ALBERG 37
INTERNATIONAL OWNERS
ASSOCIATION
C/O Tom and Kaye Assenmacher
a37ioanospamr@sylvaninfo.net
(remove “nospamr”)
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VOL
XVI, NO.1
(WINTER – 2006)
Winter Rendezvous
Since
Kaye and I are spending some time in the Bahamas this winter with PIKA, SEA
CYCLE and several other boats, we are
not planning to host the Annual Winter Rendezvous at Harrison’s on Tilghman
Island, MD in March.
New Members
No New Members joined the Alberg 37 IOA during the previous quarter – could it be that we’ve found them all???
The
Adventures of JOINT VENTURE – Chapters II & III
(1975 Alberg 37 Yawl,
Ken
and Anita Tillotson (Port
In the interest of
keeping this Newsletter to a manageable size, Chapters II and III of The
Adventures of JOINT VENTURE may
be viewed on the Alberg 37 web site home page (www.alberg37.org). We expect that Ken and Anita will continue
their adventure across the
Brian and Kathy Marsh (TUNDRA)
sent the following Holiday Greetings: “We arrived back to
Ron and Kaye Surley, of
Lynne and Gerry Purvis recently sold their 1975 MK-II Sloop TRONDELAG.
Lou and Jean Wayne (PIKA), and Mark and Debbie Crowe
(SEA CYCLE) celebrated New Year’s Day
in Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos/Bahama, after making the Gulf Stream Crossing
from
Our congratulations to Bill and Debbie Horne, the previous owners of SERENADE, who were married in Luperon last February. “That was fun, a lot of boaters we knew were still there, and a friend owned an open air bar so we had a little get together after the civil ceremony. Have a happy holiday!
Bill and Debbie Horne”
The following note was received from Todd and Natalie Stebleton, of Daytona Beach, FL, the owners
of the 1967 MK-I sloop COPPERHEAD: “Members of the Alberg 37
Owners Association are invited to call us when you are near the Daytona Beach
area. We now own the Towboat US
operation from
Ted Richmon, owner of the 1984 sloop OFFLINE, recently moved south to
Tom McMaster and Rose Hansmeyer, the owners of the 1985 MK-II Sloop
SOJOURN, report: “Our marina took
some moisture readings of our rudder and noticed high readings. So we
drilled several holes and found some water dripping out. We called Alex
at
If it was just something like the
water heater going bad I may not go to the expense of replacing it, but the
rudder is a rather important component of the boat. I don't want to fix
it if it doesn't need it, however we will do what's necessary to maintain
the integrity of the boat. The marina has quoted us
around $3K. Any suggestions?
P.S. We will leave
Jerry
Senecal has announced that he is
selling DRY BEAN, his 1969 Alberg 37
MK-I Sloop (hull #55). Check the “For
Sale” page for further details.
SOUTHBOUND
PREPARATIONS IN KINSALE
By Tom and Kaye Assenmacher

SEA CYCLE,
SHEARWATER, PIKA and PARTY OF TWO at the Dock in
Mid October found several visiting Alberg 37s at our dock
in
Geoff and Bunkey previously cruised extensively in the
PARTY OF TWO at Dock in Kinsale

PARTY
OF TWO Southbound at Last!

Jean Wayne
Loading Provisions on PIKA
Several days were spent by each boat performing maintenance, stocking up on
provisions and storing them aboard the boats, and making runs to the local ACE
Hardware and to the Buy Rite for those “special” items.
Mark and Debbie announced that they intended to “Head
South” in SEA CYCLE at the A-37 Rendezvous in
SEA CYCLE Rafted Alongside SHEARWATER

SEA CYCLE Departs for “Points South” on 20 October
Of course, not all the “preparations” included work! Ample time was allowed for that certain “camaraderie” and other enjoyable enterprises!
Doing What Cruisers Do Best – EAT!

