First and Foremost

[jcollins]

The purpose of this board was to create a place to exchange ideas and information about these great boats. We have all been critical about Albin's poor customer service. Hopefully, Albin will notice this board at some point and join in the discussion.
Although any advertiser is welcome to join Albin Owners Group, I ask that you do not try to solicit business via the forum discussions. Links to your websites will be removed by the moderators.
If any advertiser would like their own forum to promote products and services please contact the administrator.

update 09/26/06
We passed 100 members this month! The board is growing and hopefully will keep growing. As the membership is growing, so are the responsibilities of running the site. I want to thank Mariner for pitching in as a Admin and helping other members. I truly appreciate it.
AND...WELCOME TO ALL NEW MEMBERS! I try to send everyone a personal note but it is difficult to stay on top of that task. Let alone deleting all the hackers that join every week.

update 11/25/06
The AOG burgee is now available for ordering! Once again, many thanks to everyone that submitted entries and congratulations to Chief for the winning entry. I nagged all the vendors to keep the price as reasonable as possible. Our choice was to save money and silk-screen or spend a little more for the stiched version. I have not seen one yet but I'm hoping that everyone will be pleased.

update 03/01/2007
The new year finds us a little over 150 members! Welcome to all and thanks for joining. The intial orders for the burgee depleted stock in about one month. I just got another order in. So far it has been received well and I hope to get out on the water and see a few. When I started the board a year ago I said I hoped Albin would take notice of the board. Andrew Page has been a member and it's great to have our own "inside guy". Additionally one year ago we were complaining about Albin's customer service. I think most would agree that it has improved. We have also learned that most dealers are very helpful. Even if you didn't purchase your boat from them. This is good news for folks like myself that purchased from a private party.

update 11/04/2007
We are well over 200 members now and growing every month! Welcome to everyone and thanks for your participation in all the forums. October has seen the most activity in the board's history. That's the good news. The bad news is that Albin corporate has closed it's doors. There is a great deal of speculation about what is next for the company and we will have many spirited discussions about that. I guess we will just have to see what happens in 2008. Speaking of 2008 we are starting to work on 3 Rendezvous that will allow members to get together, share experiences and stories. Sharon and I will be at both of the East Coast Rendezvous'. Whether or not we make it to the PNW remains to be seen. Only time will tell.

update 01/17/2008

2008 will be a great year! Last year was not bad at all and it just seems to be getting better. The unfortunate news about Albin closing it's doors is now very official. After many, many attempts to contact Fred Peters I have given up. He ignored us when the company was open so I guess there is no reason to expect communication from him now. AOG wishes him the best in his retirement and I hope that someone jumps in and restarts the company.
Our member list is now well over 300 and we are approaching 8000 posts. Not bad for something that was started for the purpose of learning about the TE. Personal thanks to Mariner for taking on the hassles of helping me moderate the board.
Our move to new, faster servers went without a hitch. We also upgraded the software to help in the battle of spammers and hackers. To date, that has worked very well, and has made the job of administration easier.
It's difficult to pass on profound thoughts and ramblings when the boat is on the hard and the temp is in the 30s. But, that will change soon and we will all be back on the water enjoying these fine boats. Best wishes to everyone and thanks for your participation in the group.
As usual...WELCOME new members and post some pics!

update 06/24/2008

Another summer has officially begun and our second annual rendezvous is behind us. Attendance was good and from what I am reading everyone had a great time. It has always amazed me how many people with many different backgrounds can get together and enjoy life. The common thread of course is the brand. But, boaters from all brands, just seem to have fun no matter where we are or what we are doing.
Membership is now approaching 450 and posts have exceeded 10,000.
Once again, thank you to everyone that participates in the board and special thanks to Mariner for helping out as a site administrator.
Post some pictures and see you on the water!

update 02/01/09

2008 ended and we are just around the bend of the 2009 season. The big news is Bo Palmer and Bladen Composites! The deal closed on Oct. 10th, 2008 with the first boat promised in "a few weeks". The most noticable change in the lineup is the TE 31 is now the TE 32. I'm sure there are subtle changes in the design but for the most part is it unchanged as of yet. Communication has been slow in coming but I'm sure when things calm down we will hear more from the new owner.
Albin Owners Group had a facelift this winter that seems to be accepted well. We now have 622 members and more than 13,000 posts. We are once again planning rendezvous' in the Pacific Northwest, New England, and the Chesapeake this year. New England owners have jumped in and started signing up quickly. The Chesapeake is off to a slow, but steady start. Personally, Sharon and I, will make the New England rendezvous and of course the Chesapeake. We are also considering a visit to the Florida Albin Owners rendezvous in March.
There is no reason to talk about the doom and gloom of the economy. There is enough of that information out there. Instead, let's think about the good stuff. Things to be happy about and thankful for. We are owners of one the finest boats available. Seaworthy, reliable, safe, and high resale value. More importantly - friends we meet here and on the water. Most importantly - family to enjoy our time with. Many thanks to Mariner and the moderators for helping me with Albin Owners Group.

