My 1977 Albin 25 Deluxe rebuild thread

[hetek]

All -

As usual, I have been sporadic in my postings of late. Many moving parts in the Hetek household, comes to mind.

And, I may have mentioned before, my work-issued electronic communication devices (laptops and cell phone) have "administratively" locked-out access to this site, among many others. It is a knee-jerk reaction to a few network attacks - Lock everything down!

So AOG, here is where I stand...

1. Boat is detailed. Washed, waxed, polished, flossed and pretty as can be. And shiny!

2. I went to make arrangements for my marina to launch. The clerk explained that it will cost money. I did not complain. She said it is an old boat. I did not disagree. She said it will take a lot of work to commission. Now THAT I have a problem with!

I told her it has had all systems, electrical and plumbing replaced. Engine thoroughly gone through and runs like a top. I even showed her a picture of the boat. She says "I hate boats" and walks away. WHAAAAA??????

Talk about a buzz-kill! She must not have been having a good day and she made mine even worse. I thought of plans B through Z and none were convenient, available or practical. I thought this was just not meant to be and maybe I should bail out on boat ownership altogether and sell. After the month of September came and went, I got up the courage and went back to try again. This time, different clerk.

"Pick up and launch your boat? No problem".

They picked up the boat yesterday and is now waiting at the travel-lift in the marina. Fingers-crossed she goes in today.

I did spend September rebuilding the trailer (new brakes and actuator, tongue jack, new wiring and tires) so it wasn't a total loss of time, but still...

I hope my next post will be a picture of my Albin sitting at the dock. And her name? Well, I really don't have one officially, but I had to put something down for name on my paperwork so I wrote down what Capt'n Vic always called her... "Albin Jr."

[WillieC]

What a day we have been waiting for! Congratulations!

Don't let a person who needs a different job discourage you. And good for you for not implementing plans B through Z. (Sounds like something I'd do.)

We celebrate with you, Jon! (Check to make sure the drain plug is in place, one more time.)

[hetek]

Thanks for the words of encouragement, Willie C. Actually, all of AOG for that matter. Yes, it's time.

My plan B was to rent a UHaul pickup truck, tow the boat to the local ramp and launch her myself with the help of my son. I hesitated to do that because I have not yet adjusted the stuffing boxes (rudder and shaft) and the ramp is always busy. I could imagine the line of impatient boaters forming behind me if I did my commissioning maintenance at the ramp. Not cool, but after talking to the marina clerk I decided to just go for it.

Son OK with helping dad? "Yup. I'm off that day".
UHaul truck rental? Check.
Trailer OK for the ride? Check.
Test run engine? Good to go!

The day comes and I ask my son if he was ready. "Can't. I have school".

???????!!!!!!! What happened to "Yup. I'm off that day"?

"I am off. I don't have work but I do have school".

Had to scratch plan B. Ugh!

Plan C was to revisit the marina and ask again. Finally, success! Or at least moving in a positive direction.

Plan D was to pack it up and wait 'til next year.

It's raining today. I think I'll take a ride to the marina and see if "something" is floating.

[WillieC]

Traditional stuffing boxes, both rudder and prop shaft, I assume, can/should be adjusted in water anyway. Neither little drips will sink the boat. Bilge pump is working, correct?

As I recall there wasn't much of a stuffing box on the WillieC rudder, just a rubber seal.

Help with the initial launch is good. Did it in fact get launched? We're dying to know!

I'm off to work on the shaft seal on our "new" boat today. Buck Algonquin stuffing box. Hoping it is not difficult. I need a little success myself.

[DesertAlbin736]

What type of shaft stuffing box do you have? I think most Albin 25's came with old school flax packing type. Luckily with Albin 25's it's so easy to get to the stuffing box under the aft most floor board. If so, assuming you've repacked with fresh flax or Goretex packing, it's best adjusted while under way & prop turning at cruising speed with a helper steering while you make your adjustments with 2 large water pump pliers or suitable size pipe wrenches. Loosen the lock nut & tighten the gland nut until you see it drip-drip-drip at a rate of 2 or 3 drops per minute & no leakage when shaft is stopped. Then hold the gland nut in place while tightening the outer lock nut. If you're leaving the boat docked in the water best to have a bilge pump with automatic switch & plugged in to shore power to keep batteries charged up. Must be close to the end of your boating season back there? It's nearing the start of our local fall/winter season on the lake here. Phoenix temps expected to hit 100 here today, not a drop of rain in sight. One of the things I miss about living upstate in Saratoga County before I moved to AZ in 1977 was the fall colors up in the Adirondacks. When you decide on the boat's name don't forget to perform a proper boat naming/christening ceremony.

