bertram31.com

John F.

Thanks for doing this Harv.

John F.

Harv-

If you get 200, what's the price per?

John

John F.

Harv-

Great. I'm in for 6 or so. Not sure about AC, but I'm hoping to make it to Greenport.

John

John F.

If its just about value/$$, use and sell the boat as is. You generally don't recover what you put into a boat when you sell it. If its about the boat--and it should be, its a B31--then do whatever you want, however you want. Are you on the Chesapeake?

John F.

Frank- I used Trinidad for years. Great paint. When it got over $200 gallon, I tried BW or West hard paint for $50-80 gallon on my Whaler first, and then the following year on my B31. The whatever/cheap brands (West since BW went under) have worked fine here on the Chesapeake. Just a thought. I don'...

John F.

great deal, and the best boat for kids.

John F.

Al- Capt. Patrick posted a drawing somewhere showing where he'd out tanks for extra fuel. As I remember, the tanks were between the engines and in the cabin floor. Mike of "Lightning Shack" has a pics. and drawings of a decent size tank he put in the cabin floor of his B31--nice pics and install. I ...

John F.

Kipp--great job.

John F.

Max rpm is 4200-4400 on older 454s. My '69 FBC cruises at 3000 rpm at 22 knts., or 2800 rpm at 20 knts. For a 50 mile round trip, I'd stick with gassers. Gassers 31s are alot cheaper, and are easily maintained. If you ever need a mechanic, gasser mechanics are alot easier to find and bill at a much ...

John F.

Nice fish. Great way to start.

John F.

Nice. I fished here on the Bay Friday with my kid, and only managed one 38" fish. It was hot (of course when I was working), and has really cooled off in the last week. Guys in the southern bay are supposedly tearing them up. Nothing better than fishing/catching with kids.

John F.

Its really, really dependent on how you use the boat. The difference between a B31 that used in a Bay for fishing or running to a bar/restaurant (like mine is) and a B31 that is used to run 60+ mile each way to an offshore canyon (like alot of the guys here) and needs to be equipped and maintained s...

John F.

Finally got a 31...'bout time. Happy to hear Doc is well. So, what does that make--2 Berts, a Shammy....

John F.

Hang in there UV. I painted my kids' old dingy in the garage using brightsides. It came out pretty good, except for one spot. That's where I left the garage light on, and the bugs cooperated by flying into/around it, dieing, and then dropping dead onto the fresh paint. Through it back in the water b...

John F.

Forrest- Port engine runs then it'll turn circles to starboard with the stock rudders--that's it. Hard over you may get it to go straight for a little while. Whether you buy this boat, or any other B31, one of your first moves should be to get Capt. Pat's rudders. Then you can steer all you want at ...

John F.

Congrats on the progress. She'll be another Capt. Patrick clean lookin' 31.

John F.

Experiment with cutting the epoxy. It thins up fast. I've found that 10%+ works fine.

John F.

Thanks guys. When I got her 8 years or so ago, I had never done anything other than wash/wax/bottom paint boats. This site has been amazing with all the great advice. Just trying to show folks what a rank amateur with basic (and I mean basic) skills and some time in the winter can accomplish. She's ...

John F.

I think they take alot of room, and I like stand-up, but when its rough out, there is no substitute. I've fished on days (not my boat) when there is just no way the fish could be fought safely without a chair. I'm hoping to see Walter in his chair with a drink and a cigar at Greenport this summer--s...

John F.

I had less time and ambition than usual this winter, and took it a little easier on B31 projects. I meant to paint everything under deck, new rudder shelf, etc., but it didn't happen. I replaced the steering lines, fittings, reservoir, and reserve valve on the Hynautic steering. Thanks for all the a...

John F.

Here's what I did when the bench seat wore out. I made the bench out of marine ply/West/paint. The Pompanette chair in the middle is a big improvement over the bench. The two side seats were bought at Bass Pro for relatively cheap. I plan on getting something made someday. I also have snaps on the s...

John F.