update 07/28/09

Our third annual rendezvous' are officially behind us. I can safely say that both rendezvous were a great success. There are rumors of a end-of-season meet-up on the Chesapeake and the New England gang is talking about 2010. Many thanks to Richard and Butch for the Chesapeake Rendezvous and Rob for the New England Rendezvous. When I got home from New England a friend asked me who I knew there. I replied "No one". "But, within the first hour I knew everyone and felt as if we were old friends". That's what makes all this worth it.

There may be some that don't know what happened to the "new" Albin. AKA Shamrock / Albin and Bladen Composites. Sadly the new company closed doors in March, 2009. We did see the 2009 Shamrock/Albin TE 28 (hull #01) at the New England rendezvous. There is also a TE 32 out there somewhere. If anyone sights it, let us know.
May and June were the rainy months on the east coast but July has turned out to be great boating weather. The hot days of August are ahead of us and the fall will be a welcomed relief.
AOG membership peaked at 760, with 15,000+ posts. We retired some older, non-contributing members and are now at 591 active members. As always membership is free, contributions are welcomed, and burgee members adored.
Thanks to Mariner for all the work you do and your contribution of time and knowledge.

So, that's about it for now. Get out there! Enjoy your friends, your family, and your Albin!

As usual...WELCOME new members and post some pics!

update 08/07/10

Looking back at my first update in Sept, 2006, I was happy to report we had surpassed the 100 member mark. As of today we have 1051 members and still growing! The fourth annual rendezvous’ on the Chesapeake and in New England are behind us and from what I am reading; once again, both were a success. The Chesapeake group braved 100+ temperatures, 78% humidity, and just plain old crummy conditions to meet at Zahniser’s marina. The marina staff supplied fans and a tent so they could enjoy a surprise crab feast. The group at Essex Island marina had a great time as well. Some enjoyed an afternoon snooze, or a walk into town, while others rafted up at Hamburg Cove, a beautiful fresh water spot not far from the marina. Afternoon showers didn’t dampen the spirits of anyone.
I have it on good authority there will be a NC (North Carolina) rendezvous next year.

The Albin brand is once again back in business. This time North Coast Boats by C&C Marine in Bristol, Rhode Island. They are rebuilding the dealer network and producing the TE 28 and other models. I have been in contact with the new owners and hope to have more involvement in the group and representation at future rendezvous.

As I have said many times, this group was started simply because I wanted to learn about a single screw, diesel inboard. I did not expect it to grow this large or to meet so many great people. It is a definite pleasure to do what I do and to bring us all together in one forum. albinowners.net has more than 110,000 page visits and over 400,000 hits per month. Last year I expanded our bandwidth and server storage. I moved the site to a new host and we have enjoyed less than 1% downtime.

Many thanks to the moderators and especially Mariner (Pete) for all of your help with this site.

As usual…WELCOME NEW MEMBERS…and post some pics!

Update 08/04/2013

Wow! It’s been 3 years, almost to the day, since my last post. It is funny how life and habits change in 3 years. We are into our 8th season of Albin Owners Group and still going strong. For those that are interested in statistics, her are a few: We now have more than 35,000 posts from almost 2500 members. Both the North East and Chesapeake have held their 7th Rendezvous’. We also have our Pacific Northwest Rendezvous coming up in September and the Florida rendezvous was a great success this year. We are averaging 500,000 hits per month and 120,000 page views. Not bad for a site that is still advertising free and solely supported by its members. Personally Sharon, my admiral, and I are doing great. Our work schedules have left us little time for cruising this summer but we are planning to make up for that in the fall.

Albin Owners Group was created to exchange information, ideas and knowledge about these great boats and boating in general. Lately I have found myself using the search function to learn about something when I have a question. More often than not my question is answered before I have to create a new topic. That is the purpose. AOG is a huge database of information open to everyone from the most experienced skippers to the newbies. My co-administrator, Doug Campbell (Dougsea) has jumped right in the last couple of years helping both me with administrative tasks and members with questions they pose. Let me not forget Rob Schepis (RobS) for his library of photos. Rob must have thousands of pictures of everything on his boat. From what I can see, it’s still growing.

Thank you to everyone we have met along the way and thank you to those that continue to support our group with your donations, purchases, and contribution of your time in creating and responding to posts.

As usual…WELCOME NEW MEMBERS…post some pictures!







Thanks Again,

John Collins