bertram31.com

Amberjack

Shoutout for the original Bertram aluminum guards. Yes they are by now scuffed, scarred and in some cases pitted but they do their job which is protect the boat. A couple years ago I was T-boned by an out of control charter while at the dock in Ganges Harbour, BC. The distraught operator came by aft...

Amberjack

Amberjack wrote: ↑Dec 1st, '20, 14:53 Great pics Tony and a beautiful family!

...and you also Peter!!!

Amberjack

Great pics Tony and a beautiful family!

Amberjack

30 hours isn't a lot but Mizirata's last post was November 2018 so depending on when the repower was completed--and we know how yard projects go--he had the 2019 season, or part of it, plus the virus disrupted season of 2020 to put time on the engines. So 30 hours may not be out of line. It would be...

Amberjack

Tavis' thread "Under contract!" started me thinking about the transom scuppers on Amberjack. For the 25 years I've had the boat they've been just sitting there riding along 5" above the water and not doing much. Typical Bertram 31 scuppers. Since my cockpit replacement in '04 I've had gutters leadin...

Amberjack

bob lico wrote: ↑Nov 18th, '20, 09:19 my son is a better Captain then i am as of late

Bob, I decided a while ago that my two sons were better at everything than I was. That I didn't figure this out even sooner was only due to the fact that I am also not as smart as they are.

Amberjack

Kenny--When I refinished the aluminum guard on Amberjack I used zinc chromate to provide the bond to the aluminum then primer over that. Mine came in a spray can produced by Moeller who might also produce a liquid version. It may be the same stuff used for the undercoat on new airplanes, at least it...

Amberjack

The hull and stringers are solid, decks are a bit soft. Our plans are to basically gut her a section at a time, and continue to use her in the process... I will have lots of questions for you guys after I get her home. Tavis--Foredecks on Bertram 31's have a bit of give to them. There is no wood so...

Amberjack

Thanks for the tip John. I think I will start deeper next year. Everyone seems to be fishing the 75-100' contour with lightweight pots so I'll look in the 125-150' range. Probably with the same pots but more heavily weighted at least until we prove the concept. I have a son down near you living in t...

Amberjack

Tavis I hope you get the boat. Realize you are going to spend money on it when you get it. Don't let that bother you -and it will cost more than you thought. I have had mine 4 years and spent money but I love the boat and even after the repairs and maintenance expenses i would do it all again. It i...

Amberjack

Doug, Yeah, I have a similar contraption for ouzo production, only it's bigger, ha ha, that's why I didn't recognize yours!! Another reason is that heating in a boat over here is as useful as a fridge is to an esquimo...but now that you mention it, 60w is a hell of a deal if it can heat the cabin, ...

Amberjack

Of course yours is bigger, but only the ouzo maker! Yes it is 60 watts but it is not really a cabin heater. It is marketed as a dehumidifier but is really just a static 60 watt heat element. It produces enough heat to keep the cabin air circulating and prevent condensation and in the process raises ...

Amberjack

Steve--that is pot puller version 1.0 and it worked pretty well except it kicked up when the angle of pull varied from straight out from the side of the boat. I will design a hinged piece to drop over the guard when deployed which will hold it in place. The most challenging part was mimicking the cu...

Amberjack

Tony-that is the original brown Formica on the forward cabin bulkheads. I wisely decided to leave it alone when we painted the salon bulkheads and it turned out fine. That Formica was out of direct sunlight and is still in pretty good condition. Installing the teak and holly sole really brightened u...

Amberjack

What did you use at the forward end - the bulkhead separating the anchor locker - to cover the edge of the 1/2"+ of material? Stephan--I used 1/2" x 5" teak to trim the forward bulkhead. It would have been a lot of work to remove the old covering and probably replace the bulkhead hatch so I just ga...

Amberjack

C'mon Rocket, are you trying to get me in trouble? I looked at False Pass and felt Amberjack was not maneuverable enough for that action. Plus as you said there are a lot of wood chunks drifting around from the booming operations. If you had your camera recording video that would be fun to see on th...

Amberjack

Are you sure Bob said that? He must have been having a bad day when he posted that. The 31 set up from the factory will have a tendency to chine walk and drop the bow at higher speeds. I would say once you get up around 35 knots give or take. What Bob did to defeat that tendency was change the prop...

