1998 Albin 28 TE

[rangoons]

Hello,
I am looking at a 98 Albin in the Boston Area. New Yanmar 310 with 35 hours. The boat looks clean. 1.) can anyone suggest a good surveyor in the area? and 2.) Other than the new seating and the flush deck engine box are there any major differences on the newer models? Thanks in advance for any help.

[Denis]

I used Capt. Jay Michaud to do my survey two years ago. He did a very complete survey I thought. Don't be afraid to ask all the questions you might have and tell him where you want him to be very thorough.
His phone # is 781-639-0001 or 671-549-8080. He is in the Marblehead Mass. area.

[rangoons]

Thanks so much. Does he check engines also?

[jcollins]

Rangoons,
I'm one of the skeptics around here...
Have you discussed with the owner why this boat only has 35 hours? Is it a new engine? If so, did he replace other parts when he put the new engine in?

[jcollins]

Welcome to the board by the way!

[chiefrcd]

I don't think they put Yanmars in until 99...at least thats all I could find after a year of searching. Just find out who did the repower and make sure it was done right....along with the survey. I would be especially interested in the transmission, is it new too, the alignment? Did they have to re make the mounts? Did they change the prop to go along with the new engine?? Yanmar post the performance spec's on their website...I'd make sure that the engine performed to factory specifications.

Nothing wrong with a re-power as long as it's done right...

[rangoons]

Thanks for the comments. The original engine was a Peninsula. The block cracked after 600 hours. A new transmission was installed with the engine. I am purchasing from the second owner who had the repladcement done. I will check if the prop was replaced also. Can airconditioning be installed aftermarket and does anyone have an idea what it might cost?

[Tuxedo]

Air conditioning can definitely be added after market, because that's the way we did it when I was selling the boats. We saved a little money over the factory price, and were sure the job was done right.

Can't give you a current cost, but 60 - 70% of the factory list price is probably in the ballpark.

We used the Cruisaire self-contained units. Albin would put a 9,000 BTU unit, and I would always bump it up to at least 12,000.

[SpaceCoaster]

Rangoons,

Regarding your question about installing an air conditioning system in the Albin 28. This year I replaced the AC unit in my 28TE. The boat had a 5000BTU unit when I bought it. It worked during the survey at purchase, but quit the next time I had the occasion to use it (figures). In any case, I replaced it with a Mermaid Marine 5,200 BTU unit.

(http://mermaidmarineair.com/default.asp?hm=1)

The materials cost me around $1500 and I did the install myself; it's really straightforward if you're doing a replacement. Otherwise you need a thru-hull for the raw water cooling.

With 5200 BTU the cabin cools down nicely; even here in central Florida. Of course, more is better so if your budget can handle it, I'd say go with a larger unit. Best of luck to you.

And... For whatever it's worth I recommend Mermaid. So far so good with my AC unit. Their customer service was excellent. You can call them and they'll put a knowledgeable technician on the line almost every time. Also, I believe they have a 5 year warranty on the compressor.

[chiefrcd]

I checked my AC and it's a 10000 BTU, and you could hang meat in the boat on the hottest day of the year. I run mine 24 hours a day when I'm on the boat ( two or three days a week), never had any issues except stopping up the strainer with nettles...I solved that by hooking up a tee to use the dock water when the nettles are at their worst. AC is a life saver and I'm sure I would not use my boat any where as much if I did not have it.....spoiled I guess.