New Member - AlanD

[AlanD]

Hey Everyone, I stumbled upon this site in my current quest of preparation for receiving my new 2008 Albin 28 TE Newport Edition. Glad I found you, not so glad on reading some of the scary reports of new Albin ownership! Luckily I am pretty handy I guess. Our boat is being constructed as I write this, and my wife is happily customizing away with the folks there. A funny process, she has been dealing with colors, fabrics, where to mount the first mate’s seat, fold out upper berth stuff, I have been worrying on my Electronics package and making sure the downrigger plates and re-circ bait well was raring to go. I sort of hope it all works now…

Anyway, I look forward to using this forum. We are upgrading from my current boat, a Lund Fisherman 1800 with 115 OB, to this, so a big jump. My wife is very excited to get out there, my kids, well they are not so happy we have to wait for the boat and that we will get limited water time this season.

Alan

[JackK]

Hey Alan,
Welcome aboard. Congratulatons on the new boat.
The items that most people seem to have a problem with on the new boats are more nuisance items rather than shotty workmanship. Just go over the boat carefully at delivery, make a punch list for any minor corrections and have a blast with the new boat.

Jack

[AlanD]

Thanks for that! The boat will be in Cos Cob in a few weeks, then they have a 2-3 week commissioning process on it, before I take ownership. My intent is to work carefully with the folks here and try and capture any and all defects on a punch list. Right now, am in Raymarine discussions with the guys there on what needs to go in, so we can put all this behind us.

[Pitou]

Hey Alan,
Welcome aboard.
" and have a blast with the new boat."
Jack

Ditto. That's what it's all about Enjoy.

[chiefrcd]

Welcome. I think you will love your new boat. Like any other new item; car, house, kid, they all need some close attention for a bit, some tuning and a swift kick in the pants....but all in all I think the Albins are great boats that will take you where you want to go. After last weekend fishing in 20 to 25 knot winds and 4 foot "Chesapeake Chop", I even have more respect for them.

[JackK]

Chief, it wasn't much better up here. Here's a view or lack thereof out the windshield from this past weekend. The wind picked up to 25-35kn and was gusting stronger. It blew the crest off of waves creating this view. The small craft advisory went up pretty quickly.



You always notice the Albin's out on the tough days. I'm still waiting for my pantographic wipers which should improve things.

Jack

[AlanD]

Yes, I used to be one of the small craft running for it when the wind picked up. Now I am glad I got the pantographic wipers with washers.

Alan

[JackK]

Ah so that's where my wipers and washers went

Jack

[Denis]

Could someone explain what pantographic wipers are, please? I have never heard that term before. I have seen that view out my windshield a few times myself, it's quite cozy under the hard top. Thanks, Denis

[JackK]

Easiest description of pantographics wipers is ... remember the wipers on the school buses. Those are pantographics. They have a 2nd pivot point to make them sweep more side to side rather than just on an arc.

Jack

[Mariner]

Congradulations on your new boat purchase. I think you will find with time that the complaints about workmanship speak more about the people making them, than about Albin or the boats themselves.

A semi-custom built boat like an Albin is always going to have quirks. It's not going to be 100% perfect. But I believe that you will generally find that it is a well-built and reliable boat. If you wanted run-of-the-mill, you would have bought a Bayliner.

[jcollins]

AlanD,
Welcome to the board. 2008? Wow. Good for you. Take plenty of pics when you get her.
All the problems you are worrying about will fade away as they are taken care of and when get behind the helm. Going from an ob to the inboard will take adjustment but your gonna love it!

Remember me in a convertible when you pilot house guys are shrugging off those waves. If I'm standing I get hit in the face with that stuff.

[DougSea]

Hi Alan and welcome aboard!

I see you're in Ridgefield, so you're just up the road from me. Where will you be keeping her - I always love checking out other Albins and comparing notes. We're at Sprite Island in season and I keep her at Norwalk Cove over the winter.

Congratulations on the new boat!

[AlanD]

Ahh the "Where do we now keep her?" debate is underway at our household... I think we have landed on the answer though. The remainder of this season, she will be in Stamford at the Prestige Yacht area. This winter, she will be headed up to Westbook to stay there, again at the Prestige area. Next season, we were debating the Stamford/Norwalk area, as it is close. However, we timed the drive from our house to the Stamford slip, and then our house to the Westbrook area, the difference in drive was 30 minutes. This was not the factor though, it is the fishing that is driving us towards Westbrook now, Western Sound is under a lot of stress now with oxygen levels, and we love the bigger water fishing of Plum Gut, The Race, etc... My heart is telling me, she is going up the Westbrook way, and when we were up there, my wife loved the area, which helps.

And of course, if we don't like the area, the beauty of boats is you can pilot her somewhere else!

But a great question to the folks here, any suggestions on good Marina's up that way? As we come right up I-95, I was trying to stay on our side of the CT river.

[TonyAmalfitano]

AlanD,
Check out Marinas.com you might find something there. Welcome aboard!