I have just looked at the pictures of Kabous0's restoration of Minstrel and can only say WELL DONE.  We are still working on Vagabond Dreamer after all these months and can truly appreciate the time, effort and devotion (not to mention cost) of what you have done, espescially since our hull was relatively free of marine growth whereas yours probably qualified as an "ecosystem".

It is truly a beautiful boat that you can be justifiably proud of.

Use and enjoy.

Sincerely,

Mark
"The Vagabond Dreamer"
U.S.A.

Hi to all:

 

It's always nice to read your thoughts on a computer screen, but I was thinking that actually meeting the people behind the words will be even more interesting. How does an actual get-together sound, say over a weekend, where we can exchange ideas, tips & stories and have a couple of beers.? Since most of you live up north, meeting in a city in Holland, Denmark, Belgium, U.K., etc., were they're frequent flights could be convenient. 

 

Any idea is welcome.

 

-Nicholas

  

Hello All,

Work continues on Vagabond Dreamer.  Deck preparation is going well, if not slower than we would hope,  the deck is stripped of all hardware, sanded and ready for paint.

 While working on the deck we noticed that the outside edge, where the deck and hull were joined, had some "wave" in it where the deck to hull bolts had been tightened.  We have smoothed out this "wave", which took more time than originally thought , and are ready to fill in the holes where hardware has been previously attached and later moved.  The deck has been sanded and will soon be ready for the first color of paint. 

Unfortunately this preparation work does not lend itself to pictures and we will miss  working on the boat next weekend due to social obligations.

Will update as work merits.

Fair winds, clear skies and good health to all.

Sincerely,

Mark Smith
"The Vagabond Dreamer"

I have just seen the pictures of the sanding and paint job done on Vagabond Dreamer, and it looks great!  It's wonderfull to see that somebody thinks the Ballad is worth such an effort. And look at it! It's beautiful!

 

Keep it up you guys!  Sailing is great, but sailing a beautifull boat is wonderfull!

 

Jesper Milling

Do anyone know how long the forestay is incl. turnbuckle, fittings... ?

 

Hi

Stig Yndgaard

Last Sunday, while I was working on “Moments of Clarity”, I met Jerk Oldenburg, a 74-year-old Swede who had taken a temporary berth at our marina for a few days. He was towards the end of his 8-year circumnavigation in “Vindela” a 1974 Hallberg-Rassy Monsun (31ft). His plan is to leave the boat in the Ionian port of Preveza for the winter, then return next year and sail back to the Baltic via the canals. Last night, I had a beer with him and, needless to say, I was mesmerized. Among other things, he told me that he had crossed paths with Hans Kokholm, the Dane who completed his circumnavigation in the Ballad “Joy”. Mr. Oldenburg has a site, www.autonik.se/vindela, in which he relates his experiences.  For those of us who don’t speak Swedish, gazing at the photos will have to suffice. At any rate, the hour-and-a-half we spent chatting was very inspiring. Also, his boat was a far cry from the over-laden cruisers we usually see. It was simple without being spartan. The windvane, SSB and sat phone were the only clues to the distance covered, and, of course, the ice-cold beer he offered me was testament to advanced refrigeration. A man who has set his priorities right.

 

-Nicholas

Thanks to this Site I was able to make contact with Jeff Chen (Focus). Our boats are berthed about ten miles apart so we were able ot visit each boat and compare notes.

 

Yesterday, Sunday, we had an enjoyable sail of about 6-7 hours on my boat (Acqua di Vita). We have plans to repeat this as often as possible.

 

It is nice to get info via the Site but even better to locate a sailing partner with the same boat. Thanks Jesper!!

 

Regards,

Dan

 

   

 

I was out testing the sleigh and working out with Rudolf and his team two weeks before Xmas, when I saw the most wonderfull sight. It was one early morning in the fjord of Flensburg in Germany, and I couldn't help noticing it was a Ballad down there on the water, actually one of the biggest presents I ever delivered, and to one of the biggest playkids too.

 

So I rode by one extra time, and took this shut, cause I thought you'd all like it. I attached the shot in a 1024 X 768 pixel size so that you can use it as a desktop wallpaper if you want.

 

Have a merry christmas everybody!

 

Santa

 

Has anyone installed any type of storage compartments in the cockpit coaming?  Any tips on what to do/not do would be appreciated.  Thanks!

Hi everybody!

 

In a few months Ballad Exchange has existed as an internet based interest group for two years. Ballad Exchange has 167 registered members (of which a few are some extra users I have created for testing purposes) and probably a few more users who just drop by and read without contributing, which of course is just fine, and definedly part of the purpose of Ballad Exchange. 167 users is about 10% of our ultimate potential, if we consider every owner of a Ballad a potential Ballad Exchange user. Size does matter, when it comes to sharing expertise and questions, and our connection to the very experienced groups of scandinavian Ballad owners is rather thin. Sometime this winter I would like to run a little campaign among the Scandinavian, German and Dutch ballad sailors trying to create some interest in using Ballad Exchange more. However, before I do so, I would like to hear from all of you who are allready registered users if you have any comments or suggestions on one or more of the following, or anything else related to Ballad Exchange.