Saying Goodbye to Geoff, Bunkey, and Jean (Lou is Taking Photo)
SEA CYCLE
departed Kinsale on 20 October, PARTY OF
TWO and PIKA departed on 26
October. As of this writing, SEA CYCLE and PIKA are in Green Turtle
Key, and PARTY OF TWO is in
SSB
Installation On Shearwater
By Tom Assenmacher
We recently completed a Single Sideband Radio
installation on our 1975 MK-II yawl SHEARWATER. We’ve been monitoring and
communicating with cruisers on the CRUISEHEIMER’s Net on 8152 kHz Marine SSB (we’re
not a Ham Operators yet) as far north as the North Channel in Canada, and as
far south as Venezuela – most reception is as clear as VHF especially the
longer range contacts due to the skip zones.
We purchased an ICOM 710 and an ICOM AT-130 Tuner from Ebay (for about ½
the cost of a new unit) and have had no problems with the radio equipment. We had hoped to find an ICOM 710 RT model
(the 710 with a remote control head) on Ebay but couldn’t find one listed at
the time. The RT model allows
installation of the bulk of the radio transceiver separate from the control
head, leaving much more room at the nav station. Currently we are running the
ICOM equipment directly through fused leads from the house batteries. We have mounted the transceiver at the Nav
station
and the tuner on the lazarette bulkhead just to the port of the mizzen mast
knee.
We seem to be having good transmission and reception with the “home made” antenna that we installed.
Two great and invaluable sources of information regarding the “care and feeding” of ICOM SSB radio equipment are:
- The Cruising Club of
http://www.cruisingclub.org/communications
- ICOM
http://www.icomamerica.com/marine/ssb.asp
Both these websites have a lot of SSB downloadable documents and information. There are also numerous other sources for SSB/HAM information.
Since the A-37 yawl uses a “Y” shaped backstay, and since we use the split portion of the backstay as a tensioner, the backstay itself did not lend itself readily as an insulated (and structural) backstay. After considering various antenna options, we decided on using a “triadic” type of antenna running from the mainmast truck to the mizzen truck, using a piece of ¼” 1x19 SS wire that we had on hand with an “egg” type insulator on each end of the antenna. Since the antenna tuner is located in close proximity to the mizzen mast, we led the antenna lead (Ancor GTO-15 shielded cable) internally up through the mizzen mast and culminating in a short lead to the insulated antenna. Since this “triadic” antenna is not structural, it does not require special insulators – simply off-the-shelf inexpensive components (i.e., several nicropress fittings, SS thimbles, “egg” insulators etc.). The insulators were purchased on-line from Universal Radio (http://www.universal-radio.com/) for less than $3.00 each (estimated cost of the antenna including antenna lead wire was less than $50)! The installation of the antenna was relatively simple, since we had the mainmast out of the boat when we began the SSB installation. We were able to drill the antenna attaching points on the mainmast and mizzen mast trucks while the masts were out of the boat. However, it wouldn’t be too much of a problem to do this work from a bos’n chair.
MAIN MAST

