36 Express Trawler

[Fogg~Dogg]

Except for what I read to be minor problems (they come on all boats), what is the general consensus on the 36 Express Trawler? It seems that over 100 of them have been made, and there are only a half-dozen ever for sale. I'd keep the boat here in New Hampshire/Maine and primarily cruise and casually fish. Probably never more than four people on the boat at any time. I do think the twin is the better choice as I have to deal with the Piscataqua River and a humongous tidal current...I do worry a bit with my single Albin 28 when the river is screaming...we're right next to a nuclear submarine base with guys who have big guns on their bows!

Any input is appreciated. There never was much press on the boat...but what was there was positive.

Thanks. Gary O.

[Mariner]

It sounds like you've read up on it quite a bit so you're probably aware of the problems. I love ours. I'd rather if it was a little more fuel efficient, but other than that, it's a great boat. The single 420hp diesel is fine, but won't quite put it up on a plane, meaning the top speed is about 16-17 knots. With the twins my guess is that it would go quite a bit faster, but I would be very curious to know what kind of fuel economy it gets. Since it won't quite plane out, the efficiency curve is very simple, the faster you go, the less efficient you are. I would think if you could get it to plane, your efficiency curve might flatten out and provide some good cruising speed options at higher speed.

On the other hand, I don't know what the hull and skeg configuration is like with the twins. I like the protected prop on the single. I believe the twin engine configuration has no skeg or deep keel, since the draft is listed as being considerably less. This is good for skinny water, but risky if you hit bottom, and will reduce stability in following seas.

I had the boat out yesterday in about 4' current driven swells and it handled them very well. The flared bow creates a firm but relatively smooth ride when powering into the swells and the deep-v hull carried all the way aft keeps the boat very stable in following seas. In the beam seas, the deep skeg keeps the boat stable.

We have some persistent water intrusion problems around the windows and cabin door in the winter. I can't for the life of me figure out how the water's getting in, but it continues to do so.

The boat is not perfect. But the layout and design are just so unique and perfect for us that I can live with the imperfections. It's still a very solidly built boat.

[Fogg~Dogg]

Thanks for your reply on the Express 36. My choice is between the Albin and the Sabreline 36's. Not much has been written on either boat, yet those who own them say they're great. I've followed the discussion (brief) on the Albin, but can't seem to hear anything really troubling. I talked with the factory and they were positive about it as well. They said it was a hard-build boat, but a good one when done. One guy I ran into in Maine in a 28 said the 36 takes on water a lot??? What's that all about? The vents seem high enough on the side. How many of these have you seen with your mid-ship steering post like yours? I think that's a great idea! Was it factory installed or an option? Cost? Overall, I've been really happy with my 28. I've added air-conditioning/heat, inverter, tempur-pedic on bed cusions, and stainless on all hardware. The boat looks great. I re-did the interior carpet to a rich, scalloped cut rug that's great on your feet on cold mornings. Right now, I'm looking at adding a KVH satellite M3 and mast onto the radar arch so that if I do sell Fogg-Dogg, I can take the KVH with me if the next guy doesn't want to pay for it.

Overall, the 28 is a superb boat...I just want something I can live aboard in the summer.

You can reply to my home e-mail or private post here if you have something to say that is not to be public.

Thanks.

[Mariner]

My parents neighbor and slipmate has a 36' Sabreline. Sabrelines are probably better built boats when it comes to the crafsmanship and "fit and finnish". However, they appear to be very similar when it comes to the hulls and hardware. Side by side, our two boats look almost identical from the gunnel down. There are slight differences, but they clearly have the same lines and overall design.

We also considered the 36' Sabreline on several different occasions. The neighbor's is an Express Hardtop design. One of my misgivings about that boat is that at cruising speed, the bow sticks so high up, and the pilot station is so far aft that you can barely see where you're going. I had to stand on my toes, and I'm 6'1".

I pretty much only use our aft pilot station (I assume that's what you're referring to) when docking, or backing down. I also use it when crabbing or fishing solo, which is rare. Most all of these boats I've seen had this station, it was obviously factory installed, but as an option. Given how little I use it, I think I'd rather just not know how much extra it cost the original owner. Still, it's certainly nice to have and I've often wished other boats had them. So, I guess it's one of those things that you think will get more use than it does. Perhaps if I mounted a repeater for the instrumentation under the roof above it, it would get more use. I don't like being that far from the depth sounder and radar.

As for taking on water, I think some of the older models had engine compartment air intakes mounted on the exterior of the hull (like the Sabreline). This is a design feature I would avoid. Ours are mounted inside the cockpit, very safe from waves and spray. To my knowledge, the boat has never shipped on so much as a drop of water. It does, however, have a habit of clogging the flybridge drains, which will cause water to back up, and then run down the rigging tunnel into the bilge. This is a problem, but keeping a more watchful eye on the drains has eliminated it for the time being. We still sometimes get water in some weird places, but it's clearly only from rain. Very few of the outdoor storage compartments are what I would call "watertight". I would have appreciated better designs in that regard, but nothing to be worried about. it just means you have to store your life jackets inside in the winter, rather than leave them in the flybridge lockers.

[pbirman]

I have the 36 in a twin (300 hp Yanmar) configuration. We use her in south (east) Florida. She's a great boat with some problems (like all boats). Principal one for us is poor sealing around the window frames and rail stanchions. I think I've gotten most of them with sealent, but the forward starboard window frame is overlapped by the corian countertop which means the water leaks in behind the counter and has proven hard to fix.

I had to stuff the bridge-to-cabin wire duct (on the starboard side) with foam to keep rain water from leaking in, but that fix worked.

Albin came and closed up the outside on-the-hull engine vents and installed new vents on the inside of the cockpit. This happened with the first owner. Apparently they were taking on some water. the change eliminated that.

The boat is stable in the ocean at all speeds (we can get up to 18-19 kts at 3600 rpm, but usually cruise at 16 kts, with the throttles backed off to 3000) A lot depends on the fuel and water load. She is pretty heavy with all the tanks full. We take no spray aboard. In that sense she's a dry boat. We've been out in some pretty big ocean swells and she handles them well. With the autopilot on she tracks straight as an arrow.

Obviously very comfortable. We like the wide side decks and frequently entertain in the cockpit.

Paul

[Mariner]

Paul,

What kind of fuel consumption do you get out of those twins? I find that ours tops out at about 16-17 knots and burns 24gph doing it. This seems unusually high to me. The fuel economy curve looks like a skateboarding ramp; it starts out flat and then curves exponentially up. There is no relief in sight; the faster you go, the less efficient you are. I'm used to boats that plane out and become much more efficient at higher speeds. Is this true of the twin engine boat?

[pbirman]

My fuel burn is about the same as yours. The trawler does not really come up on plane, it just goes incrementally faster as the engine RPMs are increased. In some ways this is a good thing. Unlike a planing boat (for example the 24' Proline walkaround that I also own) where it will plow through the water up to maybe 7, 7.5 kts and then comes up on plane and stabilizes at 22-23 kts and cannot run at any intermediate speed, the Albin is comfortable at all speeds from a 5 kt idle to an 18-20 Kt WOT.

Also unlike some planing boats that hit 25-30 kts and throw spray all over the place, the Albin 33+3 trawler produces a pretty minimal bow-wave at speed. This picture is in the ocean off Palm Beach at maybe 17 kts.

Notice that she appears to be planing, but really she is not.

Paul