A4 compliment and A4 bad advice

[joe_db]

Good news:
I had someone on my MK I C&C 35 that had owned a MK III 35. They were amazed at how much smoother the A4 was than the diesel in the MK III was

Bad news: PS did a review of the Alberg 35 - a boat worth $20,000 on a good day - and went on about replacing the A4 with a diesel. Good advice for crossing oceans, but REALLY bad financial advice for a weekend and vacation cruiser. You will spend $15K turning a 20K boat into $25K boat. MUCH better to be the SECOND owner of the diesel boat

[ndutton]

Check the comments section in the online version of the same article. Two of the three comments are blowback about the repower recommendation.

http://www.practical-sailor.com/issues/37_42/boatreview/Alberg-35-Offers-Classic-Escape_11421-1.html

[Mo]

Good points Joe. One thing I notice allot is that people pick up a used diesel boat and the engine sometimes needs work in a short period of time. Whether bad fuel, injectors, injection pump failure, overheated with warped head, hydrolocked and valve damage etc etc .... the cost of repairs is generally exponentially more than it takes to fix an A4...there's no problem being told by a yanmar dealer "sorry, they don't make those rings anymore", or "it will take 5 weeks to get those valves". I see it every summer and the owner's boat sits gathering mold at the dock. It is what it is and many walk into it unknowingly. Once picking up any boat one must be prepared to rebuild the engine and if the parts are not readily available it puts a real damper on boat ownership.