My 1977 Albin 25 Deluxe rebuild thread

[WillieC]

So much for saving a draft. ah well

Hetek, as to your floorboards, I ended up rebuilding mine above the battery box since I had made significant mods to the electrical system and needed a bigger wireway to the battery and engine compartments.
The original, as you describe, was very Ikea-like using metric 1X2s and tiny machine bolts holding the framing to the plywood wall separating the head from the helm. My original did not provide access to the batts without removal of the seat and the whole floor system, major pain. I even discovered a buried battery switch conveniently set to ALL, probably the quickest way to electrical stranding available. I am fairly certain the DPO didn't even know about it.
See this thread for a few pics of my electrical system, which shows my floorboards a bit. I now have unimpeded, easy access to my batts and a completely beefed up floor framing that I don't have to worry about busting through and the whole thing is fully demountable with only one or two screws. Sort of like the interlocking wooden puzzles I had as a kid where you slide the magic piece and the whole thing comes apart.
When I yank my engine, I'll take some better pics of the framing.

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=9192&hilit=floor Scroll down almost to the bottom.

Plywood thickness is totally dependent on length of span and quality of plywood. And matching surfaces for elevation to minimized trip edges. The plywood above the batts is good grade five ply 1/2" and max 12" framing span. The piece over the gas tank is 1/2" also but lower quality (CDX) and substandard for my taste. The problem there is that you only get edge support and those ledges are again, Ikea-like. Thus, the plywood flexes and squeaks and drives me nuts. I keep trimming it so it doesn't rub against the fiberglass but pretty soon it will be too small to be supported by the edges. Calling for a 3/4" ugrade, but still limited by large span. In the back, above the shaft coupling and PSS seal there is good grade 3/4" maybe 7 ply marine grade. Very good but smaller spans and good edge support. I sealed all mine with spar varnish both side, multiple coats and then I have a Harbor Freight rubber interlocking matt on top of all of it. Not really rubber and, did i mention, HF? Just trying it out, not expecting miracles. It has lasted a couple seasons of light use. I like the interlocking function since it is easy to access which plywood panel you need access to without having to pull the whole thing out.

Keep going! You inspire me to keep moving as well. Thanks!

[hetek]

Thanks WillieC! Between the vast knowledge here and a few tricks up my sleeves I'm sure I'll have something to stand on soon. Get it? Get it? That was a floorboard joke! Yup... I got a million of 'em!

[DesertAlbin736]

If we do end up driving back East next summer to stay at our friends' beach house in Weekapaug, RI again we'll have to take the ferry over to L.I. to visit & inspect your work, assuming it'll be completed by then.

If we make it back to Rhode Island next year, we'll be staying in this house in Weekapaug.

Weekapaug Beach House1.jpg

[hetek]

Desert Albin - Nice place! I'm only 20 minutes from the ferry on the Long Island side. If you make the trip, I'm sure I'll have something completed to show you. If not, I have a wrench or two I can show you.

Did a bit of CAD design on the floorboards and while I was at it, I threw the Vetus into the computer to see what I have...

image.jpg

First, I'm planning to have the floor all one level - even at the helm. I'll put the batteries below the floor rather than at floor level. Don't worry, I'll have a hatch or lift out panel for access. That way I can stand at the helm and not have my head poke out of the top. If I find it not practical, I can always add the boxed in area later.

Second, I noticed that the Vetus is a small puppy in comparison. Yes, the drawing is to scale. It almost looks lost under the cover. Downside is that the prop shaft doesn't line up, as-is. See the engine mounts floating above the engine bed when the shaft is aligned? Some hardwood blocking on the engine bed should take care of that. Maybe there are longer mounts?

Last, the prop shaft is about 10" too short. The Westerbeke was a beast compard to the Vetus. Not entirely unexpected, but just one more thing to take care of. At least the prop and gearbox ratio are a good match.

