[Alberg30] Re: Kicking the Tires

[Neil McPhail]

Hi all:

Thanks very much to everyone for their advice.  It came in very handy when I 
had a good, long look at that mid-70s Alberg 30 yesterday.  For those of you 
following along, here's what I found:

1.  The general condition was pretty good for a 27 year-old boat.  The 
interior woodwork needs cleaning up and refinishing, but otherwise she (or 
"it", if you agree with the recent Lloyd's decision) looks pretty clean.  
The hull and deck look like they've seen some of the world, but that's 
expected for this age of boat.  Best of all, there don't appear to be any 
soft, mushy, flexy or delaminated spots (as far as this non-surveyor can 
tell).

2.  The through-hulls have been updated to "proper" (as opposed to the 
"homemade" version that was mentioned), with ball valves.  I think one or 
two may be brass, though, since they are showing a lot of green coloured 
corrosion.  Does bronze also turn brightish green (or blue)when corroded?  
All are backed up by at least 1/2" plywood blocks and appear well bedded.  
That same corrosion can be seen on a large nut on the prop shaft, just 
behind the engine.

3.  Worry #1 - the Atomic 4 has about 1300 hrs on the engine (assuming the 
hour meter was installed at the start).  It's been painted white sometime 
not too long ago, and rust spots are already showing through (it looks like 
a case of chicken pox).  The boat was on the hard and there was no way I 
could easily start it.  It's raw water cooled, so seems like a good idea to 
convert to a fresh water system.  Should I be worried?

4.  Worry #2 - the bottom forward area of the keel looks like it has gone 
"crunch" on something hard.  The damage doesn't seem too severe, though.  
There are one or two small (dime-sized) holes through the gelcoat, and it's 
obvious from this area that the two hull halves were joined together 
longitudinally when built.  Also, there is a 5-inch crack on the aft edge of 
the keel, on one side only, just at the point where the upper gudgeon 
attaches.  Are these normal, or something else to really worry about?

5.  Worry #3 - I can second (or third) the recent comments about the chain 
plates and bolts.  This boat too has problems.  The starboard upper 
chainplate bolts have bent slightly, which has caused the chainplate to pull 
away from the support knee (or plywood bulkhead - I can't remember which).  
Both forward lowers have pulled the support knees away from the vee-birth 
shelves, but still appear to be firmly attached to the hull.  This area 
definately needs some work.

Thanks for reading this far.  Are these unusual problems for Alberg 30s? 
Should I walk away from this boat, or are the problems not so severe that 
the boat will still survey satisfactorily?  Are there any sure things in 
life?! :-)  (besides the two obvious ones, that is...).

You Great Lakes guys must be heading back into the water now.  I sailed my 
C&C 25 for 5 years out of ABYC in Toronto until last year, and know how 
special this time of year feels.

Regards,

Neil






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