon, no helm chair, just open space that let us do what ewe want to make it comfortable.
The reason we went trunk cabin style is for the walk around queen bed, and the walk around side decks. We plan on doing cruising thru locks and our past experiences said walk around is a must.
Plus the old trawlers although slow use so little fuel it's crazy cheap to cruise.
Best of luck in your decision.

[joreyn]

I chose the 36 ET because of the ability to see 360 degrees in the salon, the ceiling height (I am 6'2" when I have shoes on) and the incredible outdoor spaces. Also, the extended hull (swim step) makes docking a dream. If I had not picked this boat, I was looking at 40 plus feet to give me what I needed.