Why the Albin 25 is a "Goldilocks" boat.

[DesertAlbin736]

The Albin 25 is in fact a "Goldilocks" boat, not too big, not too small, solidly built and seaworthy with standing headroom in the main cabin and pilot house, comfortable if compact accommodations for long term cruising for two or weekending for four, and easily trailerable with a 3/4 ton tow vehicle over the steepest mountain grades (which one is bound to encounter in the West) without the hassle of wide load permits. What other boat can a couple spend spend six weeks aboard for a summer in the Pacific Northwest and BC Canada and two months the next on the Erie Canal, Long Island Sound, and Chesapeake Bay? And do it all with 13 NM per gallon/ 1/2 gallon per hour at 6.5kts diesel fuel economy.

[Chuckatuck Ray]

I really enjoyed looking at the photos. They are really nice. The boat looks great.
Best regards,
Chuckatuck Ray

[Treeman]

Excellent photos. Very inspirational.

[Mark Deeser]

How did you hang the dink off the swim platform? Looks really nice. Thanks, Mark.

[DesertAlbin736]

Mark D asks,

How did you hang the dink off the swim platform? Looks really nice. Thanks, Mark.

Our Boatex 8 dinghy, which came like this with the boat when we bought it last year, is attached using Weaver snap davits, as shown in this photo. The only change we made was to add standoff rods to allow room for the mount for stowing our 2.5 HP Tohatsu outboard, which doesn't show up in this photo because it was taken before I installed the mount.

The main downside is that since the stern tapers to a smaller beam at the transom, the ends of the dinghy stick out past the edges of the transom and can catch on pilings like they have in East coast marinas. Also, when trailering it adds a lot of aerodynanic drag like a big parachute and puts a lot of strain on all the hardware, which is why I built a rack and ramps to be able to stow the dinghy on top of the pickup bed during long trailering trips. It's OK for the short 15 mile run from where I store the boat to our local lake, but not thousands of miles cross country.

[Dandy]

How would you compare it to the 27s? The 25s are older and 2' shorter... anything else? I am looking at both models right now.

[DesertAlbin736]

How would you compare it to the 27s? The 25s are older and 2' shorter... anything else? I am looking at both models right now.

In response to the question comparing 25's to 27's: The 27s are good boats with similar basic layout, and certainly much lower price than the 28 & 31 TE. Obviously they are bigger and roomier compared to a 25 as hull volume usually increases exponentially with length, and the 27 has a much more powerful engine, but not all that much different in market price. In fact you could probably find a 27 for less than we paid for our 25. But they are both basically displacement or semi-displacement hulls, so neither one are speed demons. Both are easy on fuel, the 25 at +/- 1/2 gallon per hour cruising at 6.5 to 7 knots, and the 27's are what, (27 owners chime in here & correct me if I'm wrong) +/- 2 GPH at 8 to 10 knots? 27s are transportable, maybe even considered "trailerable", but with wider beam fall into the oversize limit class and a bit more to handle.

Personally I like the main cabin layout of the 25 better than the 27, which has a dinette and single side settee vs the double settee layout without the dinette in the 25. Although the forward cabin on both can be made into a comfortable double berth. We have a table that can be set up in the cockpit which makes it into our "dining room". Also the 25 is more easily trailered with total GVW including the trailer of a bit less than 7,000 lbs. Easily doable with a 1/2 ton tow vehicle but preferably a 3/4 ton truck if you expect to encounter mountain grades of 5% to 6% inclines. Remember, being able to stop a trailer is as important as getting it up to speed.

On our recent Chesapeake cruise we logged 300 nautical miles in 2 weeks on the water, burning about 33 gallons of fuel for a total cost of around $84 at an average fuel dock price of $2.71 per gallon. At present diesel is slightly cheaper than gasoline at fuel docks.

[tego]

Desert Albin, my 27 travels the same speed as yours @ about 1 GPH with the Nissan engine. I can get to 10 knots, but it goes to about 3 GPH when I'm flying low like that. The 27 is about 8000 lbs wet, for a trailer weight. m hoping my big Tundra will pull it when I get my trailer. The Tundra has brakes comparable to most heavy 3/4 ton trucks and the tow package is rated @ 10,400 lbs. Ben

[joebuz]

Just recently bought my 27 FC. Hauled her about 1,500 miles, on a trailer made for it, with an F150. Not fun, but we did it. My 27 uses < gallon/hour at 2500 rpm (4D61) or about 7 mph in calm water. Got the 27 primarily because of the aft berthing.

[DesertAlbin736]

I'd wager to say it's easier to find a 27 than a 25. In all our cruising travels so far, including the San Juan Islands in Washington state, the Gulf Islands in British Columbia, the Erie Canal and Finger Lakes in NY, Block Island Sound, Pawcatuck River and Thames River in Rhode Island and Connecticut, and Chesapeake Bay in Maryland we've seen exactly 3 other Albin 25's on the water and 3 on the hard, one of which was a Bonum 25.

On the other hand we've seen several Albin 27's in our travels.

Tego, the only thing I would say about towing a 27 with a Tundra is make sure your trailer brakes are in good working order. Preferably equipped with electric over hydraulic brakes, but surge brakes are OK too. Just be sure also that your truck can handle the tongue weight which should be around 10% of the trailer weight to keep from fishtailing. You don't want the tail wagging the dog. Preferably your truck has E load rating tires. I have seen or heard of a couple cases where trailers went out of control and flipped because they weren't balanced right, in one instance a Catalina 25 sailboat and the other and O'Day 25 sailboat. In both cases the tow vehicle went off the road and rolled and the boats were totaled.

One other comment about 25 vs 27, I like the way the 25 has a handy chart table right at the steering station, which the 27 does not.

[glk34]

Yes you can "tow" the 25 with the 2 wd 6cl. We have trailered our A25 for years with a 2003 Tacoma V6. The key is to have a good trailer with good brakes. The Tacoma was 4x4 which really comes in handy on the slippery ramps. The hills of northern Maine and Canada can be a bear with the low hp V6s but if you take your time and keep trailer and truck in top condition you can do it. We did recently go to a GMC 2500 truck (for other reasons) which has made the towing much more relaxing. Fuel economy is almost the same (when towing) as with the Tacoma due to the extra work the small truck had to do. Friends of ours towed their A25 from Maine to Kingston Ontario with a Tacoma and had no issues.

Chris
"Iron Jack"