From Mass to Cali

[FNLarry]

Hello everyone, especially those who read the introduction posts from newbies like me. My name is Larry, and my good friends call me FN' Larry. I'm 49 and have been a boater and fisherman for most my life. I signed up for AOG almost a year ago, and I'm sorry for not introducing myself sooner. I felt like I didn't have anything to offer until now.

I joined AOG because I wanted to do as much research as possible before making an offer on an Albin 28. I went deep into the forum, reading post after post dating back to when my boat was built. The information was extremely helpful in my due diligence process, and it ultimately helped me make an offer on my boat.

I live in California, where there aren't many Albin 28s with the criteria I was looking for. So, my search led me to look at boats on the east coast, one in Massachusetts and another in Florida. It was an adventure traveling to places I'd never been before to inspect a boat I wasn't completely familiar with. However, I'm pretty savvy when it comes to mechanics and being an owner of many boats in my past.

I packed my notebook, multimeter, moisture meter, heat gun, lights, screwdriver, and crescent wrench, and I gave myself two full days for inspection and sea trials for each boat. I guess you could say I did my own little boat surveys. I'm friendly, so I hung out with locals, drinking and eating local seafood. In Florida, I saw turkeys running around, and I even spotted an alligator! In Massachusetts, I saw two boats, including the Albin, I couldn't resist visiting the USS Massachusetts, also known as "Big Mamie." I had to step foot on a ship that played a role in combat and helped us win the war. Never forget!

In August, after many months of waiting, I finally took delivery of my 2008 Albin 28TE. I had it transported all the way across America, from Massachusetts to San Diego, on a large aluminum trailer. The transport guy told me it was rated up to 21,000-pound capacity, which made my Albin look a bit small sitting on it, very impressive. Once my boat was on stands, we removed all the items from the inside, cleaned, compounded, and polished the hull, replaced the cutlass in the stern tube and the rudder shoe, amongst other things, and I also had to sell my old boat before getting her into my slip.

She's finally in my slip, where I've begun to do some modifications and upgrades that I'll post pictures of here on the forum. I really appreciate all the information I've gotten out of AOG, and I hope to contribute in the near future. Thanks!

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[Nancy]

Welcome Larry, and congratulations! That's quite the adventure on the boat purchase and transport! She looks great all compounded and waxed!

[FNLarry]

Thank you Nancy, I have a lot more work to do to get her up to par and make her mine