Low Boom on an Alberg 30?

[jgbrown]

Every picture of other Alberg 30's shows the boom sitting way higher.
What gives?
Most look like they have standing headroom in the cockpit or close to it.
This would be a huge advantage for me, even if it's only for at anchor, some pictures even showed the boom angled up at the end.
Less

[Cruiser2B]

I am 5' 10" and I have just about 1" maybe 2" when sailing. My boom gooseneck is adjustable and I can raise the aft end of the boom with the topping lift. When At achor I raise them both up for ample head room. When sailing I always duck when tacking, just habit.

[jgbrown]

Seriously? My boom is very low then, with no adjustment at the front as far as I can see. no wonder the pictures of bimini's look different! Would it be for lower mast height or bigger sail I wonder?
That kind of height would make entry below decks so easy! As it is, when I stand on the propane locker/in front of the cockpit for entry it's waist high!

Edit, do you mean an inch standing in the cockpit or crouched down? If I stood up it'd take my head and shoulders off.

[jgbrown]

Checked out your site, you have so much headroom on deck. Below decks I have to stick to no liner to fit apparently so I stayed away from newer alberg's! now a turn for the weird, it'll be I Krystal and I living aboard as well

[Cruiser2B]

Originally Posted by jgbrown

Seriously? My boom is very low then, with no adjustment at the front as far as I can see. no wonder the pictures of bimini's look different! Would it be for lower mast height or bigger sail I wonder?
That kind of height would make entry below decks so easy! As it is, when I stand on the propane locker/in front of the cockpit for entry it's waist high!

Edit, do you mean an inch standing in the cockpit or crouched down? If I stood up it'd take my head and shoulders off.

I have about an inch when standing in the cockpit, and I have a teak grate that is about 2 inches as well. At the dock or at anchor I raise the back of the boom some with topping lift. Is your rig orginal? i have seem several Albeg 30s and they all seemed to be roughly the same...

[Surveyor]

You might have a custom mast/gooseneck/boom or the mast was trimmed at the bottom. Mine is stock and even though it might look like I have headroom in the cockpit, I dont. The boom, when parallel with the deck/cockpit is about 5.5' from the cockpit sole. The pic below shows the boom lifted at the aft end about a foot.

[Cheechako]

It's entirely possible someone wanted max sail area and set it up lower, or lowered the CG at some point. Hard to say. Measure the luff of your main and compare it with what it's supposed to be......

[jgbrown]

Surveyor, mine matches yours in height I think. It's possible the front is adjustable and I'm just not seeing it(likely even) to me it appears that the joint for the boom is bolted directly to the mats, not on the track like the sail.
What year did they switch to standing height(that would be 6'2" with a teak grate like that...)
It's also possible it was replaced, I know earlier Albergs had wooden masts and later had Al, not sure what year they changed.
Speaking of surveyors, it's been 6 days and I still don't have my survey yet. Is that normal? The surveyor was very nice and seemed quite thorough(should be at 720$+lift!) but I need that paperwork to get insurance!

[Surveyor]

Originally Posted by jgbrown

Speaking of surveyors, it's been 6 days and I still don't have my survey yet. Is that normal? The surveyor was very nice and seemed quite thorough(should be at 720$+lift!) but I need that paperwork to get insurance!

I am a Land Surveyor. The bold part of the above quote I am used to hearing all of the time though

Very pretty boat!

[Cheechako]

You should have your suvey now, bug him/her. Any evidence of the boom being bolted to the mast at a higher location in the past? Get a 50 or 100ft tape measure.... real handy for a boat owner anyway. measure that main and look it up online.... Lot of options like: raise the boom, have the top of the main changed with one of those new battened headboards etc....

[jgbrown]

Lol! Just seems a bit weird! Surveyor said for sure I'd have it before the weekend...
Was wondering if it was common to just get busy and forget. I don't mind much unless Antares sinks while I don't have insurance that is... or drifts off anchor while I'm at work... or some other such mishap.

I may pick your brains soon if you don't mind, one topic I`ve been trying to figure out over on sailnet is whether the Settee backs are structural. I see from your picture that one bulkhead isn't? I want to cut one back down a bit, to create a double berth aft with the extra room. Losing the hanging locker on the opposing side would make that even easier, but I don't think I'll go quite that far unless I'm doing a total rebuild like you. I'd essentially be recreating how I live at home, so I know the layout works for me.
I would love to go to a composting head too, but the new last year Jabasco/hoses/30gallon fiberglass tank make it hard to justify the cost yet. Losing that would give me so much room though. So far I feel like the Alberg 30 could be really roomy, if only they hadn't spent so much time and effort making her cramped!

I've just realized my cockpit floor was cut out to pull the a4 out when it was replaced with the new diesel.

I was just thinking the same about yours! I wish I could find space to get Antares up on the hard to work on a bit/clean her up as nicely as you have without paying 70$+/day.

[Surveyor]

If you do become the owner, by all means join the Alberg 30 mailing list.

The guys in that forum can answer any and all Alberg 30 questions. I am far from an expert.

[jgbrown]

I'm already living aboard

[tropicalescape]

My boat has the same "problem" I see photos of others and the boom always seems to be higher than mine ..I use the topping lift when docked ,but when sailing be careful for things that go Boom!..Check around the cabin top where the mast is supported,I saw a boat that the cabin top was sunk down a few inches,thats not much but made a differance where the boom height was concerned(the fiberglass was not cracked and the toggles and standing rigging were all adjusted to the point that it was bottomed out)...

[jgbrown]

Cabin top is sound, it had the metal plate upgrade to prevent that I am told.
Any ideas on a good bimini/dodger design to work around this? I would really enjoy standing room in at least part of the cockpit under shelter!
Does yours have an adjustment point at the front?