Ranger 27 inspiration for Albin 27?

[Blackmar1]

Has anyone modified their Albin 27 with ideas from the Ranger Tug’s. The main cabin in the Ranger appears to be very well appointed and designed I do not own either of these boats just dreaming at this point. The Albin represents a terrific value.

All the best,
Burton

[DesertAlbin736]

I'm not sure how an Albin 27FC could be modified to resemble a Ranger 27, they're so different. Not least that Ranger Tugs have an open aft cockpit and a large enclosed salon. Not to mention the price tag differential. Here are some photos from a Seattle CL ad for a 2015 Ranger Tug 27, asking a cool $150K.

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The Ranger and Nordic Tug layouts more closely resemble the C-Dory 25: sitting headroom V berth forward, salon with galley, dinette, driver seat, enclosed head, and open aft cockpit. Personally I prefer the Albin 25 layout to the A27. Yes it's smaller, but I like the built in chart table at the helm and the forward cabin layout where settees can convert to a wide V berth & not have the low overhead above the bed like the Rangers. But still, if money were no object a Ranger or Nordic would be nice. I've considered Taiwan built 34 or 36 foot trawlers if I lived near a Pacific NW port like Puget Sound, Anacortes, Bellingham, or Blaine. Especially if I could find one with a walkaround queen bed in the aft owner's cabin, a flybridge, forward V berth guest cabin with head, & shower in the aft cabin head.

[Ambler27FC]

You might search this forum for a boat called the “Mary Jo” which was customized with an extended cabin. No small amount of work. The smallest tug-boat styles seem to mostly have outboard motors and planing hulls. With the inboard in a A27, there is a constraint on what you can do in the middle of the boat.

I like those pocket-tug-boat layouts, but they were a bit outside my price point. The c-dory looks nice, but haven’t seen too many.

[Ambler27FC]

One last thought. If you’re aim is a low-cost pocket-trawler, the market seems small. A person willing to do significant modifications might de-mast an older but nice sailboat (relatively cheap) and build a cabin over the cockpit with a similar result. Sailboat hulls seem more efficient, but there is a penalty on draft.

I think best to keep things simple. A complex boat has hidden maintenance costs.

[Blackmar1]

Thanks for the information and guidance

[DesertAlbin736]

Actually, if you're planning on sticking with Lake Lanier & not trailering to distant cruising grounds like I do, why not go with a sailboat? I am assuming your Lake Lanier is the one in Georgia. In which case this 1980 Ericson 31 Independence located in nearby Buford might be worth a look. Lake Lanier looks like a very pretty lake with lots of secluded coves to anchor in. I know if it were me I'd love to get back into sailing on a boat like this. With the clipper style bow the amount of cabin & cockpit space would be similar to a 27 foot Albin. For $30K this looks pretty sweet. In fact there are a lot of good options for sailboats in your area.

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https://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/bod/ ... 50489.html

[Bearkeley]

We were the proud owner of Mary Jo mentioned above and have compared her to Ranger Tugs. There’s the obvious difference in speed in price, of course, but one thing people often don’t realize until the two were near each other was the difference in the living space created by the wider beam on the A27s. We always felt we had so much more room on our Mary Jo than those on similar length Rangers.