[Alberg30] cost of ownership

Hiesener, Michael hiesenerm at stripes.osd.mil
Tue Dec 30 08:38:51 PST 2003


Jim,

Glad that your still considering an Alberg.

You may want to focus your search for an Alberg that does not require
extensive upgrades. There are many boats that have been upgraded over the
years and would not require an extensive refit to meet your needs.  I think
you should be able to find such a boat that falls within your budget.  

I would concentrate on finding a boat that has MOST of the following:

An engine that is in good condition...An Atomic 4 is fine if it has been
maintained.  
A decent sail inventory...
A deck that is relatively free of delamination.
Newer running rigging and perform a good check of the standing rigging.  
Mast beam and thru hull upgrades.
A upgraded head and holding tank.

A marine survey would be a good idea as well.  Your buying a boat that is
30-40 years old...There is always something you can and should spend money
on.  But you should be able to find a boat that has been upgraded and would
enable you go sailing immediately.  

Happy New Year!

Michael Hiesener
Terrapin #254
Annapolis




-----Original Message-----
From: James Williamson [mailto:jamesgordonwilliamson at hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2003 9:49 AM
To: public-list at alberg30.org
Subject: [Alberg30] cost of ownership



Dear folks,
A couple of months ago I wrote to Mr. Dinwiddie with questions regarding the

Alberg 30.  He kindly suggested that I sign up to the public list, which of 
course I did (Thanks Mr. Dinwiddie, that was a great suggestion).  The 
letters have been very informative and often times delightfully humorous 
too.  Well, after having followed this forum for a bit (and with some 
nervous trepidation) I was hoping that I might ask you folks the same 
questions.  I'm a former sailor who has been considering getting back into 
it.  I'm lucky in that I recently moved to mid-coast Maine which is a great 
place to sail.  The opportunity is hard to pass up if you know what I mean.

Anyway, originally I had asked questions about the suitability of the Alberg

30 to do local/medium distance cruising and how it compared to other vintage

craft of that era.  It would seem from what I've read that the boat is 
certainly up to the task but...  My problem with a purchase, like so many 
folks I suppose, is a shortage of cash.  To be completely honest it wasn't 
so much that I had fallen in love with the Alberg 30 as it was searching for

an "affordable" boat that was designed and built to handle my perceived 
needs.  The Alberg 30 is beautiful (love those side decks), was designed and

built well enough for the task (I think!), but (here we go) because of my 
lack of experience with older vessels I had no idea that so much was 
required in a restoration effort.  I've been reading about everything from 
new seacocks, repowering, new mast compression supports, rewiring, 
replumbing, to reattaching the deck (very daunting indeed).  I truly mean no

offense to those who consider these tasks a labor of love however, by the 
time one does all of this plus the normal purchases like sails etc. it's 
possible to have put almost enough into the restoration as the price of a 
much newer vessel.  Forgive me if I don't seem worthy but could a few folks 
offer up an opinion on this.  I feel up to the restoration task technically 
but much over 20k total and I'm simply out of luck.  Factor in the reality 
that I couldn't spend every weekend sailing, Maine summers don't last 
forever, and I just can't justify spending more.  Would it be better to 
charter once or twice a year or could I stay within a budget like that and 
have a boat that is honestly seaworthy?  Thoughts please.

thank you,
jim williamson

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