"Old Sailor" Looking to Own a 28TE or 31TE

[Lowe Key]

Hello To All,

I too, am looking to become an Albin Owner. I am looking at the 28TE and 31TE. I found your site looking for infor on the Yanmar and Cummins engines. I like the midships cleats, enclosed helm, no teak, and diesel inboard.

I need the protected prop because I am known to gunk hole a bit. I am an "Old Sailor" who has enjoyed cruising for 13 years but now want to step down in size (teak maintenance issue). I have great fun on the Chesapeake Bay but there are wonderful cruises all up and down the coast.

I am not sure what I want, at this point. I saw a flush deck 28 at Harbor North in Huron, Ohio, but do not want to give up the berth. I am a bit concerned about fuel flow. I had a very low flow on the trawler. I want a little more speed.

I am looking forward to hearing your views of the boats and how you get the most from what you do with them.

S. A. Hull

[Denis]

Hello Lowe Key and welcome to the board. This is a growing site but it seems like the members are knowledgeable and interesting.
I bought a 28 TE last year and so far I am very happy with my selection. My boat has a 300hp Peninsular engine with 630 hours on it. It gets up on plane very easily and rides great in every kind of situation I have been in to date. My fuel usage as an average is 5.8 gph. I have not had any mechanical issues yet and the fit and finish is very good.
My last boat also had way too much teak and I just didn't need the work associated with it, so this boat and it's lack of teak makes me smile!
The cabin amenities and the way the head functions are the two things that need work. Getting in and out of the bunks requires some acrobatics that I can perform now but will need to change in the near future. The head does not operate very well at all. The holding tank is too small and is too far from the head, there is no way it can work very well with this set up. I am seriously considering just putting a porta potty in it's place. One more word of caution, make sure you get a very good survey prior to purchase. These boats have a lot of balsa core which is fine as long as the water is kept out. Make sure you take a good look at the transom and the front deck where the anchor lockers are and where the rail attaches.
The fact these boats have a bow thruster makes them handle like a dream in and around the dock. I am very happy with my boat and I am proud when I take it anywhere, I frequently get compliments.
Good luck with your search. Denis

[Lowe Key]

I just finished calling on three 28TEs with the 250 Cummins in FL & NC. The brokers are saying 2-3gph @ 10k. I could live with that very well.

The Flush deck I looked at had a Jabco head and I know I would change to a Raritan PHIIe (like being able to take it out easily). Sounds like there is not enough of a drop to the Tank. Given what the tech at Raritian said I plan to even look at the LexSan. It seems to have come a long way.

Oh yes, you want "The Best Surveyor." They are worth their "salt." They can still miss things but they are not emotional about the boat. Also doing this kind of research before hand saves too.

My last boat had coring. I went over the decks with a phenalic hammer before the surveyor ever saw the boat. As the seller said, "The next buyer will not have your red notebook and hammer." But there was not another buyer (until a bit ago).

Is the Deck the only coring? I understood the hull was glass.

[jcollins]

I just finished calling on three 28TEs with the 250 Cummins in FL & NC. The brokers are saying 2-3gph @ 10k. I could live with that very well.

The Flush deck I looked at had a Jabco head and I know I would change to a Raritan PHIIe (like being able to take it out easily). Sounds like there is not enough of a drop to the Tank. Given what the tech at Raritian said I plan to even look at the LexSan. It seems to have come a long way.

Oh yes, you want "The Best Surveyor." They are worth their "salt." They can still miss things but they are not emotional about the boat. Also doing this kind of research before hand saves too.

My last boat had coring. I went over the decks with a phenalic hammer before the surveyor ever saw the boat. As the seller said, "The next buyer will not have your red notebook and hammer." But there was not another buyer (until a bit ago).

Is the Deck the only coring? I understood the hull was glass.

Lowe Key,
I'm sure you can get 2-3 GPH at 2000 RPM. 1000 RPM, on mine, is about 6 knots. 2k is 8-10 knots. Comparable to your trawler I would think.

If you (or anyone) is looking for a good surveyor in Maryland area let me know. The guy I used (twice) is great. Very knowledgeable, friendly, helpful. Took the time to let me know the process and didn't rush things at all. Money well spent. I'll post his name and email in the links section.

[DougSea]

John - I'd be very interested in the Surveyor you've used. Also any tips on items I should be looking for on a sea trial.

Thanks!

[jcollins]

Doug,
I have two. Used them both.
Lon Acheson - survtech@comcast.net. When I needed Lon for my Albin survey he wasn't available and recommended: Richard Warren - captrich@cavtel.net

Things to look for in a sea trial?
I'm running out right now. I'll think about good answers and post later today.

[Elizabeth Ann]

I too will chime in later. If this is your first time having aboat surveyed there are some things you should know too.

[DougSea]

John & Elizabeth Ann (I know there's a guy hiding behind that name!)

