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Amberjack

JJ I’d be interested to see what you found on the market for diesel powered FBCs in decent condition. We bought Amberjack a couple decades ago and always wonder what value to put on it for insurance purposes.

Amberjack

Tips….tips….ahh, tip toes! I thought you might have meant tipsy which looking at the image could also be appropriate. Anyhow, looks like fun.

Amberjack

Beautiful Carl. We get those here in the Pacific NW also about this time of the year. They are so overwhelming it’s hard to absorb it all. Thanks for posting. I’m a bit puzzled though. You’re on the East Coast but it looks as though you are heading northeast back to harbor with open water behind you.

Amberjack

Yannis,Tony is talking about shrink wrap. We use it a lot over here. Cover the boat, heat it up (or whatever they do) and it contracts covering the boat in a tight skin that doesn’t need a frame. When I did it one winter we cut a door into the shrink wrap that gave me access into the cockpit and the...

Amberjack

Carl wrote: ↑Oct 29th, '24, 12:48
The wire and pole thing on the foredeck, is that to be used as a handrail? It's a cool looking thing.

That owner was a marine historian. Its the same clip on lifeline used on WWII submarines. I agree, it’s very cool.

Amberjack

Good morning Peter, I’m writing from your side of the country today. Boy you guys have beautiful weather! Is it always like this? I also just installed Garmin autopilot after years of navigational simplicity. In my case it’s to use when piloting from the cabin during bad weather allowing me to remov...

Amberjack

Great images, they give a glimpse of the understory of my boat. Thanks for posting them. It’s unnerving how many openings are in our hulls, some original build, some added by previous owners. Early on in my ownership I mapped all the openings I could locate, many disused and capped off, one with a h...

Amberjack

I used Fleetwax a high carnuba content paste wax for years. Buff the hull down with a light rubbing compound to get it clean, then do two coats of Fleetwax in quick succession and forget about it until next spring. The old gelcoat on the Bertram just loved the wax and seemed to absorb it which is wh...

Amberjack

It's a pop up camper at best when it comes to weekending My wife says it’s like camping in the back seat of a Porsche 911. We spend a month on our 31 FBC every summer and enjoy it. Over the years I’ve modified the boat enough to make it practical: a small double berth forward, a butane cook top sto...

Amberjack

As Tommy said scrape some of the paint off the inside of the transom about 10” inches above the keel. Mine (1969) are on a piece of paper glassed in there. If there is one you won’t hurt it by removing the paint.

Amberjack

Carl wrote: ↑Sep 17th, '24, 07:00 They are wet,

Yes they are wet unless you can run dead into the wind and chop so the spray falls away on both sides. As Admiral Nelson said “Damn the maneuvers, go straight at them “.

Amberjack

The hull number will be written on the underside of the cabin sole hatch covers. The hatch covers were apparently cut to fit rather than being jig or pattern cut. I still have mine and avoided painting the undersides for that reason.

Amberjack

What an epic find, a Bertram 31 in excellent original configuration and condition. The only updates I see are sensible and in keeping with the character of our boats. You easily have $150,000 in upgrades. Congratulations!

Amberjack

Awesome trip, way more adventurous than anything I’ve done. What boat?

Thanks for posting this.

Amberjack

Tony Meola wrote: ↑Sep 11th, '24, 21:30
Unfortunately, people are forgetting.

Even in the far northwest corner of the United States we remember.

Amberjack

Carl, you are correct of course. I have 1 3/4 shafts on Amberjack and think I may be over sized but that’s what started this train of thought. Kevin I look forward to hearing what power plant you decide on and what shaft diameter the power people call out. My repower happened the same way yours did....

Amberjack

1 3/4” shafts are plenty for any power you could squeeze into a Bertram 31

Amberjack

Here are images of my cockpit sole. As you can see it hinges from the sides and allows me to lift the center section for access. The center piece is still heavy though and best managed with two.

Amberjack

Hello everyone-Back in civilization again. We crossed the Straits of Juan de Fuca headed south this time in pretty decent weather. Image taken from American Camp, San Juan Island on a beautiful warm calm day http://i.imgur.com/W7R05KO.mp4 Holed up in Port Madison for a couple days to aclimatize and ...

Amberjack

Ah Peter, that’s Alaska. When it decides to rain it can rain long and hard. I hope you were on a cruise ship with a warm cabin.

After minimal communication all day the phone rang and said the lead mechanic was on his way. It’s fixed and we’re outta here tomorrow.

Amberjack

We moved over to Roche Harbor Marina yesterday and are sitting at the dock waiting for the replacement water pump to arrive by small plane, if it arrives today. First AM delivery up here is 3 PM. Meanwhile I have time to post a couple images from our hike out to the isthmus Saturday. View across the...

Amberjack

Ganges got depressing after awhile but Henry Island is great and our neighbor gave us two live Dungeness crabs for dinner tonight. You bet it’s sweet! I’ll post a couple images from our hike tomorrow.

Amberjack

Hello boys, back in communication after a couple weeks in the wilds of British Columbia. After fueling up at Friday Harbor-Amberjack loves that fuel dock-we checked in to Canada by phone at Boundary Pass and motored up to Ganges Harbour, BC. Easy couple days at dock to rest up and resupply, especial...

Amberjack

We left our Seattle winter moorage in Portage Bay on Lake Washington at 11:00 AM and idled through the various canals and connecting lakes to the Hiram Chittenden Locks. It was a sunny Sunday and there was a crowd waiting. The large locks opened after half an hour and we all crowded in, experienced ...

Amberjack

Nice car @amberjack Looks like a 1987 3.2 Carrera with 16x6 and 16x7 fuchs. I tracked a few Porsche's over the years and always told my friends that owning a boat makes Porsche ownership - even tracking a car seem reasonable. https://www.thehulltruth.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=230410&stc=1&d=1...

