considerations when purchasing 31TE

[ArmyFish]

Hello,
New member seriously considering purchasing an Albin 31TE to use as a family cruising/fishing boat.
Please provide any specific 31TE items that I should inspect while looking the boat over.
Thanks!

[Jkraft]

Hey Armyfish, since nobody else has jumped in yet I guess I’ll take a stab at it. There aren’t really too many items that are 31 specific vs any other Albin or boat. A couple of things that come to mind is that they used an aluminum water tank on the 31 and at their age they tend to corrode which can cause blockages in the fresh water system. This is usually caused by city water or someone using antifreeze to winterize. The other thing is the keel in the single screws. Most don’t have drains in them and the bottom of the keel is the lowest point of the boat. A garboard drain should be added to let water out of that location over the winter. There is a thread on here where pitou added a dry bilge system which works well.

Other than that it should be basic boat stuff

- check for soft spots
- check the wiring and see if it’s a rats nest or nice and neat
- engine service records
- look for obvious leaks around the rub rail
- get a decent surveyor

[REBMystic]

Hi ArmyFish. I Just purchased a 2001 31'TE in December. I operated it once for 2 hours to get it home, but has been on the hard since. So I still don't know what I don't know. But here is what my survey and now my own inspections have uncovered. On the whole - no bad surprises. Just stuff you'd expect from a 22 year old boat.
- I have twin Yanmar diesels. The Starboard one smokes more than it should and the oil sample uncovered a little bit of diesel in the oil. Also - the engines did not reach max RPM during the survey. Later in the spring I am having my mechanics do a once-over on running gear & engines. I also have the serial number range for the Yanmars to have valve seal issues. So I am hoping the it's just injectors and seals. We'll see. For me, this is my biggest $$ unknown.
- Above the waterline moisture test shows some dampness near the ports. But nothing serious.
- There is a fair amount of gel coat crazing on the superstructure. Nothing structural, but looks bad. Longer term I'll deal with that.
- Below the waterline the surveyor did not do moisture test, but traditional tapping showed no issues. My visual inspection shows all looking good.
- I found many of the grounding wires to the thru-hulls are corroded and broken.
- My bow thruster did not operate. So far found that the solenoids are bad and maybe the DC motor needs some re-conditioning. (troubleshooting in process now!)
- My steering hydraulics looks to have been replaced in last 10 years.
- My AC generators was replaced in 2018
- Blue hull gel coat has fading and needs a good compounding and polishing
- Awful smell below which I believe is combo of water tank and sanitary hoses. (another spring job)

IMHO - After going on some brand new similar length Down East style boats at a recent boat show, I like the layout and size of the Albin 31 TE better than any of them. It also seems much sturdier. I'm looking forward to this summer!