As a friend once told me when he heard I bought an older Corvette, "Have fun working on it". I think I know what he would say about the Albin!

[DesertAlbin736]

I like being able to stick my head out of the hard top hatch sometimes (which is why I purposely sized and placed them the way they are). Easier to see around & communicating with the "deck hand" (aka the Admiral) when docking, & sometimes just getting a little extra air on a warm day. I'm just tall enough that when standing at the helm with the hatch open I can see out & look around. We had our boat out for a little day trip boat ride on Lake Pleasant last Saturday & it was 87 degrees in the pilot house with all the hatches open and the side & rear enclosure flaps open.

[hetek]

DA - For now I'm going to use the hard top that came with the boat. It's basically a large piece of white King Starboard about 1/2" thick, screwed and sealed in place. The white makes it translucent so it sort of glows white light when the sun hits it, even near sunset. Nice, in that respect. It has a small center hatch but nothing above the helm to stick my head out. When I revisit it down the road I most likely will do something similar to yours. How can I not? It is a nice solution.

For ventilation I have the hatch above, as mentioned, about 12" square. I also have sliding side windows in the pilothouse. They're Diamond Seaglaze units. Must have cost the PO a mint!

[WillieC]

Hetek, let me see if I got this right. You are planning to leave the floor low at the helm, closer to the batteries? Does that not make you have to step up and over the engine cover? And is your seat not set higher so when you sit your legs would have to dangle, precipitously, I might add just for theatrical effect? The existing floor height at the helm also determines the length of the mini wire and cable chase tucked under the starboard corner of the dash

Our floor in the helm is the same height as the top of the engine box and that height also corresponds to the bench height farther aft. Our feet almost dangle with seat height as is, so much so that I have considered building a small, portable footrest for use when reclining at helm. Ours also has a single hatch above the helm that, when standing, allows me at 5-10 to stick my head out. Nice to have with the inadequate, non-existent windshield defroster. No fancy dual hatch like DesertAlbin Steve has. We are in the frozen north, not the Arizona desert. We try to conserve heat. We also haul our inflatable dink up on the roof for longer passages. (Ours is the full BC hardtop that extends over the seating area.) A second hatch like Steve's is where the bow of our dink goes. He's done a very nice job with his which includes a solar panel between the hatches. And he is practiced at fiberglass forming.

All that said, that leaves a decent chunk of unused space between the floor at the top of the batts. Maybe I should have raised the batts, but I like them low. And I like unfettered access to the batts.

Maybe I have completely misunderstood your plan. If so, just ignore my musings. BTW, great CAD renderings. I get by with chicken scratches on napkins and significant do-overs.

[hetek]

WillieC - That's basically it, in a nutshell. Here's my thinking...

I saw an A25 in person once with the batteries just under the helm floor (up high) and realized they would fit down low, below cockpit floor level. That got me thinking, what if I made the floor all one level?

First, I realized I would give me standing headroom at the helm. I tried it by standing on the little ledges and beams that support the floor and, true, I do have standing headroom, just below the hardtop.

Second, rather than climbing over the engine box, I may be able to sneak past it on the starboard side. That, of course, depends on what kind of seat I get. For now, I'm thinking a poly seat with cushions on a pedestal, mounted to the forward end of the starboard cockpit bench (that's a mouthful!). But, after that's installed, will I still be able to "sneak past on the starboard side"?

Last, I'm rather used to the hop up to the helm seat, ever since Bunkie. True, dangling feet is not desirable, but a folding footrest or a simple Rubbermade step-stool works wonders.

I'm trying not to do things twice, to conserve effort that would better be spent on forward progress. If I find during the build that the single level floor isn't working out, I can always add the box to the top - similar to yours. I'll get more storage that way too.

My nutshell: Let's try it and see what happens!

[hetek]

Another option I've thought of is to build the floor the original Albin way, box and all, but with a slight difference.

