A25 aft cabin in the way of fishing....

[SiggiJo]

I do a lot of fishing on my A25 and as she is now, space is limited. My aft cabin is slowly filling with all kinds of junk and as there are normally just the two of us, it´s highly unlikely that more than two people would need to ever sleep onboard. So I have decided that next summer´s project is removing the aft cabin for some extra deck space.

As this is a fair bit of surgery, I´m curious if any of you guys have done this? I´m used to working with fiberglass and wood so the project does not scare me that much, but it would be nice to hear from anyone who has either done this or is thinking about doing so. I have seen photos of the A25 Fisherman but they are rare and as I already have my boat and have done a lot of work on her so far, I would like to hang onto her and do the conversion myself.

Throwing in a couple of photos taken last Sunday - showing off our catch and the new helm seats I just installed....

[dkirsop]

Nice job on the upgrades and seat install! A former Albin owner on the island here did a fisherman conversion. Like you he was a talented worker and it cam out looking great. He sold it 6 years ago so no photos available. In my opinion, a modification worth doing if you have the skills to pull it off. Good luck and post us on your progress!

[Dieselram94]

Love how brute your interior is!!! Is your cooktop part of the sink? Looks as if it’s all one unit in the picture.

[SiggiJo]

Thanks guys. It´s going to be one big gaping hole back there when I´m done with the angle grinder.... Would like to utilize the space under the gunwales so need to fabricate some enclosed storage. I have a couple of folding bicycles that need to find a home onboard, as well as my fishing gear. I have already installed a 50 liter fuel tank under the aft floor and I need that to stay in place.

Regarding the cooktop, my Albin was in a bit of neglect when I bought her and some of the galley timber was rotting away. I did not need or like the gimballed cooker as it took up far too much space in the little galley so I found a sink & two gas burner combo that fitted nicely on the countertop and rebuilt the galley. The interior is nowhere near to be finished - is a project boat ever fully "finished"? Don´t think so That´s a part of the enjoyment.....

[honza]

You probably do not need a grinder much, some kind of a sawzall, or even a jigsaw with a proper blade should do and it makes less dust. But I would give some thought to the contribution of the aft cabin roof, the bulkhead and the cockpit sides to the integrity and stiffness of the whole boat. There are plenty of structurally sound aft cockpit fishing boats, which were designed to be that way, on the market - center cockpit boats of the A25 style are few and rare.

[SiggiJo]

So right about the grinder making dust and that jig or sawzall would be more appropriate - thanks for the tip! To be honest, I´m not too concerned about the structural integrity as these were layed up quite thick and no big outboard or outdrive putting strain on the transom. When I´m done with this, I should have the best of both worlds - good cabin space up front and finally enough aft deck space to move around when needed.....

[WillieC]

There are pictures of the original fisherman's model floating around somewhere in the ether. Do keep us posted of your progress.

[Dieselram94]

Thanks guys. It´s going to be one big gaping hole back there when I´m done with the angle grinder.... Would like to utilize the space under the gunwales so need to fabricate some enclosed storage. I have a couple of folding bicycles that need to find a home onboard, as well as my fishing gear. I have already installed a 50 liter fuel tank under the aft floor and I need that to stay in place.

Regarding the cooktop, my Albin was in a bit of neglect when I bought her and some of the galley timber was rotting away. I did not need or like the gimballed cooker as it took up far too much space in the little galley so I found a sink & two gas burner combo that fitted nicely on the countertop and rebuilt the galley. The interior is nowhere near to be finished - is a project boat ever fully "finished"? Don´t think so That´s a part of the enjoyment.....

Where did you find that combo cooktop sink unit? I currently am missing the cooktop in mine and trying to decide what to replace it with. How big was your gimbaled unit?

[SiggiJo]

"Where did you find that combo cooktop sink unit? I currently am missing the cooktop in mine and trying to decide what to replace it with. How big was your gimbaled unit?"

I found the cooktop sink unit on eBay in the UK and it was the perfect size for the new galley. Dunno the measurements on the old one, but it was taking up far too much space and I don´t need an oven anyway. I think you can find these easily in likes of RV stores......