Advice needed - possible Albin 25 purchase

[Chrissy]

Looking for an Albin 25 or 27 on the west coast has made me realize that there seem to be many more on the eastern side of the country. That much said, I have come across a few boats for sale. People seem to be asking similar money for repowered and original engine 25's and I am trying to steer clear of the AD21 engine if at all possible so I don't get stranded or have to cough up $15000 for a repower.

So I located one in the NW which has been repowered with a newer Volvo with less than 500 hours. It has a new trailer. The windows and gaskets have been replaced. Canvas is new. New electronics including radar, GPS and autopilot. Everything about it sounds great, right? Asking price is $20,000 and considering the guy spent about 15K on the engine, it seems like a reasonable asking price. Herein lies the rub. I am looking at a 25 for a family cruiser and my wife has concerns that the size may be a tad small. This particular boat has been modified - the aft cabin bench seats have been removed for more deck space. I have not seen pictures of the modification and am not sure how nice a job they did taking out the benches. The seller claims that two adults could still sleep in the aft cabin side to side but it sounds like it would be a bit cramped. Has anyone seen this modification done on a 25 and if so, does the aft cabin still have sufficient space? I suppose I could do some fiberglass work and replace the bench seats - cheaper than a repower...

Thoughts?

[hetek]

That's an interesting modification...

I have seen Albin 27 FC boats with the aft cabin removed in it's entirety (effectively making it into an 27SC model) and I've seen them with just the aft cabin removed and the bench seats left as-is, but just the bench seats removed? That's a new one on me.

As you know, the bench seats form the quarter berths in the aft cabin. Lose the bench seats and you lose the quarter berths. However, many Albin cruisers of the aft cabin variety do sleep head to port/feet to starboard (or vice versa) and actually find it to be more sleeping room that way. The quarter berth areas were then repurposed as storage. You do lose the "dressing room" though.

So where do guests sit now? Seems odd for someone to remove the bench seats and put folding deck chairs in their place.

Maybe see the boat in person and see how it feels?