My Ballad 651 was rammed while on her mooring and the pulpit damaged beyond repair. Also needed is a stanchion base and one of the stanchions if we can find one of the origional tapered type. Has anyone had one made recently. Balu was made 1974/75 and has the GRP toerail with S/S coach bolts joining hull and deck. The Ballad's strong construction saved her from mors serious damage.

Although I was unable to take Balu 651 as she had been rammed on her mooring, this year's UK Nationals in Fowey, Cornwall were great fun and keen racing. Paul Dixon very kindly invited me to join Kotuko's crew (I hope I have spelt that right,Paul) for the first 2 races on Saturday 28th May. The wind was WSW F6+ and, of course, the only boats sailing were Ballads - full main, Genoa no.2 and big spinnakers. I really learnt alot about racing and what a Ballad can do! Thanks Paul. We managed 3rd place behind Chris Compton's Marcus J and Peter Noakes' Sharah of York. Chris went on to win the series with Peter second. Both the Royal Fowey YC and the Fowey Gallants YC entertain us well in the evenings.

A new member means an introducion, I suppose! We, my friend Rafael and I, bought an Albin Ballad today! Coming friday an expert will take a look at the boat and if it is oke, it will be ours.

Very enthousiast as we are, we google'd right into this forum.

Hope to speak to you all soon, as real owners.

Greetz, Xandra

Dear Jesper,

Wonderful postings about the anchor locker and winch rebuild, clear and concise with very good photos. I think they could be published. I suggest Good Old Boat Magazine at www.goodoldboat.com which is dedicated to maintaining older fiberglass boats. The value of the Ballad Exhange is greatly enhanced by your contribution.

 

Thank you!

Tony Allport

Dear Maxballad,

 

Well done on finding photos of our boat in your Webblog on Links!  The Triangle is a two-handed race which is sailed every two years from Torquay to Cork (Ireland) to Treguier (France) and back to Torquay.

 

Unfortunately this year the hull split apart about 5 hours after the start (when we were doing incredibly well!) and we had to pump all the way until we could get into Plymouth.  However, two years ago, the boat won her class in this race.

 

Regards,

 

Janie

The weather became stormy one afternoon forcing the skipper of an Albin Ballad to seek shelter in a protected cove. She rounded up and dropped her anchor in the lee of a headland, and after tidying up a bit she stood in the cockpit watching the shore through the pouring rain to see if the anchor was holding. The cove was deserted except for a railroad track running along the shore. The whistle of an approaching train sounded in the distance when suddenly a section of the headland collapsed and slid across the track. Recognizing the impending disaster she jumped into the cabin and rummaged on the shelf outboard of the nav station until she found what she needed. Scambling into her dinghy, she rowed ashore and started running down the track toward the approaching train. Miraculously the train stopped in time to avoid disaster. When the authorities arrived they asked the engineer how in the world did he know he had to stop the train. He said that when he saw the skipper running down the track waving a clothespin in the air he knew there had to be a washout on the line.

planet albin  hello  thanks for taking the time to answer v amaya  went to north gulf coast to maybe bring ballad to southwest coast adjacent big lake okeechobee waterway  and then eastward across and north to cape kennedy  my father who gave me the boat  said the last couple of boats didnt make it so i spent time fooling around with the batterys and forward roller furling  it rained the three days i was there so i procrastinated using bosuns chair tovisually inspect from top to bottom  snorkelled under boat to clean transducers and folding propellor and thrrough hull fittings the ten horse volvo starts right up and sounds good but wouldnt have gone anywhere the prop was completely encrusted with barnacles and small oysters it took a little while to clean prop even with athree foot snorkle my dad made so he could clean and scrape at same time  i think he gave me the boat after he was cleaning and took him forever to get back in boat he is eightythree and has a pacemaker hes probably better off not taking it out any more by himself this is my second time at the computer   thanks for putting up with my hohum and answering v amaya                         diverdoug  key west and cape canaveral

Hello there,

My very close friend was given a 1976 A.Ballad recently. He has been aboard boats many years but never sailed and if you could give us any help as novices, it would be appreciated. He wants to sail it soon, from North Florida down the Gulf of Mexico and across the state ending up the east coast in the river here, Melbourne, Florida.

What does he need to know about his boat and how much experience must he have in order to have a safe journey? Thank you, Amaya

The sail boat is 30'.

I would like to wish a happy holiday season and fair winds in the new year to all Albin Ballad sailors. May peace prevail on Earth and at Sea.

Cheers,

Tony Allport

How about if I invited someone with a special relation to, or special experience with, the Albin Ballad, to a chat in our chatroom, for eaxmple a sunday at 19:00 hour Central European Time. That would be something like around 12:00, in the states.

 

It could be Flemming Bitz, the Skipper of "Nette" who has crossed the Atlantic twice in his Ballad, or it could be one of the more technical or organisational guys with many years of experience, from one of the Scandinavian Ballad clubs. Or it could be any other interesting person, that any of us can think of.

 

This is just an idea, I'd like to hear what any of you think of it, and anyone is offcourse welcome to make his or her own invitiation to a chat in our chatroom, for any purpose, and at any time.

 

Kind regards Jesper Milling