Amberjack

Carl, I said we caught enough for two dinners and I meant it. Just enough! Those crabs were hard won and I would have fought my own children for them if they had shown up for dinner either night. Still, here is an official invitation to stop by for a drink, a salmon dinner, a steak on the grill, any...

Amberjack

I removed the carpet, scraped as much of the loose crumbling glue as I could, then used an orbital sander with 60 grit to smooth the underlying glue and expose as much bare glass as possible to provide a firm base for the new glue. There is an indent in the hull where the bow chine is molded in so I...

Amberjack

John-So south through Dodd Narrows which is always a thrill the first time especially with any tidal current running. Our B31's have plenty of power to transit even up to 7-8 knots current but the dog leg means you can't see what's coming from the other direction. And they could be wildly out of con...

Amberjack

John F. wrote: ↑Oct 25th, '20, 11:32 I helped a friend move a boat from Nanaimo to Seattle, where the boat got loaded on a barge to Hawaii. We spent the night in St Johns Harbor.

John

St John's Harbour BC is about 2/3 of the way up the inside passage to Alaska! You guys really did take the long scenic route.

Amberjack

This fuel efficiency discussion begs the question of why anyone needs 740 hp on a Bertram 31? Amberjack is moderately overpowered with 630 hp and Carl pointed out sometime ago 240-280 hp is probably the optimum power range. Also not to forget Bob Lico who says anything over 26 knots on open ocean is...

Amberjack

Hello Tony--We stay in the water year round. The climate is generally mild enough to keep the boat in commission and being under cover in fresh water makes it work. The constant lake temperature of 50-55 F acts as a nice insulator against freezing. I live nearby and usually skate off to the boat a c...

Amberjack

Summer is already in the rear view mirror and its hard to believe it's already come and gone. Back in March we weren't even sure we'd be able to get the boat out. Since I'm filing my photos from this limited summer I decided to post a few here for those interested in seeing what Pac NW boating is li...

Amberjack

Doug, I see what you mean bringing to my mind these beautiful fjord like coves at your area that are essentially mountain slopes covered by water.. http://i.imgur.com/kCRWTLNh.jpg This picture was taken near Turn Point, Stuart Island looking into British Columbia (ohhh Canada!!). My Fathometer was ...

Amberjack

John--Back to your original question, I carry 90' of 5/16" chain backed up by 250 feet of 5/8" line. So my total ground tackle weight load is: fortress anchor 12 lbs, chain 90 lbs, windlass 22 lbs = total 124 lbs. This compares to the boat's original ground tackle which was 22 lbs anchor and 60 lbs ...

Amberjack

Discussion of poor judgement wouldn't be complete without the photo of MOJO being hammered at Morro Bay in 1978. You can just see the bow poking through the backside of the wave and the CG surf boat off to the left watching the whole thing. Professional photo is by Scott Redd who heard the conversat...

Amberjack

Thanks everyone for the kind words and invites! The new owners will use the boat in Ilwaco, Washington. Ilwaco is located on the Pacific Coast on the Columbia River. They are big salmon and albacore fisherman. They are sure to turn a lot of heads out there with a bertram. They tell me that there re...

Amberjack

Hey Doug, What a contrast! I pray that the fires are under control soon! JR Jack, it worked! Unexpected rain Monday night cleaned up the air Tuesday morning. We could see the sun and it was white/yellow instead of red! It was a nice break, thank you for your intercession! But back to hazardous air ...

Amberjack

Jack, there are a couple hundred separate fires along the entire West Coast. It's been dry and hot for a while so nothing is going to stop them until it rains which won't be for a while yet. Everyone is hunkered down inside waiting it out--except idiot me. I went out for a couple miles this morning ...

Amberjack

http://i.imgur.com/y1rZaUTh.jpg Returning to Seattle from trip to San Juan Islands late August http://i.imgur.com/ukcdN93h.jpg Same view returning Saturday September 12 from an overnight in Port Madison. Cold and smelly with visibility maybe 1 mile in smokey haze. The Health Dept says air quality i...

Amberjack

Besides, a whiff of diesel exhaust on a cool, crisp morning when untying the lines is one of the finest smells in the world!