[hetek]

Boat is at the marina but still on the trailer awaiting launch. I've been working overnight shifts for the past two days so I wouldn't have a chance to do anything anyway. Tomorrow I will inquire regarding the launch status.

I imagine I have the original stuffing box. New hose, new clamps, new packing... I hand tightened it for now but being my first time I figured I would let the pros do it. When they get to it.

Fall is here and the leaves are changing colors. I usually boat until November 7 - my daughter's birthday. Then she gets hauled and put away for the winter (the boat, not the daughter).

So, you may wonder, why November 7? Does my daughter like to boat with dad on her birthday for some reason? Nope. Daughter does like to have all her friends over for a sleep-over, except no one in the house sleeps.

Dad sleeps on the boat.

[DesertAlbin736]

Fall is here and the leaves are changing colors. I usually boat until November 7 - my daughter's birthday.

Fall is here in AZ...such as it is, sort of. 101 today & tomorrow, 13% humidity. This should be the last of 100s for the season. 98 on Saturday, 94 Sunday. Won't drop out of the 90s until Tuesday when high of 82 is expected. Overnight lows in upper 60s to 70. We thought this summer from hell would never end. It's the long awaited start of our fall/winter local boating season.

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As compared to Southold...

Southold weather.jpg

Back when I lived in Saratoga County before moving West in the late 1970s it always seemed like the rainy weather mostly happened on weekends.

[hetek]

You are correct, DA. It has rained every weekend for the past month except for one sunny day. Even today was pretty nice with no wind and the Long Island Sound and Peconic bay as calm as a mill pond. "Maybe I can get in a quick spin in the Albin after work?" But, alas...

Maybe I should change the title of my thread to "Waiting for my 1977 Albin 25 Deluxe to get launched thread"

It too might end up at 30 pages the rate things are going.

[tribologist]

OK, last week and this Saturday had the best weather of the year....

[hetek]

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Speechless.

[ssrig]

That looks like a brand new boat!
Looks great! How does it run?

[hetek]

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9.8 knots top speed! Not to shabby for a marinized commercial Mitsubishi 3 cylinder diesel. The Mighty Vetus lives up to her name! All 25 hp of her!

Took a 2 mile shakedown run to see how she did. No trouble to report!

My 91 year old dad wanted to go along for the ride so I put him to work, taking the helm while I checked things out. He did great. He’s hired!

Engine ran cool at 180 degrees (new heat exchanger helped here, I’m sure)

Overall, very, very happy!

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[dkirsop]

Congratulations! That's a fine looking boat.

[WillieC]

What a great boat!
Well done, Jon

[DesertAlbin736]

All's well that ends well! 9.8 knots with a 25 HP engine? That's fantastic! Was that in still water or was there a current running? Very, very, very, good looking boat. All your time, efforts, and travails have paid off. With our early model full displacement variant I doubt we could exceed 7 knots with our 24 HP Yanmar, even wound up to 3,600 RPM. Normal cruising is 6.5 knots at 2,350 RPM. Those custom sliding aluminum frame wheelhouse side windows are a valuable feature. Do you have a canvas enclosure for the cockpit? That would do wonders for comfort in fall weather cruising. Before upgrading to a Garmin 741xs combo chart plotter we used a Garmin GPSmap 76Cx very similar to yours along with paper charts to navigate.

From our original 2014 acquisition of La Dolce Vita to 2017 we went with this hand held Garmin GPSmap 76Cx, seen here on the way up Jervis Inlet to Princess Louisa Inlet & Chatterbox Falls, BC in 2016....

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... before upgrading to this Garmin GPSmap 741xs combo depth sounder/chart plotter in 2017, seen here during our 2018 Desolation Sound, BC cruise (note the lat/long readout, going through Boundary pass between the San Juans of Washington State to Gulf Islands, BC)...

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One of the things I like about Albin 25's is the built in chart shelf at the helm. We always keep paper charts handy to see the big picture & supplement the digital readout.