Meet Albatross

In my recent blog posting I wrote that Benno flew out to see a powerboat in Prince Edward Island. It turned out that the boat was not what he was expecting and so that trip was for nothing.

 

However, the persistent hubby of mine kept searching for a trawler type boat that would fit all his criteria. Having built our 37ft sailboat “Najade” and our 41ft long-range trawler “Diesel Duck” he has so much knowledge and experience of what it takes to outfit a seaworthy vessel. It is not his intention to build another boat and we are not planning another cruise on the water, but the potential should be there. 

 

Jim from "Jim and Barbs RV Adventures" made a comment “Benno’s dream boat is out there somewhere!” he was right. Yeah the dream materialized and is now parked next to the house, Hurrah!

 

In the Kitchener, Ontario area there was a “Jolly Roger” design boat for sale. She is a pocket trawler of 33 feet in length. She was lovingly built by her owner over a time span of 7 years and used afterwards at Georgian Bay of Lake Huron’s Ontario cottage country where he also has a cottage. She is named “Albatross.” The trawler sits on a new custom built three-axle trailer to transport her and to keep her on for storage.

 

John, her previous owner, who professionally built this boat, is saying goodby to his baby!

She sat outside of the shed where she was being built

Benno envisioned that this little trawler has lots of potential, if it is brought into modern-day standards, and it would be a great project for him as a hobby. 

She is hooked up ready to roll

On her way to our house

Last Tuesday we got up at 4 a.m. to drive to the trawler’s location near Kitchener to be on location for the transport of the boat and to follow the truck home. We had her transported by Rob from Bentall Boat Hauling to our house here in Leamington. The trawler’s weight is a lot more than our Ram 1500 pickup truck can haul and the 11 ft. width for transporting the boat on the highway is 3 ft more than the standard 8 feet, so it is considered a wide load. Transporting her was not really a problem and Rob professionally transports boats daily and said it towed beautifully.

 

On the road

Backing up into our street

Now she sits in our yard next to the fence and close to Benno’s shop. Because the ground is very soft, the first thing on the agenda was to place planks under her tires so she will not sink any further into our lawn. For that job Benno used the three 12 ton hydraulic jacks we still have from the renovation days of our house and a past tire problem on the RV. 

 

Rob backed her in with no problem

Next will be the installation of a shore power outlet to Albatross so we don’t have to hang an extension cable through the door or window. Stay tuned for that and many upgrades and improvements if you are interested in this project.

 

Let the work begin!

In the meantime I will post also other subjects as well and of course if we do happen to travel south for the winter that would be captured too.

Also in loving memory of my brother-in-law, Benno’s brother, Wolfgang, who passed away last Tuesday. He would have been 75 this Thanksgiving. 

 

Wolfgang Klopfer

Thanks for dropping by again and see you in a few days...