I would put the batteries down low as described before, below floor level, but would hinge the top of the "box" in the helm area. This would basically be the "battery locker" area of my diagram. If I wanted to stand to stretch the legs or whatever, I would lift the top of the box and stand on what would be cockpit floor height on the floor below.

Basically, a trap door at the helm to allow standing headroom. If you can't raise the roof, lower the floor. If, I later decide to add the hatch above the helm to poke my head out, I just wouldn't open the trap door. And, it becomes a storage compartment anytime I like.

Just thinking out loud. And, yes, it is 1:11 am.

Zzzz....

[2manyboats]

Hetek;
When my 73 A25 was rebuilt, they raised the helm floor even with the engine box. I really like it at that height. I can stand up at the helm and look out through hatch. But the best feature is room for two L-16 6volt batteries which gives us plenty of power to run the refridgerator and lights for 24 hrs + without running the engine.

Wayne

[hetek]

Good to know 2manyboats -

Speaking of your namesake... This one makes it #19 for me. Not all at the same time though! Although, I do still have my first boat - a 12' Glen-L "TNT" I built from plans when I was in high school. It was only supposed to be 11' but when I put a ruler on it, it was 12.

Interesting you have the Beta 38. Do you have a DeLuxe version A25?

[2manyboats]

2manyboats came about as I was researching Albins and my wife walked by and saw what I was doing. She said we have too many boats now!
Well the Albin became number 3 in the yard, plus a dingy and it is a 1973 with the hooked bottom. The Beta was installed 2012 during the boats rebuild by PO.

Wayne

[hetek]

Update!

New floor framing is done. Floorboards are, right now, still a sheet of marine plywood in my garage.

Hurricane Matthew and later storms have dumped some rain on us. On every weekend I tried to work on the boat, it seems.

image.jpg

[hetek]

And... Yet another rainy weekend. Ugh!

Question: How do the floorboards, frame and engine box go together? My boat had no floors so I have nothing to go by.

Here are my guesses:

1. The engine box sits on the frame and the floorboards butt up against the sides of the box.
2. The floorboards sit on the frame and the engine box sits on top of the floorboards.
3. Maybe another way I'm missing?

The way I see it, #1 lets you lift the floorboards without having to remove the engine box and with #2 you have to lift the engine box in order to lift out the floorboards.

Is it one of the above? If I had to guess I'd say #2, but I seem to recall seeing a #1 setup once. Might explain my confusion.

[WillieC]

You seem to have one of the fancy dan new style hinged lids. Mine is the old fashioned lift and slide out model. Mine also has a panel below each side of the engine box that runs down to the hull, originally insulated for noise reduction. The original panel insulation held a LOT of leaked fuel and oil and whatever other liquid or near liquid scum you can imagine. Prolly the single largest contributor to the Authentic Real Boat Skank. I have since removed that insulation and cleaned what I could and will properly reinsulate it when I swap my engine this winter.
So those panels separate the fuel tank area on the port side and the battery compartment on the starboard side from the engine compartment, thereby attempting to corral the engine noise. And since these panels are solid, they also support the floor edges completely. Since mine is the sliding unit type, there is also an aluminum L-shaped track screwed down to the floor stringer that directs the sliding box edge into its proper position. On mine, if I get it on the wrong side of the track, you hear it right now. Thus, the flooring is cut snugly up against the properly installed doghouse.
Since I don't have the hinged style you appear to have, and I don't know if it bolts (screws) down to the floor joists, you may be able to run your floor boards all the way in and set your doghouse base on top of that. Hope this is not too confusing, but consider the additional panels I mentioned. Take into account how close the engine comes to those sides so you have enough room for insulation. And don't crowd the fuel tank either. Not a lot of tolerance for error. After all it isn't an A27!
Upon re-reading your post, you state it exactly. Use method #1 so you can remove floorboards WITHOUT having to remove doghouse. (Amazing what one can learn by listening instead of just jabbering. My apologies. Carry on!)