For DesertAlbin

[kerrye]

I’m sure you’ll recognize this

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[DesertAlbin736]

Sure, the ramp at Seneca Lake State Park! So you're doing the Erie Canal this year? Cool! Have a great time & post lots of pictures!

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[DesertAlbin736]

PS, don't know which direction you're heading, but if you happen to head west & pass the Mid Lakes Marina in Macedon, look for this boat named "Flicka"....

[kerrye]

Probably west. We are hanging out at the Seneca Lake Marina for a few days while I finish installing the solar for the frig. Also waiting for my BIL to get his boat in the water

[DesertAlbin736]

Cool! If you get as far as Fairport you've also got to check out the lift bridge. It's a hoot to watch that go up & down & hear the loud metal-on-metal squeaks & squeals. It's like giant fingernails on a chalk board. It's also a very low bridge & if you go beyond it (which we didn't because Fairport was our turn around point) would have to be raised even for an Albin 25 to pass under it. Uphill from the dock at Lyons you can get showers at the firehouse. Free, but donations are welcome. I wish I'd thought of asking the owner of Flicka in Macedon for contact info, but alas I didn't think to. Facilities at the Newark dock are nice also. Lock passes may be free this year, but the locks close at 5PM & the lock masters go home. If you don't make it to a lock by 5 you have to tie up at a town dock overnight & wait until the next morning.

We stayed our first night at Stivers across the channel from the park marina. They were supposed to have canal passes on sale there but they had run out. Guess that doesn't matter this year with fees waived. That large aft cabin motor yacht you see across the way in the photo was a Carver, not an Albin. They do look similar to an Albin 34 without a flybridge.

The Admiral had a great time at the helm. We found the best way to do lock transits was for me to be up on the foredeck with at boat hook as we entered a lock & while she steered over to the side. I'd snag a bow line with the hook, hold on & walk that back to where I could reach a stern line with the hook. Then the Admiral would leave the engine running in neutral & come up on deck & I'd hand off the stern line to her & we'd hold the lines while the water level went up or down as the case may be.

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The town dock at Fairport on the south bank of the canal was the only place that charged for tie ups. Every dock we stopped at had shore power & water.

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We also found having large 'basketball' fenders & a fender board were useful for some of the rough concrete lock walls.

[tribologist]

Just noticed that La Dolce Vita has hull number 736 and our hull number on Driftless is 737. The interesting part is that mine supposedly is a -70 while La Dolce Vita is a -71.

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[tribologist]

LOL!! just digged through some papers and found an email from 2004 when it was old from NC to a guy in Boston. He listed it as a 1971. My registration show it as a 1970

[DesertAlbin736]

I'm back after a long 2 month road trip to launch from Blaine, WA on the 49th parallel border & cruise to Desolation Sound. Had trouble logging on & posting from my smart phone, but that's another story. Lots to catch up on at home, yard work, mail, download photos, etc, but we're getting there.

Anyway, there's a table of hull numbers & corresponding model/production years on the Albineeers of BC site. (we hung out with a few of their members at a rendezvous in Ladysmith, BC on Vancouver Island during the weekend of July 21st, SIX Albin 25's, including Willie C & La Dolce Vita docked at the same marina). The 1971 model year ran from hull #665 to 1126. 1970 was hull numbers 143 to 664. That's quite an impressive output, 519 hulls in 1970 and 461 boats rolled out the door in 1971. That's an average of 9.4 boats per week over that 2 year period, almost two per day in a 5 day work week.. These early boats also mean the molds were fresh.

http://www.albinbc.com/home/albin-25-history

Here's our brass name plate.

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[DesertAlbin736]

By the way, this is a rough course track we did in Desolation. On the way back we went down into the San Juans for a few days, stopping at Fossil Bay on Sucia Island, Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, and FIshermans Bay on Lopez Island, not shown on this sketch map.

Haven't totaled up the miles yet, but we put 120 hours on the engine at between 5 & 7 knots depending on current. All that on about 45 gallons of fuel.

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[kerrye]

Nice tracks