From DeFever to Albin

[drbob]

Hello all stations - We just had our offer accepted on a 2002 Albin 28' TE.

We are moving to Cape Harbour in Cape Coral Florida from The Woodlands (Houston area) Texas. Closing on a condo August 21st. We are scheduled then to close on the Albin August 28th and have it shipped here from Charleston. This 28 has the hardback with door on the pilothouse rather than the canvas.

Boating: Lifetime boaters. Mostly sailboats until 2006. Wife Kemba has offshore racing experience and I'm former enlisted USCG (sea and air). We took three years as full-time cruisers to complete the Great Loop in our 2001 DeFever 49' CPMY. 7,000 miles at 7 mph. Completed December 2011.

Personal Background: Kemba is a cardiovascular nurse specialist and I'm an Associate School Psychologist and Doctor of Clinical Hypnotherapy. We currently operate our own training company on the web (http://www.SalesHelp.com).

We are very impressed with this 28' foot vessel and look forward to spending many hours canal cruising and island hopping here in the area, across the state to the east coast cruising grounds, and the Bahamas.

Bob and Kem DeGroot

[whwells]

Welcome and Congra's on the fine boat. This is an excellent and fun group for all those interested in Albin. Did take note of your former boat. There is a Defever in the slip next to me in Anacortes, Wa. It is a beautiful boat and large enough to live on if desired. The owner's come over from Montana for several weeks at at time, but mostly stay aboard in the dock. They tell me about 8 knots for normal cruising - well show buy not the gas hog my boat can be with a heavy hand on the throttles.
whwells "Howard"
Former 35te Flybridge 2006

[Bidgood]

Welcome to SW Florida. Lots of Albins down here, so you will be in good company. Good cruising all year round. If you do not have an air conditioner on the boat, now would be a good time to start thinking about one. Lots of options from drop in, to marine AC. We have both.

Tom

[drbob]

Thank you.
And yes, this Albin 28 has a 13,000 btu 2 zone unit so it cools the wheelhouse as well as the cabin below.

[drbob]

Welcome and Congra's on the fine boat. This is an excellent and fun group for all those interested in Albin. Did take note of your former boat. There is a Defever in the slip next to me in Anacortes, Wa. It is a beautiful boat and large enough to live on if desired. The owner's come over from Montana for several weeks at at time, but mostly stay aboard in the dock. They tell me about 8 knots for normal cruising - well show buy not the gas hog my boat can be with a heavy hand on the throttles.
whwells "Howard"
Former 35te Flybridge 2006

Thank you.

Yes, these "trawler" boats are slow. We did 7,000 miles and 7 mph doing the great loop.

[drbob]

Seems like the wind wasn't at our back. The boat was not meant to be for us. Now, we're back looking for a well maintained 28 TE.
Bob

[Jeremyvmd]

Sorry to hear that. What was wrong with it?

[TomA]

Welcome Doctor Bob we moored our 48' trawler in Cape Harbor thru December 2014, nice marina and amenities. Now own a 32 + 2 Albin bridge deck, lots of Albin's in the area great people. Tom A

[drbob]

Sorry to hear that. What was wrong with it?

For the sea trial - broker backed the boat out of the slip before he noticed he had no steering. Used bow thruster to steer while I found the fluid and added till we got traction, burped and we're off until a rotted clamp gave way filling the bilge with water. We discovered the high temp lights and alarms worked well for the engine and the turbo charger. I replaced the clamp with one we took from the head hoses. Reassembled and we're off to the yard. Pulled the boat and while power washing a big chunk of paint came off revealing a 6 x 6 fiberglass patch. Did not puncture hull, most likely a scrape. But it was not sealed. Fortunately, it was solid and no water intrusion was found. It's now barrier coated. The entire bottom was bead blasted and new bottom paint applied.

And there were multitudes of other minor items. But enough is enough. As the surveyor put it, nothing in and of itself was a deal killer except is started becoming a "death by a thousand cuts." As I understand the current owner is in the process of taking care of every item on the surveyor's list. Should make someone a really fine boat. In the interim, we found a 2005 Engine Box model and are buying it.

[drbob]

Welcome Doctor Bob we moored our 48' trawler in Cape Harbor thru December 2014, nice marina and amenities. Now own a 32 + 2 Albin bridge deck, lots of Albin's in the area great people. Tom A

That's nice to hear. We closed on our unit here in the Marina South Tower and almost finished unpacking. Whew. Next move for me will be in an urn.

We chased down another engine box 2005 Albin 28' TE with generator and our offer was accepted. First glance shows it to be in absolutely pristine condition with all manuals and records since new. Constantly maintained and upgraded. Survey on the 21st. We're excited.

Bought a "Boater's Destination Guide" (Chart Art) from West Marine and it shows 150 boating destinations within about 20 miles of Cape Coral / Ft. Myers area. Plus Cape Coral has 400 miles of canals with about 250 of them salt water.

Bob

[Jeremyvmd]

Yikes hopefully your next sea trial goes better.