Pleased with my new boat

[BobHaze]

Well, we've had our "new" 28 TE for 6 weeks now, and I couldn't be more pleased. We're empty nesters and have spent 4 of the past 6 weekends away on the boat on Martha's Vineyard and nearby islands, and the boat works perfectly for us. We've always preferred anchoring or a mooring, and only 2 of those nights were spent in a slip, and we find we have plenty of room, the fridge and grill (Magma kettle-type gas grill in a rod holder mount) are great, we have plenty of water on board, and I have no complaints; perhaps more importantly, neither does the Commodore! As a lifelong sailor (this is my 1st power boat) I'm still getting used to the luxury of getting to our favorite harbors in an hour or 2 rather than 4-6 hours, not having to worry so much if we will have a fair tide or not, etc. A couple of weeks ago we had 8 people on board for dinner at anchor - there was plenty of room for everyone and the engine box made a great table for the apps, salads, etc. the gals brought to go with the fresh swordfish I grilled up.

But what I really wanted to comment on is the seaworthiness of this boat, which reputation led me to the Albin 28 in the first place. Yesterday here in New England we were under gale conditions with periods of heavy rain and had been for a few days, so the local waters were pretty riled up. The Yanmar 6LP-STE engine in my boat had not had the exhaust valve seals replaced as recommended by Yanmar, and the surveyor had said the 14 year old dripless shaft seal bellows should be replaced (manufacturer recommends every 7 years), and I made arrangements to have the work done in New Bedford, which is normally about a 2.5 hour trip in this boat. Well, I took the boat there yesterday with NE winds 20-25 kts and gusting 30-ish and periods of sometimes pretty heavy rain, it only took me 3.5 hours and the boat handled it incredibly well. The first hour and a half were essentially down wind with a lot of surfing in 3-5 foot waves but more or less in the lee of Cape Cod. But the next leg, from Woods Hole to New Bedford, NW across Buzzards Bay, put the wind right on the beam with a 10+ mile fetch so I was rolling around in 6-8 foot seas. Yes, she did some pretty exciting rolling from time to time and there was a lot of water breaking over the starboard bow, but the boat handled it really well and while I slowed down quite a bit under those conditions, I never felt like I was in trouble or had bitten off more than the boat could chew.

Again, I couldn't be happier with this boat, how she's laid out, her moderate fuel consumption...but most of all her seaworthiness, and we're looking forward to cruising to Maine and who knows where next season and for many years. Many thanks to the members of AOG for all the useful information on the board. What an incredible resource!

[Mark Deeser]

BobHaze, truly a post to make any Albin owners heart glad. Really a good thing when the right boat and person get together. Shounds like you got to enjoy a real adventure, hope there are many more to come. Thanks, Mark.