Ahoy all (looking for A25)

[mikesrobinson]

Hello,
We currently own a 1974 Cal Cruising 35 ketch in Richmond, California. I am prepping her to sell and in the market for an Albin 25, preferably in good shape with a roadworthy trailer. We are life long sailors and retired now so we are looking to some cruising on a small trawler.
Cheers

[DesertAlbin736]

Welcome aboard sailors! My wife & I transitioned from a wing keel Catalina 25 to our A25 six years ago and it opened up a whole new world for us (see BoatUS Magazine February/March issue). However be prepared to expand your search far beyond the Bay Area, as these boats are few & far between. They are all essentially antiques, the newest ones I've ever seen or heard of were 1978 model years. Patience, grasshopper.

[nebulatech]

Welcome Mike!

As DesertAlbin says, A25's are few and far between. Finding one in great shape is going to be more of a challenge.

There is an A25 in Wilmington, NC right now for a decent price, assuming the new motor is not underpowered. There are mixed opinions on the matter. I cant weigh in personally. This boat, like most A25's, has had owner "improvements" over the years which might not suite your taste. Of course, you already have a classic yacht. I expect you're prepared for that.

I've heard Cal has a good reputation. I've no doubt she will sell quickly. I had not heard of a ketch version (I am a fan of ketches), and I could not find an actual photo. If you have some handy, I would love to see her. I did find a sail plan drawing. Looks like a solid performer!

[mikesrobinson]

Thanks for both your inputs! I’ve seen lots of photos of A25 improvements. Looks great. Originally started looking at Nimble Nomads but my wife did not like. The A25 looks like a good fit for us. I haven’t figured out how to post photos here so I included our blog below. Lots of photos (and history) in the photo gallery. There weren’t many Cruising 35s built. Mine is the only ketch version I’ve seen.
Cheers

http://www.sailblogs.com/member/eleanormay/

[WillieC]

Welcome aboard, mikesrobinson. We may call you Mike.

We were in Monterey a few summers back and were wandering around the perimeter of the big marina there when I spotted an A25 among the masts. One develops an eye for these old boats. It looked sadly unused, not quite neglected, not dark yet...but it's getting there.

Not particularly helpful, other than once you know how to spot them, they almost jump out at you. It is my understanding that these A25s were originally imported to SF and fanned out from there. Many ended up in BC. The Bay area must be hiding a decent number.

What with how marinas are mostly locked up tighter than (fill in your own metaphor), one can rarely wander leisurely about marina piers. Something lost and some things gained, for sure. These boats are still out there and not all of them make it to Clist. If you ever get out of your house again, visit the marinas and keep your eyes peeled. Take your binocs.

[mikesrobinson]

Thanks all. I did look at the CL ad for the A 25 in Wilmington. A bit more of a project than I am looking for. I have rebuilt 4 boats (it's a disease). Too bad the PO sawed off the coach roof. Trying to discipline myself to do more cruising than rebuilding. I didn't know these boats were originally imported to SF Bay Area. Very interesting. I've been sailing SF Bay since 1973 but didn't paid much attention to power boats. There's some hope for finding something on the West Coast. We have family in SC and spend time there every year so East Coast is certainly a possibility. We may even want to tackle the Great Loop. Monterey, hmmm We'll have to trip a trip to Santa Cruz, Monterey. Thank again for your feedback.
Cheers,
Mike

[DesertAlbin736]

Monterey, hmmm We'll have to trip a trip to Santa Cruz, Monterey. Thank again for your feedback.
Cheers

How I found our boat: 2012 we were thinking along the same lines as you. Surfed the usual sites like Yachtworld & Boattrader & Phoenix CL. Found ad for this local boat, a 1977 A25 DeLuxe. Had never heard of Albin 25 before and was only vaguely aware of Albin Vega sailboats.

Albin (1280x960).jpg

This one was on a trailer in an RV storage yard in El Mirage, AZ (west side of metro Phoenix). Owned by two older gentleman in partnership who had decided to sell rather than go forward with it. It had been recently repowered with a newer 40 HP Volvo. I don't recall now what model engine it was, but they'd had to do some surgery on the engine box to make it fit. We went as far as using my truck (seen at right in this photo) to take it up to the lake for a check ride. They wanted $17K which at the time we thought was pretty outrageous for a 35 year old boat, but whatever. We got it out on the water but that was the first time it had been out since the new engine installation which had been done by a shop in San Diego. Well, it vibrated so badly we couldn't go above idle speed, probably misaligned. Naturally that kind of spooked us. Beyond that it needed upholstery and canvas work and didn't have a holding tank. Also the galley had been cut out to fit in a nice Hiller propane two burner stove with oven, but no proper solenoid valves, vented propane locker, etc. It had radar, but was an old unit & none of the electronics were hooked up or working. In all it would have been easy to drop another $3K into it right from the get-go. Owner's wouldn't lower their asking price by more than $1,000, so we said thanks but no thanks & walked away. Two weeks later it sold to an out of stater & the last we ever saw of it.

However, that stoked my interest in the type & so I kept looking & researching. Meanwhile we sold our sailboat the next year in 2013 while I was recovering from a head injury incurred from a ladder fall (spent 4 days in ICU, could have killed me but I'm tough). The search for another Albin involved checking CL city by city, state by state for the next year. Finally in March of 2014 found a listing on Seattle CL but was actually located in Idaho. At the time could only find two other listings in the US, one in Texas and the other in Florida. There were also a couple of project boats without trailers up in BC. We went up there to Idaho to see it & bought it without being able to take it out for a test run, since their local lake was still closed for the winter season. The ad listing showed this among other photos. It was literally a "barn find", since the owner lived way out in farm country near American Falls, ID (almost like the final scene in the Tom Hanks movie "Cast Away") & had a big barn that he stored it in. Those folks had obtained the boat in 2001 from an estate sale in Ontario, Canada and trailered it all the way back to Idaho. The late Canadian owner had taken it to Florida & back during the 1990s. So it was an 850 mile drive each way to go get it & bring it home from Idaho, roughly equivalent to the distance between San Diego & Medford, OR.

Albin rear starboard 2.jpg

On Monterey, I'd been out there three times to sail fun races, aka "Cruiser Challenge", in 2002, '03, & '05, sponsored by Small Craft Advisor magazine (aka SCA) and the Potter Yachter club of Oakland. If you're from California and a long time sailor you've probably heard of Jerry Montgomery and Montgomery sailboats. Between 2001 & 2005 I owned a Montgomery 15 that I raced off Monterey besides also taking it back east to sail Chesapeake Bay & out to Catalina Island from Marina Del Rey. My boat was a 1980 model, the 2nd M15 ever made. Someone snapped this photo of me which Jerry used for several years in classified ads for his rigging service that he ran regularly in SCA magazine.

IMG_0805.JPG

Of course it's a crazy time right now to be boat shopping, but keep looking, you'll find one sooner or later.

Good luck!

[mikesrobinson]

DesertAlbin 736,
Thanks for the story and the pics! We had similar experience finding our Cal Cruising 35. After several trips up and down the state as well as trips to Mexico and a failed negotiation on a sister ship we found our boat in a next door marina. There were only about 110 Cal Cruising 35s built so I am encouraged that there was a run of about 2,000 A25s. Odds are promising.
We raced many years on SF Bay, once on Chesapeake Bay. I am familiar with Montgomery, especially the dinghy. Cool boats. I did crew on a friend's 18 ft Mercury on Monterey Bay. Now we're looking forward to some small trawler cruising,
Thanks again for your encouraging story and pictures.
Cheers,
MIke