sprucing up an alberg 30

Discussion in 'Sailboats' started by handsondeck, Nov 18, 2014.

  1. handsondeck
    Joined: Nov 2014
    Posts: 7
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    Location: lake superior

    handsondeck Junior Member

    Kathy and I live in North Central Mn. Our body of water that we sail on is Lake Superior. Consequently our sailing season is over. Our Alberg 30 with the mast unstepped and on sawhorses is in our 30 by 60 heated shop.
    It needs topside as well as the bottom repainted. No blisters, hull and rudder are in above average condition and in great shape. All rigging will be inspected and the mast rewired. All the wood that comes with the boat caprail, hatches, cockpit coaming, seats, Taft rail will be redone.
    One of my passions is wood. While it is considerably more maintenance, a wood deck I think would look beautiful. Teak is pretty spendy, however as I understand it doug fir would be an acceptable alternative. Our Alberg is a 1969 and I believe the deck is masonite core. Not foam or balsa. If I were crazy enough to do this what would be the best and most user friendly adhesive to use? Screws and washers simply for clamping strength?
    Her is where design comes into play. If I were to add a short bowsprit and I do mean short, 24", would I need running backstays? I'm guessing yes. Self furling on the sprit, inner where the fore is now. Would she still balance well and set on her lines like she should?
    :?: In the Alberg Association if your boat is altered you can't race, I do know that, Oh and by the way does anybody think doing this would hurt the value. Albergs our a fairly easy boat to sell, stock. Thank-you Clyde.
     
  2. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
    Posts: 19,126
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    Location: Eustis, FL

    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    There are lots of areas that need to be inspected on that vintage Alberg. Besides the deck core, there's a the deck beam under the mast, gudgeon hard points, chain plates, etc. Making these "improvements" are fairly well covered and >alberg30.org< would be the first place to get information.

    As to moving the rig around, well given your sailing experience, this wouldn't be wise, without fairly extensive experience with this boat, to determine what she might benefit from.

    This is a well liked, pretty solidly built boat, of course with some common issues, which all designs suffer from. It's still an old design, so you're going to get passed by just about every modern boat of similar size, but it still has many followers of these old gals.

    I'm not sure where you've heard that Douglas fir is a good substitute for teak decking, but it's not and additional advise from this source, should be taken with a big grain of salt. Adding a wooden deck to this boat will place a hefty burden on her, but she could tolerate it, as far as the weight. It's just a difficult thing because of how the deck cap is molded, particularly if you want it to look "right".

    Skip all the bow sprit and runners stuff, you don't have enough sailing time on her yet to even think about this sort of thing. Just clean her up, sort out her issues and get some serious time under her keel. This is the best thing you can do for this half century year old design. She's a predictable, dependable thing and you'll learn a lot in the first couple of years after she's splashed. This is when you'll learn about her ways, what she really needs and what you really want. Currently you don't know about either of this concerns.

    Go sailing, have fun, learn about the process and the boat, address the know issues and the unique ones, indigenous to this puppy. You're ideas of changes will dramatically alter, as a result of your experience with her and not get based on unsubstantiated perceptions.
     
  3. handsondeck
    Joined: Nov 2014
    Posts: 7
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    Location: lake superior

    handsondeck Junior Member

    Sprucing up the Alberg 30

    Par, Clyde on this end. Thank-you for responding to my thread. Your suggestions and advice are greatly appreciated.
    What you say does make a lot of sense. A word to the wise right! Thank-you for helping me better understand that I should stay on course. The Alberg 30 site is a great source of information.
    Luckily our mast support beam has already been strengthened. On first inspection the chainplates seem and appear to be in great shape. I think some have used heavier backing plates and a little larger bolts.
    With regards to using quarter sawn doug fir for decks, some where along the line I was told that it was a good alternative when other more exotic, cost prohibitive woods were unavailable. I was told that it was used a lot in the building of the workboats.
    I had the pleasure of knowing Red Nimphius a number of years before he passed away and I do remember him telling me that it was definitely used for masts and booms when sitka spruce was not available. A little heavier for sure but still worked quite good. None the less I probably will not try to redeck the boat.
    If you read my second thread, I need not to stray so far out on the limb. LOL. Don't try to improve on an already tried and proven design. Don't mess with Carl.
    I enjoyed your article on Boatbuilding tips and tricks. Once again thank-you for your input. Clyde
     

  4. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
    Posts: 19,126
    Likes: 498, Points: 93, Legacy Rep: 3967
    Location: Eustis, FL

    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    No sweat Clyde. You have a grand little yacht and she'll take care of you. Have fun, learn about her and develop your skills. Her needs will make themselves known as they appear, so you can deal with them.

    Changes are inevitable with most sailors, but informed and well sorted modifications are usually the best route.
     
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