bertram31.com

CaptPatrick

CaptPatrick

Mickey,

In Miami, Capt Bouncer Smith is one of the best...

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Patrick

CaptPatrick

Dan, You might be able to Google up a price that's a little less than buying from the factory... But you need to at least talk to the factory and be sure of the exact model that you need, (dependant on shaft & log size). As to installation; if you can follow directions well, pay close attention to d...

CaptPatrick

Frank, There really is no substitute of quality teak, especially if it is going to be subjected to water. Teak is a naturally close grained & oily wood that not only will standup to the marine environment, but also remain dimensionally stable & cosmetically appealing. The price of teak really hasn't...

CaptPatrick

Harry, The PSS seals are the best design on the market. They work as designed with no surprises, they're easy to install, maintain and adjust. One of the other major manufacturers, (name synonymous with powerful ), has had numerous near catastrophic failures, 2 that I know of personally. I've never ...

CaptPatrick

David,

If you do decide to go over to dripless, ONLY go with the PYI-PSS system. Your shafts also have to be in excellent shape in the area of the seal, so shifting over could also mean new shafts...

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Patrick

CaptPatrick

S'matter, Nic, I figured you'd be too covered up with sheilas to be counting on some yankee chickadee wantin' to come down for a visit.... I know, the term hasn't really been in common usage for a very long time, but only because ya'll are tryin' to be as politically correct as we seem to have becom...

CaptPatrick

Carl,

Come on down here, you can blast away with any of my side arms right in my own front yard...

CaptPatrick

His Timminess wrote:I'm guessing pistolero's

Achtung! Carl livin' in NY, & hand gun laws bein' what they are there, you're probably wrong... My money is on small caliber Match Rifles. The 2013 is for sure a .22 LR target rifle.

Feinwerkbau

Anschultz 2013

CaptPatrick

To find an owner of a Bristol Condition B31, that is younger than 31 years old, she's gonna' become an old maid. She needs to re-define her parameters...

CaptPatrick

Mike, I like the sound of a 5 cylinder, (got a Vortec 5 in my GMC Canyon & love it...), but could the HP be kept down to under 320 HP on a 5 cylinder without redesigning the wheel? Maybe via the fuel pump volume... 320 HP is about the maximum that the B31 will handle without serious modifications be...

CaptPatrick

David,

New stock boxes are available through Richard Kidd at Allied Richard Bertram...

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Patrick

CaptPatrick

There's a good degree of validity to different boats & different hulls having a bearing on raising fish... The two basic categories of hulls are wood & fiberglass. For simplicity, I'll dump all boats with wood in their hulls into the single pot of wood boats. That will include (1) cold molded, (2) p...

CaptPatrick

Bob Schneider, (Bob Schneider Lures), did extensive research with Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center, (AUTEC), before he retired from the Navy. During his research around The Tounge of the Sea, (Andros, Bahamas), tracking submarines he discovered that many species of fish, especially billf...

CaptPatrick

You should be fine with the vermiculite "trail mix", but don't try to mix enough to do everything at one... Keep each mixed batch to no more than a gallon container sized batch. Mix your 2 part epoxy thouroughly before adding the vermiculite. You want the vermiculite to be completely wet out, no dry...

CaptPatrick

Mike,

Welcome aboard!

Seems like there are several questions already asked, (above, Kevin, DRIFTER, David), that you could start with.

We all wish you the best of success with this engine design...

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Patrick

CaptPatrick

Gerry,

Thanks for setting me straight...

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Patrick

CaptPatrick

Hub,

If the shaft material is standard stainless, (not Aquamet 19, 22, or equivelent), you pretty much reached, or exceeded, the normal life expectancy...

Recommend that you replace both shafts & shift over to AQ22. Also see: High performance shafting and installation

Br,

Patrick

CaptPatrick

Doug, Between the two, Flexiteek is by far better. Plasteak isn't much more than linoleum. Crapy in my estimation. Gerry Santiago used the Flexiteek on "Zero Cavity", so he's another to give a first hand opinion... (Gerry's boat) http://www.southeastmarine.com/gpat/santiago050%20copy.jpg (Not Gerry'...

