Alden Dolphin

RARE JOHN ALDEN DESIGN! PRELIMINARY LISTING! The Alden Dolphin is what happens when a designer known for aesthetically superior lines designs a practical cruising boat. It's a tough and overbuilt vessel, with a stand-up engine room, a brand new Yanmar, and many upgrades. Interior needs your touch!

SV Free Spirit's Story

Free Spirit's owners began her refit in 2022, when they purchased her with dreams of world cruising. They began the refit the right way--from the inside out. They installed a new Yanmar engine, which now has only about 500 hours on her. They added almost 1000 AH of solar panels and a new lithium battery bank with enough power to stay off-grid for weeks. The added a large Isotherm refrigerator (front opening), a large Isotherm freezer (front opening with drawers), and an ice maker. Their two added air conditioning units are "soft start," which means they can be started and run off the inverter. If power is ever an issue, there is a Westerbeke generator.

Her owners made her comfortable and livable, because they knew they didn't want to spend the next few years stuck in a boat yard. They wanted to get out there and start cruising. Because of this philosophy, YOU are getting a classic, beautiful and rare fiberglass center cockpit cruising boat at a fraction of her value. Almost all her systems (the expensive parts!) are new, and her owners cruised her up to the Chesapeake Bay for the 2025 cruising season, where they thoroughly tested her systems and seaworthiness.

Only 13 of these were built. 12 remain.

She's a special boat with a shoal draft built in in the time-honored tradition of the CSY 44 and some Gulfstar, Morgan, and Irwin models, with family cruising in the islands in-mind. However, she is a far superior boat to any of these in her build quality and pedigree. Her long full keel pre-dates Island Packet's revolutionary design and yet has a very similar look and feel. Her displacement is heavy, her mast is ICW-friendly, and she only draws 5 feet. Her tanks are solid fiberglass and she holds 200 gallons each of water and fuel.

What she needs--her interior fitted out the way you want it. She has all the components but is a blank slate--a marine-ply cabin sole could be carpeted, laminated, or covered with the traditional teak-and-holly or some other hardwood variation. Her aft cabin has two twin beds but owners have fitted board and mattress over them to create a comfortable queen-sized bed, and only a small amount of carpentry would make this situation more permanent. Her V-berth is used for storage and a workshop, but could easily be converted back into a V-berth simply by removing the tools and parts and equipment. The panels on the salon ceiling and in some other areas of the boat need to be replaced, refinished, or completed depending on your tastes.

Her two heads feature granite countertops with lovely basin sinks. Her galley counters are solid hardwood "butcher blocks" and are perfect for gourmet cooking.

This boat is worth $120,000 to $180,000 once her interior refit is complete and a few exterior details such as painting the decks and refinishing the teak are tended to. You can get her now for a fraction of that, IN a DIY yard, positioned well for world cruising. She has only been hauled out for a few weeks at the time of this writing (1.2.26) and is fully functional.

Among her features:

110 hp Yanmar Engine w/ 1 12v alternator and 1 24v 285a alternator for house bank

1 Arco Zeus alternator controller

7.6kw Westerbeke Generator

2-100g water tanks

2-100g fuel tanks

All tanks fiberglass and built into boat

Sea Water Pro Watermaker 40 mpg

4- 24v Epoch 230 ah lithium batteries 920ah total

2 Victron Multiplus 3000W inverters

2 Victron MPPT solar controllers

2 Renogy 450w solar panels

1 new spinnaker

1 washer/dryer

1 Raritan Ice maker 1

16,000 but heat/ac with soft start

1 10,000 btu heat/ac with soft start

New Bimini with enclosure with screens

1 85lb Mantis anchor w/ 300’ of chain

Rebuilt Ideal Windlass

2 heads with showers, granite countertops, and basin sinks

1 New Isotherm ac/dc refer

1 New Isotherm ac/dc freezer with drawers

3 Raymarine Axiom chart plotters

1 Raymarine autopilot

1 Raymarine radar 1 Icom vhf

1 Icom AIS tx/rx

1 Icom SSB w/ tuner

1 Fusion stereo w/ 600w amp 2-6.5 speakers and 12” sub

Loads of spare parts