[Alberg30] cost of ownership

[James Williamson]

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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