Thanks very much for the responses. I've been around boats for a long time but alway smaller outboards or someone else's larger inboard, this would be a first inboard for me. I've also been lucky enough to buy new in the past so surveys weren't an issue. I'll be checking the forum later tonight and then will be up early and on my way to MD first thing in the morning, hope to get to the boat around 1 or 2 in the afternoon.

Elizabeth Ann - saw your responses on my other post - many thanks. See that you're from Babylon, I grew up in Amityville, got my first taste of boating there before moving to CT when I was 11, been on the Sound ever since but I can still remember the smell (the GOOD smell! ) of the Great South Bay.

Doug

[Elizabeth Ann]

DougSea,

Sorry about the name confusion. The handle on the board is the boat name, my name is Brian. I fly back and forth between Miami (work) and Babylon (boat) many times during the summer. I spend my winters fishing a 20' center console in Key Largo. Its a long complicated story that I'll tell you about another time.

Anyway, The Great South Bay still smells good. You should come back and visit it some time.

Good luck with the hunt. If I can think of any last minute info I'll post it but it is getting close to Friday happy hour

Brian

P.S. one last piece of info about the survey. Hope that the oil in the boat is a few hours old (~30-75) and hope that the surveyour will get an oil analysis done on the oil and the coolant, by HO Penn or any other company. It's sort of like a Dr. taking blood.

[Denis]

DougSea, I see you are from CT and boat in the sound. Where do you keep your boat, I am in Noank?

[DougSea]

DougSea, I see you are from CT and boat in the sound. Where do you keep your boat, I am in Noank?

Hi Denis, I'm out of Sprite Island, a small yacht club on the border of East Norwalk and Westport. If you know the Northport stacks on Long Island you just line them up behind you and you head right for us.

Haven't spent much time in the eastern end of the Sound but I'm hoping that if the TE 28 works out that my wife and I will take a few trips up your way. If you ever find yourself headed down our way just let me know and I'll buy your a beer!

Doug

[chiefrcd]

Good luck on your search, it was half the fun of buying a new boat. I took about a year to find mine and most of that was due to wanting either a Yanmar or Cummins. All the advice you're gotten so far is right on target, the most important is the surveyor. He's going to want you there and believe me you want to be there. Ask questions if you have any doubts. The boat should run WOT per the manufacture's specifications. Those can be found at the Yanmar website. I'll say it again, there is a lot of balsa in these boats and somewhere in the line they made some hull changes to airx I believe. Anyway a good surveyor will run a moisture meter over the entire boat and what he doesn't meter he'll probably hit with a hammer. Check the head lines for odor, rub them with a wet rag and if they smell bad, put that on your list to have the seller fix. Check the engine model number if its a Yanmar. Older Yanmars (mine was one) will need a valve seal kit replacement fix. It's about a grand to have it done.....it's very important as the older Yanmars have a tendency to drop a valve which is catastrophic to the engine. You can do a search at boatdiesel.com and I think someone posted the Model #/ Serial # engines that need the fix. I haven't had any head issues except that the TE28 has a tiny....tiny holding tank. We try to make every effort to just not use it....but if you do, make sure you pump it out on a regular basis. Again, good luck and don't be afraid to ask if you have any questions.

[Lowe Key]

Welcome to the Group...

Oh yes, there will be a surveyor. Before the last boat even say a surveyor, I had gone over the teak with a phanolic hammer. The surveyor sat on the ABYC at the time and by the time it was over, the seller thought the deal was dead but the boat was worth the price.

As to tankage, there is never enough (like hard drive space). I replaced holding and fuel tanks on the last the boat. I also used the new sanitary hose to replace the black hose. I like to flush them about 3 times each time they are pumped. Had a port in the new tank with an ABI gage. The gage made it easy to inspect the inside of the tank.

I had a velvet drive on the Lehman with a drive saver. It is very good to hear about the Yanmar.

I helped a friend take a 12 inch by 25 foot section of his cored hull out because it was wet and replace the airx core with new dry core was an education. We used West System to seat it. It was like a productiion line since we had a limited "pot life."

S.A.H.
lowe@lowekey.com

[Denis]

Doug
I have never been further south than Cedar Island in Clinton. We had a very nice time there but for some reason most of our focus seems to be toward Watch Hill, Block Island, Newport etc. I suppose because we had small kids for all those years we were looking for open spaces and beaches for them to play on. Now it's just the two of us and we look for different things to do. Maybe we can get down to your neck of the woods to see the sights in that area. Denis

[digitrade]

My 2000 28 TE definitely is all cored including bottom!!! Some years earlier than mine were solid and some after. I don't know which. I would not have bought the boat if I had known it had a cored bottom. But then it hasn't caused me any problems. I have thousands of hours and am on my third Yanmar engine.

Beware: Even the area in the stern with the factory installed seacocks is cored. I have installed numerous seacocks and transducers and had to make the area around the holes solid glass. Recently I changed a factory installed valve and much to my chagrin found that the painted out areas that the factory used was cored and not solid glass. I have trouble understanding that one. Again, I never had problems but I don't understand through hulls being installed in a cored bottom, especially by the factory.