Albin 36 Express Trawler - opinions on seakeeping abilities?

[AnalogMan]

Hello everyone,

I'm shopping for my next boat (#14 in my life, and being on the wrong side of 60, probably my last boat), and am looking at a 36 Express Trawler with twin engines.

I would greatly appreciate any opinions and experiences on the seakeeping abilities of this boat. In particular, if anyone might have any comments regarding the suitability of the boat for New England and coastal Maine waters.

I've often heard the advice of 'just don't go out when it's rough'. I never would, but in my nearly 50 years of boating, I've found the problem is often not the weather one chooses to go out in, but what one is inadvertently caught out in. Weather can change quickly and sea conditions can often go from good to not so good faster than one can imagine. Safety is my top priority, and I would be grateful to hear any thoughts as to what this model is like if caught out in some of the nastiness that can be encountered in coastal New England waters.

Also, where was this model built? RI, China, or somewhere else?

Thank you!

[WillieC]

Welcome AnalogMan! Wrong side of 60 and last boat?? Sounds like seaworthiness wouldn't be an issue to one who really thinks that way. I, too, have heard the advice, 'just don't go out when it's rough' and have found that you will spend way too much time too close to home if you follow it. Sure, you have to pick windows, but things change quickly, even here on the Puget Sound.

I'll be following your posts closely. You have much to contribute with your experience and sensibility. Good luck on your search. Welcome!

[joreyn]

Blue Moon, my 1999 36 ET is very seaworthy. Like any twin engine boat, it can be a little squirrelly in a following sea, but I have my autopilot tuned up to respond quickly to yawing motion, which seems to do the trick usually.

We cruise all around Puget Sound, and on up to the Broughton Archipelage which is about 350 miles as the crow flies. We have several stretches of open water with potentially rough seas. We also have to deal with tidal rapids, Blue Moon does just fine in all of those conditions. The hull is basically a lobster boat hull which is a proven hull form for the N.E.

Besides being able to handle rough water, the walk around decks with gunwales and stout handrails at waist height add a measure of safety.

I don't go out on really rough days on purpose, and I usually have a plan for where to tuck in if the weather is bad. But like Willie says, sometimes the bad weather catches you in mid voyage and you just get to deal with it. I used to own a 32 Grand Banks. It did NOT handle rough weather well and I purposely bought the 36 ET to solve that problem.

[joreyn]

Also, the 36 ET was built in Rhode Island.

[AnalogMan]

joreyn, thank you for sharing your observations, I appreciate it. I'm not very familiar with the Albin 36 ET (other than knowing that they exist), and your real world experiences are very helpful.

WillieC, thank you for your kind words, but I'm no expert. I've just been messing around with boats for a long time, making lots of stupid mistakes along the way. I (always) have much to learn, and I try to not repeat the same mistakes (it's much more interesting to make new ones).

We used to live near Puget Sound for several years (in Oregon) and just moved back to the east coast. It's a breathtakingly beautiful part of the world. One of my (many) regrets is not having done more boating there while we lived in the area.

Thanks again!

[AK_Albin36]

Welcome to the group. I've had my 2004 36ET powered with a single Cat 450 for 7 years, and it has seen some pretty rough weather, so happy to share my experiences with you. Its first trip under my ownership was from San Francisco to Seward Alaska (2400 nm). About half of that distance was offshore on overnight passages. Max conditions were 35 knots with 15 foot steep seas, and we saw that twice. Once off the coast of Washington and once in the Gulf of Alaska. No power boat will take those conditions on the beam. Pushing into it, you'd be lucky to make 2 knots ahead. So, realistically we are talking downwind performance (beam reach to dead downwind). I was impressed. Mine is a single screw so has a 5 foot deep skeg in front of the prop, which helps tracking on the downhill side of waves quite a bit. I say steep, because we were in 200-400 feet of water both times, so the waves were feeling the bottom and we were surfing on every wave. The autopilot handled the conditions quite well. We had enough rpms on to do 8-9 knots in flat conditions, but were moving between 5-17 knots with the waves. More power (30-50%) seemed to keep us on track and smooth things out vs. trying to slow down. Exhilarating is not a bad description. I was comfortable with the way the boat was handling it. We tried one night to push her upwind through 25 knots and 12 feet seas, but ended up turning around in the Gulf of Alaska and heading back downwind, which became the second 35/15 surfing experience (good decision credited to my wife). Can't promise the twin screw will handle the surfing conditions as well as the single.
So, in summary..... the 36ET's limits in my opinion are:
Upwind 25 knots 8 ft seas
Beam 20 knots 6 foot seas
Downwind 35 knots 15 ft seas (single screw)

[AnalogMan]

AK_Albin36, thank you! Your observations and comments are especially relevant, detailed, and helpful. I appreciate it!

[Govino]

Analogman & fellow 36ET owners,
I've only had ours (twin engine also) for a few months and just a couple trips through stiff cross winds and decent swells. She handles so well, steering both manually and with auto-pilot, but your previous posts here confirm what I would expect in rougher seas. Good luck with your shopping Analog.