Hello from Cypress Creek, Magothy River, MD

[emmline]

This is our '78 Albin 25, which Allen acquired from a former customer. Allen's line of work is fixing all kinds of boats, but an Albin was one of his dream acquisitions, and when this one became available from a customer, he snagged it. The restoration has been many years in the doing, and many details remain.

However, the boat is named Wabi Sabi, which means, in Japanese, the aesthetic or beauty of imperfection, and our attitude toward restoration is relaxed.

We're still gearing up for our first overnight, but have taken the old Origo alcohol stove for a successful test run, and are working on ways to maximize cabin ventilation for sleeping. A Breeze Booster w/mosquito netting for the cabin hatch are on their way.

The pic link (if it works!) shows Wabi Sabi in the Travelift sling just after we finally applied the name lettering.
https://goo.gl/photos/k2FMngNfhLcnaK5F7

[emmline]

I see that I am a swabby. That is, in fact, accurate.

[WillieC]

Welcome Aboard, emmline and Wabi Sabi. A relaxed posture in restoration is a very good attitude to adopt, for sure. The point is to get out there, which I sometimes forget, close enough is sometimes good enough, for now.

I ditched my propane stovetop and went back to the Origo two-burner and we love it. (The propane set-up was a disaster waiting to happen and fixing it was going to cost way more than slapping in an Origo, which is what was originally designed for the boat, or vice versa.)
The alcohol fuel evaporates so I made a rubber (like) round gasket that compresses slightly when the tank access cover is closed. No evaporation whatsoever. Of course, the unit must be cool before you place the seal.

Also, the small table that clips on just to the right of the sink was originally designed to serve as the cover for the stove. And to get it out of the way when the berth is in use. I also adapted that same table/surface to clip into the sidewall of the pilothouse just above the cooler space so we can use the Origo in the pilot house. (That was a bunch of words where a picture would suffice. Stand by.)

Anyway, welcome aboard. Would love to see more pictures and hear about your efforts in bringing Wabi Sabi back to life.

[DesertAlbin736]

Seconding others' emotions, let me also say Welcome Aboard Emmline & Wabi Sabi! Always good to see another Albin 25 pop up, since we A25 guys are kind of a small subset of the larger Albin family. Looks like a nice boat from your photo. Classic boats this age are always a work in progress, so your boat name is apropos. 1978 is one of the later model years in the Albin 25 production run that ended around 1980 & was continued sporadically into the mid '80s as the Bonum 25 with a re-designed cabin top.

We're big fans of the Origo stoves also, for the same reasons as WillieC. Here's another little tip/trick we use for our stove: We buy the alcohol fuel by the gallon can, and keep a 1 qt MSR backpackers fuel bottle handy as a 'ready' bottle (filled from the big can using a funnel) to add fuel to the canisters, since as you may discover, it's not that easy to pour from those cans the alcohol comes in without spilling. We also have the rubber gaskets to help prevent evaporation, but we also only add enough fuel at a time to the canisters for the amount of cooking we're planning for that particular meal, not fill the canisters to full capacity. That way if it does evaporate we're not losing much, since fuel is not cheap, about $16 per gallon at the hardware store. But a gallon goes along way and the stove cooks just fine IMO.

MSR fuel bottle.jpg

Others on this forum have already heard stories of our travels repeated ad nauseum, but I will say that we cruised the middle part of the Chesapeake between Cambridge and Solomons two years ago this month, having trailered our boat all the way from Phoenix to Seaford, Delaware to put in on the Nanticoke River, and yes, it gets a little warm trying to sleep on board in July. Being able to screen in for pass through ventilation while keeping the bugs out is a must, both the forward deck hatch and your canvas cockpit enclosure. If you don't have screens for your cockpit canvas, I'd recommend looking into Phifertex vinyl sun & bug screen material from Sailrite.com to be able to snap or zip on to your existing canvas.

You will also be pleasantly surprised by the awesome fuel economy of the Albin 25, which I dare say is unmatched by practically any other cabin cruiser/pocket trawler of this size on the water today. On our aforementioned Chesapeake cruise we logged 74 hours on our engine and burned 28.3 gallons for a burn rate averaging 0.38 GPH. Yours may use a little more than that since your 1978 model is semi displacement with a larger HP engine than our early full displacement model with a 24 HP engine and 6.5 knot cruising speed.

Our "La Dolce Vita in Spring Cove marina, Solomons, MD on the Patuxent River, July, 2015

0624150936 (3).jpg

[emmline]

Yes, fortunately we do have a canvas cover with bug screens. I have seen those little side tables in various photos, but I believe that may be one of our missing pieces.