CaptPatrick

Farley, Welcome aboard! I'm pretty sure that the serial number is going to be a fairly short number along the lines of 9xMxxxx No clue as to where on the engine you'll find it, but it should be a plate on the block itself, unless someone in the past has removed them. The 3160 was the predecessor to ...

CaptPatrick

Craig,

Think that was Bob's son's, B31 powered with a single DD671 natural. Set up as a center console, open fisherman... I saw the boat at the Glass Tech's yard during the re-build in '95, but never saw the finished product or heard performance results.

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Patrick

CaptPatrick

Carl, I've been through the "meadows" from Cape May to Atlantic City on a 47' Buddy Davis, (back around '88), and it's damned tricky, especially at a lower tide. Currents can be a bitch in areas on a fast moving tide. Be careful & get as much local knowledge as possible if you go that way. Not a rou...

CaptPatrick

Scot,

Probably some questions for Bruce to answer... But, with a deep v hull a pocket will have to be developed anyway, so make it large enough to handle the correct size wheel... Still not a good idea in my book.

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Patrick

CaptPatrick

Carl, Been a long time since I made that run, but you for sure want to take the Cape May canal rather than run the shoals out to the ocean. Besides, it's a shorter direction. Once you come under the bridge at Cap May, follow the channel around to the right, right around the Lobster House docks to So...

CaptPatrick

JG, First, to get any performance, you'd have to power with at least a 500 hp engine which would probably swing around a 30" diameter wheel. With the deep v of the 31, that would entail a very large prop pocket, or more like a tunnel. The engine would have, of course, to set on the center line of th...

CaptPatrick

John, John Avala & Rey Cabrera installed 3116 350s in John's B31. This included installation of prop pockets & the Cabrera cockpit kit, (bulkhead, engine boxes, companion way, & deck), which is configured specifically for the 3116 Cats. The engine boxes are considerably longer, somewhat wider & some...

CaptPatrick

Happy Birthday, Randy!

CaptPatrick

JPR, I have absolutely no doubt that the general consensus of all the members of this group are in agreement that putting outdrives on a B31 is about as dumb as stump... Nobody really cares to spend time typing out good logical reasons why it's a dumb idea. Tell your "someone" that we think it's dum...

CaptPatrick

John,

Gelcoat is porous and is going to gobble up stains, expecially oil. DON'T gelcoat the engine spaces! Paint is the only way to go. 2 Part is better than 1 part.

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Patrick

CaptPatrick

John,

Way too much work, far more expensive, & even worse, lack of adhesion.......

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Patrick

CaptPatrick

John, If my feable memory serves me at all, I seem to remember '65 fuel price, (automotive regular leaded), at about 35 cents a gallon in Houston. Around 50 cents a gallon in '70... Using 16 cents on the dollar, that'd be about $2.18 - $2.30 today. Price in town a few days ago was $2.79, (regular un...

CaptPatrick

Mikey, Considering that $1.00 in 2006 had about the same buying power as 16 cents in 1964, that $9,000 to $75,000 range would be today's equivilent of about $56,000 to $470,000 today. Not much change after accounting for inflation... (The 360 Moppie is priced around $416,000 today) "A dollar just ai...

CaptPatrick

Bill,

Some flex is to be expected from fiberglass... The rigger bases should have a generous backing plate though. Nothing less than 1/2" in thickness, plywood is fine, as is starboard. I'd use 3/4" or 5/8" plywood...

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Patrick

CaptPatrick

Frank,

I talk to him semi-regularly...

He's behind on some projects and been super busy, but he's alive and doing fine.

Br,

Patrick

CaptPatrick

From what I gather, the system is designed to compress it's own air.... "The engine has 4 two-stage pistons, i.e. 8 compression and/or expansion chambers. They have two functions: to compress ambient air and refill the storage tanks; and to make successive expansions (reheating air with ambient ther...

