rough around the edges Albin 25

[DesertAlbin736]

Yeah, we didn't have a really good means at hand to carve the piece. A router or a set of carving chisels would have been nice. Tried carving with a pocket knife which didn't really work well. Ended up using a Sharpie. I actually found the piece of driftwood along the edge of Unwin Lake on a hike up from Tenados Bay in Desolation Sound last year.

I trust you saw the abandoned Jeep pickup on Wallace?

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[ssrig]

Yup, passed that almost everyday. I think I explored every square inch of that island!

[ssrig]

From day one with this boat I have wanted to re do the cockpit floor, at some point a PO had used Starboard and it has not stood up very well. Besides not holding its shape and deforming it was like walking on goo.

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Even the 3/4" plywood that sits under the helm was sad and delaminating so it was time!

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Cut out the panels ....

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and wanted no deflection and more strength so stringers were epoxied on the underside.

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The stringers did not work as expected so were removed, instead another layer of ply was epoxied on and that had the desired effect, solid!

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The ply is solid but the floor joists were now the weak link.
This piece ran along the engine and had up to 3/4" of Starboard and wood screwed on to semi level the floor sort of, the cross piece had rotted and decomposed where it was in contact with fibreglass and had sunk down so did little for support, also connection points were sagging due to only being attached on one side.

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Additional brackets added.

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It was gooped up good to slow down rot, ready to go in.

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Feels great to walk on there now! I am not sure what will go on top yet, I did purchase some faux teak and holly flooring so maybe that? For now all the panels are epoxy coated and good enough for this year.

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[WillieC]

Looking good, Yves. I also tore the whole framework apart under the helm and beefed it up. Fortunately I was able to re-use all the floor board pieces. Any hunk of wood that goes in the WillieC gets spar varnish on all sides and edges. Your epoxy job should outlast the boat.

I just went through this post, again, which brings back such great memories. We were planning on going to Malibu this summer but that didn't happen. Thanks for your great pictures. You mentioned a photo storage site, I forget which. Could you post a link?

Thanks! I hope we meet again sooner than later.

[ssrig]

Thanks WillieC! Be sure to get in touch when you head up this way.

Sent you a PM

[DesertAlbin736]

I just went through this post, again, which brings back such great memories.

I second that emotion! Wishing we were back there now. Just hitting 38* C here at home (100 F) at 1:30 PM local time on the way to 103 F, which is actually a bit below normal for this time of year.

The new boards look nice. A25's are always a work in progress which is half the fun. Lucky for us the original boards & joists are still sound. Painted ours in beige with Rustoleum marine deck paint, close match to the gelcoat colour. Something like dkirsops would be nice but don't want to spend that kind of money.

We'll miss you guys at Ladysmith this year. Give my regards.

Our east coast plans noted in an earlier post on this thread and in fact all summer boating plans except maybe the fall for local lake boating have been postponed until at least next year due to all the COVID craziness.

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[ssrig]

Well DA I dont think you would like it here yet, we got back early from Mexico and had a great April, sunny and warm for almost three weeks but since then its been pretty cold and very rainy! We are calling it Junuary!

[ssrig]

When I removed the Racor fuel filter from the cross joist to put in the new cross joist I hefted this big heavy booger welded contraption out of there and replaced it with an aluminum mount that works better, it was previously mounted so low I couldn't get anything under the filter to drain it, about an inch from the prop shaft!

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Lighter, stronger , faster.....we can rebuild it! (direct from the million dollar man!)

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The head that came with the boat did not work, just too old and leaky with too many parts needed to get it to work so it was removed. We use a porta potty in the aft cabin and that works well for us so it got tossed out of the boat literally! It survived the tossing with only slight damage and has been relegated to "left in the bush to fend for itself"
With it out of the way I capped off the thru hull outlet with a bronze cap and laid a piece of ply over the messy holes and stained ply and botched up another shelf above that so the head has been relegated to a storage area. Had to make it accommodate the cockpit table too.

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I removed the impeller last fall for storage and to inspect it, it was not too bad, one vane torn part way across, a new one was going in and I was not looking forward to installing it, the engine takes up so much space that I only have 2.5 inches ahead of the pump. Here is a pic of a bunch of stuff tucked in so that no bolts fall into the abyss under the engine! I did drop a wrench down there five minutes prior to this!

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It went in fine just awkward.

Tightened up the alt belt too, again very tight in there and when I was trying to torque up the bottom big main bolt it just wouldn't tighten up?? What the? Did I strip it? What? Nope, there was the other end of the bolt that was not visible, I just assumed the bolt threaded into the case? Which I have never seen ever.....

[WillieC]

Looks like you have the newer (DeLuxe) model where the front of the engine doesn't have the hinged door that opens the whole world up. I made an opening in that cabinet on the other side of the wall that it looks like you could benefit from. Pics might be on my MD17C thread.

Also you need a good magnet on a telescoping stick. Plan on dropping ONLY ferrous items under the engine.

[ssrig]

Well oddly enough I have just finished reading your thread! And yes it is a Deluxe with no access to the front of the engine, and yesterday I was in the boat looking at how to expose more of it by removing the shelf unit and cutting a hole and you already did that! Funny! Great write up with a good dose of humour. Well done!

Looks like you have less room in front than I do so I wont complain any more and I will suck it up.
I do have a telescoping magnet with a rubber cap on it and that was how I got my wrench back but even with that it can be difficult, I took a picture with my phone to see where it was and then got the magnet close enough to engage. There certainly isn't much room under the oil pan either.

[ssrig]

Next up was the fridge trim. The shelf that sits above the fridge was going to be too wide so I couldn't just throw that on, I had to cut it back so that the fridge lids would lift high enough. The shelf came apart ok.

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Cut down and gooped up.

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Also when the fridge was rolled out to full extension I felt that it was not solid feeling enough so some angle brackets were added under the slides. Keeping in with my frugal ways I re use bits and pieces all the time, these were from a construction site where they had just cut out stair treads so I grabbed a few. No fancy wood here! Douglas firhogany.

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Good enough!

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[ssrig]

OK, quiz time...
What is this and where did it come from? (sorry about the weird picture angle)

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What is this and where is it?

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The winner of the quiz gets a used original Albin 25 faux mahogany cooler in not very good shape. (pick up only)

[WillieC]

"OK, quiz time...
What is this and where did it come from?"

AN ORIGINAL A25 DELUXE SWIM STEP!!! Just when we thought they were extinct.

Go ahead and keep the icebox, though you might want to salvage the formica on the old door. And I love the firhogany. Very tasteful and exquisitely sustainable.

Don't lose the space under the remnants of the old shelf. Make drawers for small parts, one of the best improvements on the WillieC.

[ssrig]

Nope! You don't get the cooler.

[ssrig]

I do remember those drawers on your boat, nice to have but I think that space now is too small.