My 1977 Albin 25 Deluxe rebuild thread

[2manyboats]

I met a couple of A25 owners this summer, one who builds composting toilets. It is small enough to fit in a 25. I'm thinking of converting my system over. 4-6 weeks between dumping the waste would make cruising a lot easier..

Goggle http://downtoearthtoilet.ca composting toilet

Maybe DA is to something, two BBQs one dedicated to the TP. Use only before Happy Hour........

Wayne

[2manyboats]

Sorry for the omission. Fast brain; slow fingers. Glad you found it. I think it looks like a good solution to small holding tanks. Most of my boating is inside the 3 mile limit or fresh water lakes. Being able to adjust a dump-out by a week or more is certainly better than a 20 mile side trip to find a dump station. Maine is probably unique as we have 3500 miles of coast line and I would guess maybe three dozen dump stations.

Wayne

[kerrye]

I notice that the composting toilet requires separate disposal of toilet paper. What's the cost on one of the earth toilets? I carry a second tank for our porta potti so with our porta potti system we could go about two weeks and that's with putting paper in the tank.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skt3NFLxThU

[kerrye]

$699 on their website.

I'd like to find a regular port-potti with separate compartments for urine and feces.

[hetek]

You guys are way "a-head" of me on the porta-potti talk. Get it? Get it? I got a million of 'em!

I have nothing to add except for these pictures. Shows the state of activity at present. I call it hibernation.

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I can still work on the Vetus diesel in my garage over the winter. I have to replace the Hurth gear's output seal and I'll replace the raw water pump impeller and raw water temp sender. Also need to get the fuel tank cleaned and the baffle re-welded.

Like the bears say this time of year: ZZzzzz...

[hetek]

Well, it's the end of March and I'm resuming work again. What have I done?

Removed the gear from the engine (fairly straight forward) and brought it to the local marine engine and transmission repair shop to get it resealed. Evidently, Hurth HBW50 gears have to be 100% disassembled to replace the seals and estimates are in the 4.5 hours labor/$100 parts arena. Ouch! To add, excessive endplay in the input and output shafts have me worried about further internal repairs needed. Double-ouch!

Also took the tank to the local stainless steel tank welding shop to have the baffle rewelded. He said he'll have to cut one end off the tank to get inside, reweld the baffle and then weld the end back on. Good news here is that the tank will be spotless inside when done.

Last, I ordered what I hope to be a very nice setup to ease entry and exit from my boat while it is in progress. Hard to describe so I will let a photo do the the talking for me. It arrives tomorrow and, once assembled, I'll post a picture.

It's only money.

[hetek]

Guys -

PLEASE don't go sideways with the conversation here. I just counted 11 posts in a row related to a head. I am nowhere near tackling that subject yet. A PM to the intended party for further info would be more appropriate.

Don't make me get JT's hijack police on you! 'Nuff said.

[hetek]

Here it is! My new (actually, used) scaffold stairs! Why? Much easier to climb in and out of a boat on a trailer using stairs rather than a step ladder.

First, I put pencil to paper...

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And the finished product...

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This is the area next to my garage that I keep the A25 when working on it. The boat is currently in storage under shrink wrap but it will be coming home soon!

[JT48348]

H: that's really smart design and idea. You won't be disappointed. I've considered something similar, but I can't weld. After doing several boats, there's no doubt the up and down into a boat is a lot of effort and you've solved the problem. Nice job

[hetek]

Thanks, JT!

Actually, no welding is necessary. I did note on the drawing that the "starter bar" under the first step was to be cut and rewelded but it's really not necessary.

I just went to a scaffolding website, looked at all the frames and fittings, drew up a plan and bought what would do the trick.

And, yes, in my years of climbing up and down step ladders, getting in and out of boats, I have actually slipped and fallen twice. I'm older now and don't think I'd heal as fast as before. Easy on the legs and feet and with two hand rails... I'll consider it "health insurance".

[hetek]

Wow! Two months? Time flies when you're... well, time flies.

Progress report:

The baffle in the fuel tank had broken loose. Took it to a marine tank fabricator and had the baffle rewelded in place. $200. Bonus is it included a tank cleaning and a pressure test.

Hurth gear is in the shop for a reseal. Still waiting on the verdict.

Got some engine parts from the UK for the Vetus diesel. My Holland source would not ship to the USA so I had to go with the UK source. A little pricier but I got what I needed.

And... drum roll...

We have cockpit floor framing!

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And... cockpit floor!

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Next project: Drop the rudder and pull the prop shaft. Very necessary!

[hetek]

Today's progress:

As promised, pulled the coupler from the shaft (it fought me every inch), removed the stuffing box (it was already loose), pulled the steering arm from the rudder post (easy), dropped the rudder (surprisingly easy) and then extracted the shaft with prop from the hull, rearward.

That is, until the shaft with prop hit the fence behind the boat. I must only have 6" further to go but it just won't make it. And... my daughter took my Jeep for the day so my tow vehicle is nowhere near to pull the trailer forward those 6". Tomorrow is another day.

Next project: Rework the bunks and rollers on the trailer. Just not happy with the way she sits on it now. Would like to try to get a couple more inches road clearance in the process.

[sail149]

Re warehouse ladder, nice build for the ladder, I bought one used on Craig's list for about $120, the sell by the number of steps, mine is I think 12 steps. So much easier than a ladder, you can have things fairly safely in both hands as you walk , not climb up! New they get expensive but if you buy used you will never regret it and when your done sell it for what you paid for it to the next boat guy! Cheers Warren.

[sail149]

Hi jon , I was looking thru your thread and saw the Ventus engine you have. As you say it's based on the Mitsubishi tractor engines. You may or may not know but there is a 2 and 3 cyl version of this engine. I'm not sure what parts you were looking for , probably the maranization parts so you will have to get Ventus parts but you may not know that westerbeke still use the 2 and 3 cyl Mitsubishi for their smallest engines , also Sole diesel from Spain as well. ( I have a 1991 2 cyl westerbeke in a small boat) But when you look at them the maranization parts are quite different.
Ventus particularly seem to make a lot of changes.
Interestingly Ventus used the Peugeot base for a 4 cyl diesel ( same as 4D61) , as did Volvo (MB21a) , but the different maranization makes them really hard to recognize.
Anyway Westerbeke web site have great diagrams on how to rig up a Diesel engine some of which you might find useful for reference.
Cheers, Warren
Ps feel free to delete if this post is off subject.

[hetek]

No worries, Warren. The Vetus is a great little motor from what I've seen so far. Now if it was only in the boat...

The parts I bought were the cooling water temp sensor, an impeller kit with gaskets, oil and fuel filters, spare keys,... stuff like that. I went through the parts catalog front to back and made a list.

Vetus in Holland didn't offer the US as valid shipping address. The Vetus distributor in the UK was fine with it though. Strange.

I've since found some NAPA auto parts that cross reference for the oil and fuel filters. I'll save them for next year.