CaptPatrick

I hate to sound crass, and it's probably not good form to comment without more facts, but from my years on the water, inshore & offshore, it appears to me that whoever was at the helm might be nominated for the Darwin Award... My guess is that the "captain" knew nothing about light configurations on...

CaptPatrick

Announcement, top of page for site links: Announcement: Bertram31.com Website Links

CaptPatrick

John,

That's 1,600 lbs of excess baggage & if you're going to leave for more than a month or two, it's not going to be very fresh anyway. I'd get rid of it...

How long do you expect it to be on the trailer?

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Patrick

CaptPatrick

John,

As long as your tank is empty, no engines, & the trailer is properly configured for the B31 hull you'll be OK. Try to keep the duration to a minimum though...

With engines & fuel, a couple of months at the most.

Br,

Patrick

CaptPatrick

John, If it truly is a 10 kw, that's a hell of a good price... List is over $12K & best online price is around $8K. The 10 kw is however a lot more than you need. Most 48' - 50' boats are powered with 10 kw & generally have energy to spare. Space will be your biggest concern, & you'll be forced to i...

CaptPatrick

John,

I epoxy coat the subdeck. Top, bottom, & edges, generally two coats on bottom & edges... A one part oil based paint would probably be sufficient, same coat schedule as for the epoxy.

Br,

Patrick

CaptPatrick

Wayne, If the pair you're looking at are Fujinon Techno-Stabi 14x40, then it's a fair price. Not great, but fair... New is around $1,100.00 If they are the Fujinon 12x32 then you'll be over paying... These can be had new in the $750 range. I've handled one pair on a friend's boat, (can't remember wh...

CaptPatrick

John, Assuming that you're still going to paint or powder coat, I'd go ahead and drill for a through bolt. If you want to stay flush on the outside, (this'll be a pain in the ass, but it will work), set the frame back into place and lined up the way it needs to be with no t-bolts. Tape it across in ...

CaptPatrick

Ian, Try looking inside the hull, under the port bunk in the V-berth for a glassed over paper with the hull number. This was the spot for the early boats. Later Bertram moved the location to the inside center of the transom below deck level. After 1972 or so, the hull numbers were molded into the ex...

CaptPatrick

Ricky, If you've got a buddy with a portable welder, or at least can locate a jobber that can come out, you can engineer a simple 4 post stand out of 2" square steel tubing, 14 ga wall thickness. You'll need also four pieces of 4" x 4" angle, 1/8" thickness. Basically it'll be an upside down coffee ...

CaptPatrick

John, Assuming that you'd be painting the frames after the repairs, you need to first thoroughly clean up all exposed aluminum, sand well with 320 grit, grind out all corrosion spots, & acid treat with Alumiprep. Dry the aluminum well, do a good clean up with denatured alcohol & allow the alcohol to...

CaptPatrick

John, Seems like a backasswards way of achieving the goal... Granulated non-skid additive is available in 3 grit sizes, fine, medium, & course. Applying the non-skid with the paint would be far less labor & expense... I wouldn't use course non-skid on anything other than a commercial fishing boat. C...

CaptPatrick

Tony,

Both bulkheads are glassed over. The rails are supported, after leveling & adjusting for twist, by 1" square fiberglass structural tubing. You want to be able to take the rails out when & if necessary. I'll take a couple of shots tomorrow & post...

Br,

Patrick

CaptPatrick

OK Guys, Here's my way of scheduling a bottom job from square one: 1. Remove all old bottom paint. 2. Make necessary repairs to blisters, closing un-needed through hull holes, etc. 3. Fair with epoxy & high density filler. 4. Minimum two coats of Interlux 2000/2001 barrier coat, (as stated by Troy, ...

CaptPatrick

Sorry to be so late with this round of "Thank You".

Many thanks guys!!

Gary Maksym
Bob Fioresi
Frank Bryson
Nic Doig
Terry Frank
Dave Kosh
Gerry Santiago
Harv Friedman
Doug Quigley
Dug Stowe
Charlie Faulkenstein
Tony Meola
Ed Chadrow

Br,

Patrick

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