Albin Vega Mini Pearl

Espin and Barbara are sailing on another Albin Vega sailboat named s/v Min I Pearl. Actually Espin sold us our dodger back before we left on our trip, but it was an internet transaction, and we’d never met! They gave us a tour of their little Vega and showed us all their little tips and modifications.

Barbara and Espin on Mini Pearl

Espin had replaced his dodger (the one he sold to us) with a hard dodger that he constructed himself and painted red. It’s a pretty sweet device to keep the wind and pray off of you while under way. He also tutored me on his SSB radio installation, which he says he wa able to accomplish for under $550 total! The SSB radio allows radio and email communications over hundreds and thousands of miles, and they often cost $5,000 or so to install! We want one, but always thought it was beyond our reach. Espin’s SSB install gives me hope that we’ll be able to have one some day!

Barbara's V-Berth Bags

Barbara sewed some bags for hanging clothes in the v-berth, which are really handy.

Mini Pearl has no inboard motor, so there is cavernous storage space under the cockpit floor. The mainsheet traveler is also moved forward of the dodger, so it doesn’t clutter the cockpit any more. What a great and useful design, although I wouldn’t want to have mine set up that way in a serious storm. Espin also turned the hanging closet into a cabinet with shelves. What great little modifications!

The storage locker Espin made

It’s always so nice to explore another Albin Vega and talk to its owners. It gives us ideas about our own boat and reinforces our belief in how great our boat really is. Mini Pearl inspires us to consider removing our inboard motor to gain the storage space and speed up our boat by making her lighter!

So that totals three other Albin Vegas that we’ve met on our trip now! 1) Wes’ s/v Gemini Dreams, 2) Marsha & Volker’s s/v Raindrop, and 3) Espin and Barbara’s s/v Mini Pearl. Funny that all three of them are going to be based out of Panama City, Florida! Maybe that’ll become the home base of the southeast U.S. “Vegatarians” rendezvous this year!