Albin 27 FC, Anyone know this particular boat?

[BarbWithey]

My partner and I are considering purchasing an Albin 27 Family Cruiser currently located in Satellite Beach, FL. It's a 1985 with a Nissan LD28 diesel engine. The boat appears to be solid and the engine runs; however, it's in pretty rough shape cosmetically, and there is no ship's log or hour meter on the engine. The current owner is pretty vague about the boat's history. He says he bought it in Maryland sight unseen about 18 months ago, with no survey, and had it shipped to Florida. While out of the water, he had the bottom done and changed the name on the transom from "something Japanese" to "Slow Ride". The MD registration numbers were: MD 7362 BY. We are aware of possible engine parts problems and at least some of the other things that can be problematic with this make/model/year, but are hoping someone might recognize the boat and have some insight into its history. Any input from this group would be very much appreciated.

SlowRide1.PNG

[DesertAlbin736]

Can't be of too much help there. However, we did spot this A27 at Vera's Beach Club marina on St. Leonard's Creek, a tributary of the Patuxent River, in Maryland during our 2015 Chesapeake cruise. Registration number on the bow is barely visible, but appears to end in "...53 BL", had blue color bimini awning, not aquamarine, and had a CQR or Delta anchor, so is likely a different boat. This one had what appeared to be a spotlight on the wheelhouse roof, which I imagine was probably not standard original equipment.

DSCN2904.JPG

[DCatSea]

Not familiar with this one, but you might try MD Dept of Natural Resources at https://dnr.marylanbd side ? That might be a good source of information as well.
Also, do you have the HIN (Usually transom upper stbd side). That might be a useful source as well.

Good luck

[BarbWithey]

Thank you all for your input, which is very much appreciated. I'm reasonably sure that the Albin seen on the Patuxent River is not the same boat; the registration numbers, while blurry, do appear to be different, although it appears to be very much like the one we're looking at. I did try to find some information in the MD registration database, but was unable to find anything useful and we don't have the HIN number. We didn't see one when we took a look at the boat. We may, however, go take another hard look at it before making a decision but it's a 4 hour trip across the State of Florida. We're looking forward to eventually finding the right Albin 27 for us. Happy new year to all and happy boating.
Barb & Bill
Ruskin, FL

[DesertAlbin736]

We didn't see [HIN] when we took a look at the boat.

It should be found molded or etched in at or near the upper right hand (starboard) corner of the transom. Every boat built and/or sold in the US from 1972 model year on is required by federal law to have one, even home builts, and most older pre-1972 boats have had one assigned & added in addition to the old fashioned name plates.

In any case A27FC's, which were built in the US, are more common than the Swedish built & imported A25 ( & not much different in price). So it's more of a buyer's market than A25's.

[BarbWithey]

Hello again and thank you all for your replies. The original question has become moot. We decided not to buy the A27FC "Slow Ride". There were just too many unknowns and a lot of miles between where it is and where we are. The good news is that we did buy a different Albin yesterday that suddenly came on the market. We took one look and bought her on the spot. She's currently located in Cape Coral, FL, just a couple of hours (by land) south of us. Her name is "Traveler" and she appears to be sound but definitely in need of some work to bring her back to her former glory. She's a 1987 27FC and was repowered with a 90 HP Yanmar several years ago. We're in the process of re-equipping her for her upcoming journey to her new home which we hope to accomplish shortly. We so appreciate all the kind and helpful people in the Albin Owners Group and expect to learn a lot from you as we bring Traveler up to speed. Your expertise and willingness to share information has been a great help to us in making an informed decision as to what to look for and what to consider as we searched the market for the just the right boat. Thank you all so much. We're looking forward to getting to know you and becoming a participant rather than just onlookers.

Barb Williams & Bill Young
Ruskin, FL

[bondboy]

I looked at the boat today.......

[PaxRiverBoats]

This is very interesting. I actually looked at this boat, “Slow Ride” (and it did have a Japanese Name on the transom) when it was for sale in Maryland about a year ago. I think the seller wanted $16K for it. The broker put me in touch with the truck mechanic who had maintained it for many years, and while I would agree that the boat was cosmetically rough, the mechanic went into great detail about the annual maintenance that the elderly owner had done. In Maryland, the boat was kept on a lift, and it was under winter cover; so aside from abbreviated looks at the pilot house, aft cabin, and main cabin which were dirty and extremely messy, we could not see exterior of the house top or the washboards up to the bow, and had no view at all of the port side because of the location of the travel lift. Of everything we saw on that boat, the engine and engine space were the best features. I share this because the mechanic actually sent me the most recent maintenance records. I hope she finds a buyer, and that she can be cleaned, washed, waxed, varnished and detailed. I think she’d make a nice boat.
-Ted Turner
Hollywood, MD
2004 Bayliner 222 Express cruiser (For Sale)
1950 Whirlwind skiff