Amberjack

Something tells me that they won't be recovering the restoration cost... Although it would be nice if old Bertrams got the same treatment that old Ferrari's or Old Porsche's They do Jeremy, in fact better! http://i.imgur.com/PlBgmRSh.jpg I’ve easily spent 10X on my Bertram as on my old Porsche. htt...

Amberjack

Steve, in the past when I’ve updated the software I inserted the chip, went through the download process and removed the chip when done after maybe 30 minutes. I followed the same procedure this time but no Canada charts came up. I did it a couple times and even tried leaving the chip inserted but s...

Amberjack

This is the chip

Amberjack

With all the wisdom on this forum I’m hoping someone is knowledgeable about older Garmin GPS units. I bought my GPSMAP840xs with the Canada chart package. Last year when we crossed into Canada all the chart detail disappeared. I contacted Garmin who told me I needed their Canada chart MICROsd chip. ...

Amberjack

Lifted this morning for a pressure wash and zinc change the yard had a new comporter with functional gauges. Amberjack weighs 12,000 lbs with 110 gallons fuel, 30 gallons water and zero stores.

Amberjack

Beautiful place to work on a boat

Amberjack

Raleigh the bench seat was still in place. After all it was just a couple voltmeters right? Well at one point when I was upside down and wormed into the starboard cabinet I wondered if I’d be able to reach the phone to call my wife for help if I got stuck. Carl, the one project left on Amberjack is ...

Amberjack

Yannis it depends on where along the inside passage between Vancouver Island and mainland BC you are. Tides flush from both ends where the year round temperature is 50-55F. From the south end of Vancouver Island to the north end is about 300 miles. Toward the middle where the tidal currents don’t re...

Amberjack

New volt meters are finally in. One more “to do” crossed off the spring commissioning list. Original old Stewart Warner volt meters. Evidence of corrosion is visible around edge of the right hand gauge http://i.imgur.com/LM2hWfmh.jpg Seems it ought to be easy so why did it take me three trips to the...

Amberjack

Doug, One other reason the guy in the 70ish footer has arranged for a float plane and mechanic is probably because there is no gen set dealership in the area. Had there been one, I bet buying a new generator would be cheaper, let alone the revenue from selling the old one... Damn it 200 miles north...

Amberjack

Doug Anyone who ventures out on the water should know the basics of engine maintenance at a minimum. If something happens while you are out, it could be the difference between getting home and drifting for hours waiting for help. I was at the dock in Cortes Bay, BC maybe a couple hundred miles nort...

Amberjack

And still, we spend money and abuse ourselves in trying to keep up with time. This is who we are! I have to admit I agree with you Yannis (what???). Bertram owners are hands on owners and not because we're cheap. Many of the projects on this forum cost way more in time and money than just buying a ...

Amberjack

Hmmm, the link didn't post first time. It shows on preview so let's try it again.

https://www.soundingsonline.com/news/wa ... s-boaters-

Amberjack

Carl wrote: ↑May 13th, '24, 08:53 being able to sit an watch the water full of life...Amazing. It not only recharges the batteries, but the soul.

I've put in a lot of hours on Amberjack and I've gotta say the best were when we shut down the engines on a calm day and just drifted in the middle of nowhere.

Amberjack

Yannis wrote: ↑May 9th, '24, 07:13 Why wouldn't she Carl, a window is not a structural issue, you may get a bit wet, that's all!

A windshield is only a windshield until its not there anymore

Sent from my iPad

Amberjack

I came across something similar last summer. We had spent a couple days in Port Madison 9 miles across the Sound from Seattle. I was watching the Garmin as we came around Sandy Hook and saw a curtain of fish starting at 50’, solid down to 75’ then tapering for another 20’ or so. This went on for 1/2...

Amberjack

Images I forgot to include with the original post

Amberjack

Time to replace my at least 30 year old volt meters. What brand is most used? Are these even used anymore? I need to put something in the openings when the old ones come out.

Amberjack

Yannis, my fault for drifting way off the core topics of Bertrams, food and alcohol. It’s back country Louisiana music mix of blues, rock n roll and soul with lyrics in a mashup of French, English and dialect. They use drums, guitar, accordion, harmonica and a weird washboard like contraption that h...

Amberjack

Yannis wrote: ↑Apr 23rd, '24, 23:49 Biscuits and gravy? What gravy?
What else is there for me to learn...

About the South? Let's see....zydeco?

Amberjack

Add a diesel bunk heater. I have the D2. In fact, I have one in my camper and another on the boat. https://www.heatso.com/espar-marine-heaters The water stays cold year round up here so the cabin sole can be chilly even with the diesel range fired up. A couple years ago I added 1/2” foam insulation...

Amberjack

Were your turbochargers acting up or was this a proactive preventative maintenance decision? I ask this as someone who 3 years ago decided to get ahead of the game when the salon was opened up for refreshing and replace my perfectly happy domestic water pump. Today after 3 defective water pumps the ...

Amberjack

Kevin it looks to me as though either a previous owner replaced the cockpit sole with a prefabricated unit designed for a slightly different boat which then needed to be trimmed for length or they added a second panel to that double hatch. There should normally be more dimension around the aft edge ...

Amberjack

Interesting saga with a positive ending. Thanks for putting up on the Forum for us.

Amberjack

Over the years Amberjack has been lifted by three different yards. When I asked what their gauges showed for weight one said 9,500 lbs, one said 13,500 lbs and one said their gauges had been broken for years. I don't think either of those weights were accurate. Amberjack probably weighs 10,500-11,00...

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