New Members

[thebrac]

Greetings everyone. Bonnie and I have sailed an Island Packet catamaran, The Brac Cat, for the last 13 years, sold her last year and recently decided to buy a trawler to fill the space in our slip. We are looking at an Albin 34' with twin 160s and wondered if the Albin owners would help us with our quality and price issues. We are a semi retired boating couple and spend up to 6 months a year onboard either coastal cruising or in our Key West slip. Are there any recurring Albin issues we need to look for, how does the twin compare to the single, how about factory support, etc. The owner is looking for mid to high 50s, very good shape inside, average shape outside, 700 engine hours, 3.2kw generator, virtually no electronics. Any help and/or comments are appreciated. Happy boating!

[jcollins]

Welcome aboard and thanks for becoming a supporting member on your first post .

[Veebyes2]

Welcome aboard. Which 34 is it? The early 80s trunk cabin trawler or late 80s 34 that looks like the 27 aft cabin on steriods? Either way, how is access space for engine maintenance? I have a 1996 32 which is basically the same hull as the late 80s 34. Space is tight with a single in that one.

[Marcy K]

Hello,

There are several models of the A 34 which was only built for a limited time. We bought an A 34 with a full fly bridge adn extended seating over the main salon last year (trunk cabin). We LOVE it. We lived aboard for 4 weeks this summer and several long weekends and found the extra living space fantastic - big forward cabin with galley - good for eating or playing games at night. Our main salon - also the wheel house (we use it in bad weather or fog - access to radar) is wonderful to entertain in or just hang out and read books - see pictures in photographs. The aft cabin with head is wonderful too - we moved up from an A 27 aft cabin and really wanted the galley down version because of the extra actual living space it offers without having to go to an A 40 (we fell in love with Jay Leonard' A 40 on Block island the first summer he had it and invited up aboard to see it - we wanted that layout without having such a BIG boat). We had to do a tremendous amount of work on ours last winter - there is a list under the A 34 category. This winter we have to change the rear main oil seal - leaking badly. It meant moving all the furniture off again and raising the floor yet again - this should be the end of raising the floor. We have changed the oil and done maintenance service thru the hatches and it works OK - Ron is 6'2" and is able to squeeze himself down there to do maintenance. We love this boat and having 4 living areas is awesome in 34'. Let us all know if it works out for you. We travel at approx 10 - 12 kts using about 4 - 5 gals/hr. good luck. Marcy K A 34 Paumanok (means Long Island where Ron and I met)