Me an my brother have been pidlin in the gulf now for about 4 years in a wellcraft coastal 220, the boat is a fishing machine an we have murked a many a fish but its small...to little for what he needs and he has been lookin at bigger boats. I dont get to go much anymore so i cant look at boats with him.. but..He found a 28ft 1999 albermale express with top drive an a tuna tower and the boat is in insainly good shape for its age. My questions are: what is the story on the tamd41 volvo diesels, and are these albermales quality boats? We gave researched an find good things but id like to hear what, if anything, yall know about them. Engines have less than 20hours apiece and run like a top. He has got them to a pretty reasonable price too... sucker is nice and has a ton more room..what say ye.

I've heard Albemarle is a good hull. Don't know anything about volvo diesels, but if they've only got 20 hours on them - are they new or rebuilt? If rebuilt, I'd be looking into who did the work to make sure they know what they are doing.Good luck!

They were rebuilt and the work was done by a supposedly cery reputible mechanic in rockport tx, thats where the boat is

I have fished a ton of different boats over my years. That is a good boat and those are reliable engines but I wont ever purchase another well used boat. Too many other problems can and will occur.

I’d prefer a topaz express. You can find them reasonable. It’s a battle tank for bluewater

Just stay away from the damn jetties!!!

Diesel engines were too much maintenance for me. I now have a 33’ Grady White and love it. Outboards are much easier to maintain.

Im a fan of a topaz as well and have fished off of one before and loved it, we couldnt find one that hadnt been beat on over the years or updated since the late 90's for his price range. I do like a topaz tho

I found a couple 30ft sum odd luhrs convertibles and a few hatteras fly bidge boats but apparantly to get a salon boat in his price range we were lookin at 454 crusader gas engines...big price jump for a diesel inboard. I wanted him to find marine 6bt's but youll pay for those and i agree maintenance on outboards is a ton cheaper. Me personally.. if it wer me.. i wanted about a 30ft center console..maybe an older jupiter or contender an update with some 4stroke yamahas and new electronics. Woould be about the same value from my figures an you could fight 360 around the boat but wouldnt be as comfy an overnight trips, which is something he wants to do would be difficult i guess..especially with females an such.

There’s a lot of boats to choose from of course depending on how much cash you want to spend. But whatever y’all get make sure it’s got a big gas tank for blue water fishing. Folks that run that far out are usually on the water 28 to 32 hours if you hit the rigs and the blue water. I’m also not a fan of non local used boat.

I you can't put in on a trailer, don't buy it.

What’s the budget? My father in law just listed his Tiara 3700 with twin Cummins

Tiara 3700 - click here

30 foot Dusky....Fish Around Cuddy....330 horse Cummins...Located in Waverly,Ala.----make offer.

thats more than he can spend and i doubt hes willing to go for that dusky plus he is in south texas, thank you tho

i wanna sayhe told me that albermale with the volvos runnin around 20knots its estimated fuel range was around 300 miles.. does that sound right? He may have told me wrong... im pretty sure it holds around 250 gal of fuel

Im an outboard guy.. inboards are foreign to me unless it your general gm gassers..the wellcraft has a 200hp hpdi yam an its been rock steady..an thats why i wanted more outboards because we know fuel range in those motors a little better...learning curve for us but we both grew up on the water so we can figure it out i guess.

Big center console or walk around.

All you need is a paddle boat and a seaman dog.

Tell me about the wellcraft coastal. Thought it may be a good do everything boat for living close to the coast.

Nice boat, 1999 or 98, has i think a 07 or 08 200hp yamaha hpdi that runs excellent. I forget what all electronics it has.. it has the biggest raymarine dragonfly they make and a hummingbird chartplotter i think. He had a top built in san antonio out of aluminum with several rod holders. I think he had it rewired and a sterio system and bluetooth radio. Has bait vat with aereator, raw water washdown works good, and it has a littlecudde fot storage. 2 people is a party..3 is a crowd.. mote than that an its about shoulder to shoulder...alot of turn takin. Boat holds a 102 gallons of gas and the yam sips gas.. we have ran it about 45 miles out before...bout as far as i want to go with a single motor.