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An Albin 25 inspirational story

Albin's "power cruisers"
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DesertAlbin736
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Home Port: Peoria, AZ USA

An Albin 25 inspirational story

Post by DesertAlbin736 »

Every once in a while you run across the inspiring story of someone who has done amazing things with an Albin 25. A gentleman by the name of Peter Boldt of Victoria, BC is one of those exceptional folks. Mr. Boldt, who is a 92 year old WW2 veteran of the Royal Canadian Air Force has put his 1974 Albin 25 "Alanje" up for sale recently. He's the original owner of Alanje.

His Craigslist listing can be found here:

http://victoria.craigslist.ca/boa/5508180813.html

A more detailed description is posted on his personal web page here:

http://pmboldt.shawwebspace.ca/

The intro on his home page reads:
This site is dedicated to selling my 25 ft Albin, ALANJE. I have owned ALANJE since new and after some 40 years of having enjoyed many trips and numerous adventures, it is time to pass Her on so someone else can have the opportunity to care for Her, enjoy Her, and love Her, as I have. If you click on PAGES, under INTRODUCTION,you will find a little history about having ALANJE in our lives. Click on SPECIFICATIONS for those. If you look under MODIFICATIONS, you will see pictures and explanations of some of the modifications I have made over the years. The "ODYSEY" which you will also find there, chronicles our adventures travelling down the Mississippi River and up the East Coast into the Great Lakes. I have included under ABOUT ME, a short bio.
About that 'Odysey', which includes doing "The Loop", includes this bit about crossing the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina:
The [ICW] Waterway crosses several large sounds that can be dangerously vicious. In notorious Albemarle we came closer to losing it all than ever before. Not in circumnavigating Vancouver Island did we experience anything like it. We were coming up the Alligator River with 20-30 knot winds whipping up white caps. The swing-span in the long bridge opened to let six pleasure-craft through and clanged shut behind us. Ahead lay the angry sound. Our chart did not show the entry to Little Alligator River, a hurricane hole to the west. The five other vessels carried on to the Virginia Cut. We were anxious to experience the Great Dismal Swamp and veered to Port catching the wind full on the beam. There was no returning. The bridge master refused to open saying the wind was gusting to 55 mph and his orders were to stay closed. The poor fellow came in for considerable abuse over the VHF as others tried to get back into the river.

We carried on and soon lost sight of land as the tempestuous seas mounted, cresting in 10 ft muddy, hissing waves. With a depth of 17 ft the wind energy cannot be absorbed as long swells. The waves are saw-tooth not sinusoidal. They lift you almost straight up and then drop you. One particularly ferocious wave all but laid us over on our side. At this point we donned our life-jackets and tried to quarter the larger crests. It is more through luck than science that we hit the Elizabeth River marker twelve miles away dead on. We were too woozy to kiss the ground when we arrived at Elizabeth City.
Mr. Boldt's post-war civilian career was as a teacher and administrator for middle and high schools, so his writing skills as a story teller are excellent. His "Odysey" page is a long read but worth the time to read all the way through. And, during his trailering over the road he pulled his Albin 25 with a '73 Ford Ranchero with a 400 cubic inch V8 that he bought for $1,550. He doesn't say when this trip was made, but it appears it was some years ago before 9/11 since he mentions the World Trade Center still standing.

Even more impressive is the list of modifications he made made, including hot water heater, cabin heater, and refrigerator.
La Dolce Vita
1971 Albin 25 #736
Yanmar 3GM30F
Gig Harbor Boatworks Nisqually 8 dinghy
Residence: Peoria, AZ
Homeport: Lake Pleasant, AZ & beyond
glk34
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Home Port: Mactaquac New Brunswick Canada
Location: Fredericton New Brunswick

Re: An Albin 25 inspirational story

Post by glk34 »

All I can think is that this is truly amazing.

Iron Jack
kerrye
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Home Port: Denver

Re: An Albin 25 inspirational story

Post by kerrye »

I corresponded with him when I was considering my purchase. His boat no longer has a trailer so I passed. But I loved the story.
DesertAlbin736
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Posts: 2777
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 3:58 pm
Home Port: Peoria, AZ USA

Re: An Albin 25 inspirational story

Post by DesertAlbin736 »

I corresponded with him when I was considering my purchase. His boat no longer has a trailer so I passed.
That and all the red tape & tariffs involved in importing a boat into the US from Canada. Since Albin is Swedish built it's not exempt from import duties under NAFTA rules like any other North American built boat. In that boat's case it would probably be grandfathered in on emissions regs under EPA rules since it had the original 40 year old engine.

Actually I would think the lack of a trailer would be an advantage in that case since one might probably be better off by bringing it across the border by water and clearing customs at Roche Harbor (having made arrangements well in advance), then docking it at Bellingham or Anacortes while you find and buy a trailer locally in the US. That's because importing a trailer from Canada would involve another whole ream of red tape to deal with. Not only that you'd get to do some cruising in the Gulf Islands and San Juans along the way.

His $20,000 CN price is actually $15,350 US at the current exchange rate where $1 US is worth $1.30 Canadian.
La Dolce Vita
1971 Albin 25 #736
Yanmar 3GM30F
Gig Harbor Boatworks Nisqually 8 dinghy
Residence: Peoria, AZ
Homeport: Lake Pleasant, AZ & beyond
kerrye
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Posts: 1022
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2015 1:12 pm
Home Port: Denver

Re: An Albin 25 inspirational story

Post by kerrye »

Not a big deal to import a used boat into the US from Canada. I was considering one in Thunder Bay and talked to the people at the border when I went to look at it. They said, just show us the bill of sale and we'll let you in. That's it.
DesertAlbin736
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Posts: 2777
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 3:58 pm
Home Port: Peoria, AZ USA

Re: An Albin 25 inspirational story

Post by DesertAlbin736 »

Cool!!!
La Dolce Vita
1971 Albin 25 #736
Yanmar 3GM30F
Gig Harbor Boatworks Nisqually 8 dinghy
Residence: Peoria, AZ
Homeport: Lake Pleasant, AZ & beyond
BrookeMarie
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Home Port: Mobile, Alabama

Re: An Albin 25 inspirational story

Post by BrookeMarie »

Inspiring indeed!
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