MIZZEN MAST
Once the antenna design was firm, we made one trip up the mainmast and one up the mizzen mast to finalize the antenna installation.
For the ground plane, we ran heavy 3” copper foil from the ICOM transceiver along the port side of the boat (behind the quarter berth teak plywood outboard panel) to the antenna tuner. We also ran the copper foil from the tuner through the “tunnel” (the area underneath the cockpit sole), through the engine compartment and into the area above the bilge sump. While we had the boat out of the water early this summer (the boat had just been returned from a major exterior refurbishing by “Alex” of Whitby Boat), we installed 2 grounding plates, one on either side of the hull (outside) about 18” below the waterline adjacent to the bilge sump area to which the copper foil from the antenna tuner was attached. The grounding plates were constructed out of ¼” x 4” x 2’ copper bar purchased from Online Metals (http://www.onlinemetals.com/). In our opinion, the copper bar is nearly as effective as a grounding plate as the commercially available “dynaplate”, and at a much lower price. These plates were bedded and through bolted using silicone bronze fasteners. We have not bonded the ground plane system to any of the water tanks or thru-hulls, as there are several electrolysis issues to consider, and the performance thus far seems to indicate that further extension of the ground plane may be unnecessary. We added ferrite chokes to all transceiver and tuner cables to suppress RF interference. The ferrites are available through Carillon Electronics (http://www.farallon.us/).
We
are currently working on the HAM operator requirements, namely Morse code and
the exam questions. We also have the
equipment for working email aboard through the use of the SCS PACTOR modem, and
also have begun working the receipt of NAVTEX, WEATHER FAX, etc. etc. – but
that’s another story!
We think this is a good installation since it appears to work well!! One can spend many hours conversing with long distance cruisers and dreaming of far distance ports!!
(Please check the Alberg 37 web site (A37's For
Sale/Wanted) for the latest postings.)
Recent offerings include:
DRY BEAN 1969 Alberg 37 MK-I Sloop (hull #55)
Bottom just stripped and barrier coated,
no blisters. Topside filled, faired and new Imron applied professionally. Decks
and cabin are bone dry, no port or hatch leaks, no hardware leaks. Sloop rigged
with 1993 sails. New dodger, bimini, cockpit cushions, interior cushions. Located on eastern
TIME PASSAGE 1980
Alberg 37 Sloop (hull #210)
Fully equipped fresh water cruising boat located in
Includes #1 and #2 furling head sails, #2 and #3 with hanks, spinnaker pole,
and mainsail. Very clean boat with many extras.
Upgrades/updates: 1999/2000 - Awlgrip hull and deck, electric windlass, SS 3
blade prop
2002 - engine rebuild, new head, new cradle
2004 - screens added to full enclosure, new starting and house batteries, all
lines, exterior teak painted
2005 - new sheaves and halyards, rebuilt alternator, new exhaust
Current owner regrets leaving sailing and plans to switch to power.
Asking $79,000 CDN
Contact Dave Ord by email at alberg@ord.ca Boat in water until
GONZO -
(Click
here for Inventory) (Click here for
Photos)
Yours for only CDN$72,000
FIGMENT 1973
MK-II Yawl,
(Click
Here for Photos and Inventory)
Contact: Jack St. John - Tel: (207) 633-5529
KANDACE ROSE 1976 MK-II Custom Cutter, Hull No. 168, Volvo Penta
28hp, Very well maintained. Recently
Surveyed,
(902)747-2928
Email; kandacerose@ns.sympatico.ca
ELUSIVE 1968
Alberg 37 MK-I Sloop (
Sleeps 6+, 3 jibs, mainsail, pole, new rigging 2002,
new bottom paint 2002, Ampair wind generator, Raymarine Autohelm, VHF radio,
digital depth sounder, refrigeration, marine 12000 BTU air conditioning,
CD/am/fm Aiwa stereo with Bose speakers, 2 anchors w/chain, pressurized
electrical freshwater system w/60gals water, electrical marine head, inboard
Westerbeke 4-107 37hp, new dinghy may 2004, 2.5 w/outboard, bimini, dodger,
BBQ. ELUSIVE is a documented vessel
527394, located in
Asking $33K
Contact Captain Papo at (939)645-0282, (939)940-9756
or negronrafa@hotmail.com See photos at www.sanjuansailing.tk
MAROONED
1981 Alberg 37 Sloop.
Lightly used
Contact Frank @ 647-223-3536
ENVY
1970 Alberg 37 Yawl, equipped for cruising. On
the hard at the Indiantown Marina,
Owner Narrative: "This is a good yawl, w/ roller
furling new headsail and good main & mizzen and 2 extra sails, cabin air
conditioning, 3 burner gimbaled propane stove/oven, 12V refrig/ice box, twin
stainless steel sink, Autohelm 4000, Volvo Penta diesel, updated helm
wheel, pedestal w/ nice chrome 6" Ritchie compass, new fuel tank, 2 anchors,
chain rodes, and lots of rope rodes., mast steps, 8' hardshell dinghy, etc.,
etc."
US $34K
Contact:
Ron and Cindy Strahm
Email: rstrahm228@aol.com
TEL: 816.228.6325
FAX: 816.229.6100
MYA
1974 Alberg yawl.
US $42K
Contact: Ralph Turner at rrtgeo@direct.ca or (604) 815-8219
We are always looking for articles (cruising, racing, maintenance, etc.) and photos of your boat for inclusion on the website and newsletter. Send the articles via email attachment in MS WORD and the photos in .JPG format if possible.
Jay Zittrer sent the following in late October regarding the Harvest Moon Regatta (October 13-14 –
I knew we sailed a fast
race when we showed up in Port Aransas. and there were only race boats in
the harbour ...SHARED WATCH (1986
Yawl,
(Disclaimer – A-37IOA has no
financial interest in any products listed.)
Do It Yourself (DYI) Boat Owner -
The MARINE MAINTENANCE MAGAZINE http://www.diy-boat.com/
All
you ever wanted to know about Balmar Alternators http://www.balmar.net/
All you ever wanted to know about Cruising in the
Great tips on working around boats http://www.boatbuilding.net/
A great source for non-boat stuff along with a lot of
stuff that can be used on boats – great on-line catalog.
Alberg 37 Sail Plans Available On CD
Thanks to the COMBINED efforts of Roy Carter, Bruce McFarland and Wayne Bower, both the Alberg 37 Sloop and Yawl Sailplans are now available on CD-ROM for the nominal cost of $5 USD (Canadian Postal Money Order works best for Canadian requests) to cover postage the cost of the CD. The sailplans graphics are very high quality, and if printed on high quality photo paper, are suitable for framing. The CD contains both the sloop and yawl configurations. Check the Home Page of the Alberg 37 Website for details and ordering information, or send your request to:
A-37 IOA
C/O Tom and Kaye Assenmacher
Tank Gauging Project on ELIXIR
By Joran Gendell
I was tired of guessing the volume in my tanks and although I have dipsticks for all four, they just aren't convenient to use. There are commercially available systems to pneumatically read the level in your tanks, but a four tank unit lists for something ridiculous like $600. (Check out www.thetanktender.com). So I decided to make one. The method used is a dip tube descending to the bottom of the tank. This is connected to a pressure gauge. Between the two, an air pump is teed into the line. To read the level in the tank, air is pumped into the tubing until it bubbles into the tank. At this point, the air pressure is equal to the water height. The gauge displays the liquid level in the tank.
The following items were employed.
- A pressure gauge: I found one on eBay for about $10. Mine is 0-60 inches water column (WC). A 40" span might have been a slightly better choice.
- A means to pump air: From www.AllHeart.com , I ordered a blood pressure cuff replacement bulb and valve. About $16 with shipping.
- A four valve manifold: This allows the one gauge/bulb combo to read any of the four tanks. I spent a long time searching for an affordable solution to this. I hit pay dirt in the aquarium air accessories section of the local pet store. $8.
- Tubing: Quarter inch polyethylene tubing at any hardware store is incredibly inexpensive.
- Dip tubes: I used 1/4" copper tubing, mounted via nylon 1/4" tube to 3/8" MPT adapter fittings. Nylon for two reasons: First, it avoids any electrolysis issue between the copper and the aluminum tank. Second, it was easy to drill out the back side of the fitting so that the tube could pass right through the fitting and into the tank. Last item at each tank was a 90 degree compression elbow to attach the poly tubing to the copper dip tubes. As an alternate design, I think the dip tubes could have been 3/8" plastic.
I built a small wood frame to hold the gauge, bulb, and manifold. This I fastened down inside the forward locker over the port settee. This keeps the components high and dry. Four tubes pass through holes drilled in the locker bottom and are routed forward to the head, down under the cabin sole, and there they split to the four tanks.

