Intro. 1975 Albin Fisherman

[Coasties]

Retired U. S. Coast Guard. Bought 1975 Albin Fisherman this past summer. Looking to rebuild or repower volvo engine. Has 2008 trailer. Maryland. Chris

[WillieC]

Welcome aboard, Coasties! What engine is currently installed? My guess is MD17C with MS transmission, the one with seawater cooling to the transmission. I am in the process of refreshing a 17C. There are many factors in figuring out which way you want to go, starting with cold hard cash availability. After that it gets personal. Having just purchased a 1975 boat, you sort of gave yourself away. PM me, or check out some of my ramblings here. I have a few thoughts on this subject.

[Coasties]

Thanks WillieC. Mine has the MD3B. The previous owner let the boat sit on the trailer and some rain water got in the bilge and engine. Was in running condition before that. Not sure where to start yet. He bought it in California and purchased a brand new trailer in 2008 a d brought it to the East Coast.

[WillieC]

My 1973 A25 DeLuxe, non-fisherman, also has the MD3B. It ran well enough for a newbie like me to think it had lots of life still in it. We motored it down over three days from Bellingham to Port Orchard when we bought it a few years back. Then I spent considerable time checking it out, upgrading the wiring, alternator and batts. And finding out what is considered normal maintenance. On saltwater. Our boat also came with a spare, allegedly low hour engine, so I didn't worry too much about the installed engine. I kept pushing the engine to see if it was up to multiple week travelling and found out very quickly it wasn't. Important information. And now I am refreshing the shiny painted spare engine, the 17C, that has way more than 2000 hours or a very poor maintenance history. But shiny new paint.

You have your hands full there. The consensus is that these engines are very hardy, but the individual degree of deferred maintenance and just plain neglect of these engines makes every one very unique. What I am trying to say is I hope you are lucky! I am happy to walk you through anything I might be able to help you with. These are simple engines and you can usually tell pretty quickly what kind of shape they are in.

[DesertAlbin736]

Welcome aboard Coasties! Chesapeake Bay covers a wide area. Where in particular? This Albin Fisherman you have is that the A25 without the aft cabin?? To rebuild or repower is a a good question cost wise. Whether to put money into fixing up an old engine or upgrade to something newer is a big decision. You also have to look at cost & availability of spare parts for the Volvo vs something else, like a Beta (based on a marinized Kubota tractor engine), or something like a Yanmar.

[Coasties]

Thanks for your reply! I am near the Magothy River....near Annapolis. Got her in my driveway right now....super nice trailer so that helps a ton! yes...it is the Fisherman model ... 25... without aft cabin. Finding out this is a really rare model. Coasties (Chris).

[Coasties]

WillieC was a huge help yesterday with engine ideas since she ran within the last 2 years and has just over 2000 hours so I am hoping to get the MD3B running again.

[DesertAlbin736]

My late parents moved to Sussex County, DE from Upstate NY after they retired in the '80s, long after I had moved to Arizona. I made many visits to Southern Delaware over the years before they passed away, flying into BWI & crossing the Bay bridge on 50 over to 404 to Bridgeville & down 13 to their home in Laurel. The two times I got to do some Chesapeake cruising was in the middle bay in the area between St. Michaels, Cambridge, & Oxford on the Eastern Shore, and Solomons & the Patuxent River on the Western Shore, as well as the Nanticoke River from Blades, DE down to Vienna & Bivalve, MD. First time was when I hauled a Montgomery 15 pocket cruiser sailboat from AZ to DE & put in at Fishing Creek on Hooper's Island in 2002 & sailed over to Solomons, and lastly with the Albin 25 in 2015 launching from Blades marina on the Nanticoke. Wonderful place for boating & fishing.

[2manyboats]

Congrats on the new boat. I was lucky enough to find a 25FC with a new Beta 38. I love the engine and believe that these hulls are so well built they will probably be one of the few boats to make it into the next century. Hopefully your volvo will easily come back to life, but DA and WillieC, are right on about parts becoming harder to find and expensive in the long run. You might consider parting out your engine, Transmission etc which could cover 10-15% of the cost of a new Beta.

Wayne