Amberjack

Thanks Mike, that was well said and appropriate. Perhaps we can get you to talk with our national politicians of both parties as well. They seem most interested in driving we the people apart when in fact I'm convinced we have much more in common.

Amberjack

Amberjack has a Rule 1500 with automatic float switch mid-ships wired direct to the batteries and a second Rule 1500 with auto float in the stern wired to the panel. I added an audible alarm on the bridge wired in parallel for the stern bilge pump because like everyone else I kept worrying whether i...

Amberjack

Peter that is real knife between the teeth boating. What waterway was that?

Amberjack

Carl--I have 630A's and have run Mercon III ATF for the last 15 years. This is what the manual calls for and I didn't even know there was a controversy.

Amberjack

Doug We are lucky enough to have enough inshore fishing with Blue Fish, Stripe Bass, Fluke and Sea Bass when the season is open to keep us busy when we don't want to spend 4 hour getting to the Tuna grounds. Tony, you broke loose some 50 year old memories. This kid grew up in Portsmouth RI and summ...

Amberjack

Jack--Amberjack came with a Jabsco-Par 36950 when I bought it 25 years ago. Don't know if it was original to the boat. The original pump lasted 10 more years and the replacement lasted about 15 years with a couple rebuilds. The third, purchased last year, has an issue with the pressure switch 14 mon...

Amberjack

It sounds scarier then it is to remove the packing gland in the water...but whats the worst that can happen, "you sink". Soon as you past that its easier. AND Chances of sinking are slim as only so much water can pass between shaft and gland...I forget the spec on how much water can come in. But th...

Amberjack

What happens if I go down to 1/4" and add extra rows to compensate. Peter-I would stay with the maximum size that will fit between the shaft and the stuffing box. You want the rings to "stack" on top of each other so they remain uniform as you tighten the collar, not slip out of position and create...

Amberjack

Peter--Are you sure you got all the old packing out? On mine the last row of packing was so tightly compacted I thought it was part of the fitting and could only get two rows of the new packing in. Also pay attention to what Carl said and be careful not to tighten too much to begin with. That was an...

Amberjack

It was dramatic but not that much of a bow plant. Any boat that's survived 30 years working in the charter trade was well found and tough enough. My guess is some undetected and/or unaddressed wood deterioration in the bow left it in a condition for this to happen. So I agree with both Carl and Mike...

Amberjack

Rick--I've had Yanmar 6LP's for 15 years and though I'm not a mechanic I'm familiar with them. If your undercarriage is clean the other logical cause is fouled turbochargers. When the turbochargers on these engines kick in at about 2000-2200 rpm you feel the kick, there is no mistaking it, and the b...

Amberjack

Has the boat been hauled in the last two years?

Amberjack

I'm curious as to how far back your windscreen goes near the centerline. It appears to go nearly straight up or even forward a little. If so, that would work with my set up. JR Jack-The windscreen does angle back, perhaps a 25-30 degree angle from vertical. Images attached from our first overnight ...

Amberjack

Jack--I reused the original hardware. Attachments are copper eye loop bolts and the trailing edge hardware is original Bertram windscreen attachments. I'll be on the boat next couple days and will take pictures of the entire windscreen.

Amberjack

Our house was adjacent to a very large wildlife refuge. The very first palmetto leaf I went to pick up after the storm had a rattle snake coiled up under it. Turns out if you scream like a little school girl it stuns them for just a second or two and gives you a little time to whack them with a 2x4...

Amberjack

Jack--It was Kel-Tech Plastics 3510 South Pine St Tacoma WA although I looked online and they closed recently. Don't know if permanently or due to CV-19. Doubtful if they still have a pattern after all these years but you never know. IF you decide to move ahead with a new windscreen and IF you find ...

Amberjack

Amberjack, Thanks for the pics, looks like a beautiful area for boating. Can you tell me about your windscreen on the flybridge? It appears to be a little larger and doesn't angle back as much as the original wind screen. Was your wind screen custom made up in your area? JR Jack you are right on bo...

Amberjack

Carl--I bet a hundred times starting when I was in college and dating my wife. I lived on Bainbridge Island so it was a trip across Puget Sound, maybe 9 miles, then up through the locks etc in the family's 16' outboard lobster skiff. Shortly that boat upgraded to my 18' inboard Poulsbo boat rigged a...

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