I made a conversion table (inches to gallons) for each tank. Starting with empty tanks and a five gallon jug, I made a gauge reading for every five gallons added. For the fuel tank, I just transcribed the dipstick readings and did the math for Imperial gallons to US gallons and allowed for the (low) specific gravity of diesel.
Open the valve for the tank to be measured, squeeze the bulb once or twice until the gauge stops rising, and read the tank's liquid level on the gauge. Look at the nearby laminated table to convert to gallons.
Joran Gendell
Alberg 37 Annual Fall Rendezvous Plans
Tentative plans are to host the Annual Alberg 37 IOA Fall
Rendezvous at the Assenmacher Dock in
PIKA Southbound III
(Third Trip South to the
By Lou and Jean Wayne
Sunday, Oct. 16 - Weighed anchor from
Wed., 10/26 - Ten days have passed and we are finally
underway. We find it very difficult to
part from our dear friends Tom and Kaye who have been so good to us. They were to have accompanied us this trip
but some pesky medical issues are keeping them home. For most of the last ten days we found two
items added to the to-do-list for each one crossed off. Another distraction has been new friends
Geoff and Bunkey who are former Alberg 37 owners but now are sailing a 41 ft.
catamaran. Their boat has shared the
dock with Pika since spring but we have only gotten to know them since the
southbound preparations began. They left today also but had an earlier start
and make a couple more knots than we do so we may not see them until the
A-37
Web Site / Discussion Forum Participation
We highly
encourage you to periodically check the DISCUSSION FORUM on
the website and actively participate in the discussions. Unfortunately, participation has lagged
during recent months. Active participation is vital to members who require
information or have information to share with others. Remember, you are all “experts” in the Alberg
37, and collectively we’ve all “been there and done that”! Also,
if you receive the newsletter by mail, you should check the ON-LINE version of
the newsletter (provided you have Internet Access) since the on-line version
may have links to photographs, etc., which by necessity (postage limitations),
may not be in the hardcopy newsletter.
By the Editor
The purpose of the newsletter is to provide a vehicle for the exchange of ideas relating to our Alberg 37 experiences (good and bad), maintenance tips, and cruising/racing information and to maintain a roster of Alberg 37 owners.