I bought my f'glass deck used off this site. The previous install had been done with the center deck screwed down through the flanges into the deck support, and then finish screws screwed down from the outside deck pieces into the center deck running down the seam where they meet the center deck, an...

John F.

When I first put it on, I just used the old deck supports after some minor repairs. Its pretty easy. When I took the deck out again for the tank, I redid the deck supports. I took the starboard deck piece of this winter to do the steering line and outside starboard support. I'm going to take the dec...

John F.

It's a job...but pretty much straight forward. Remove cockpit panels, motor hatchs, hatches, then the screws holding the deck down. Remove the deck supports. If tank is foamed in place do your best to cut the foam free from the stringers ( I used a 1" band saw blade...but a long serrated knife may ...

John F.

What deck do you have? I had a wood deck that was screwed down, and replaced that with a Glasstech deck that also screws down. If its just screwed down, not a big deal. Getting the tank out isn't that hard--its the otehr stuff. When I had mine out, I replaced the bulkhead aft of the motors, all the ...

John F.

I don't know anything specific about the 496s. They have a rep. as really good motors (like 454s), and my friend had alot of trouble-free hours out them. His were Crusaders, not Mercs. I've never heard anything bad about them that was motor-related. CC had some problems that were install related.

John F.

Adam- I think the difference between the 8.1 375s and the 8.1 425s is that the HOs make the extra hp at higher rpms where a B31 won't really ever be. So, if you can get cruise numbers from Scott, they should give you a pretty good idea. I remember the underpropped thing. The tank is the older 175 ga...

John F.

Do on search on Scott Traenkle here. He put 8.1 HOs in his B31 last year or so, and posted some numbers. A friend of mine had a 2004 31 Tiara with the 8.1s, and they were great motors. No problems at all in the 900+ hours he put on them. I'm not sure of the fuel burn, but it was in the range of 1 nm...

John F.

FWIW, I have a Cruisair 12K BTU AC only (no heat) with the regular (not digital) controls and its worked fine for the past 8 years. It doesn't get used much though, but when it does, it works.

John F.

If its been together for awhile, spray everything with Corrosion X first. Makes things alot easier and less likely to break when you take stuff apart. If Charman doesn't work out, there's a place in FLA. recommended by Seastar that was great on the phone when I had questions. I can find the name/num...

John F.

White

John F.

I put a 12K BTU Crusair in my FBC. Works great and can handle the summer heat here in the mid-Atlantic. I put the unit under the bow seat in the cabin, but I like Capt. Pat's location in the head better. I had one outlet in the cabin only--nothing in the v-berth, and it didn't work out. The cabin wo...

John F.

Russ- From what I've seen, the smaller tanks (which I had) have a flange around the top and look very different from the bigger tank (which Doug's Crows Nest has). If your tank has a flange around the top, and is shaped kinda' like a little bathtub with a keel on the bottom, I'm guessing its the sma...

John F.

Great job. Lots of great custom touches.

John F.

Congratulations.

John F.

Andy- I've had good luck with Bilgekote. Its lasted and hasn't peeled, although its only been a few years. I tried BilgeKote because I had used the Rustoleam 2-part stuff a couple of years before, and that peeled in a couple of areas. Easily could've been my fault with prep., but long and short is t...

John F.

Ex-Banhsee never had it so good. Looks great.

John F.

Scott-

How 'bout some pics. of your 25? Need some updates.

John F.

Nice....an I'm hoping it gets warm enough to do some epoxy today.

John F.

Tony-

My bad. I thought I read somewhere that ss tanks couldn't be used unless cylindrical in shape and under 30 gallons--some reg/rule stuck in my head that made a ss tank not the best choice. Can't find the rule/reg now though, so I guess I'm not remembering it right.

John

John F.

I went with an aluminum tank that I had made by Patriot Marine Fabricating in Forked River, NJ (tel. #609-693-5542). The tank was made out of 1/4" aluminum with 3 pick-ups and returns in case I ever go diesel/get a generator (neither are in my plans). Patriot epoxy coated the tank also. They were gr...

John F.

Scot-

I epoxied it but didn't glass it--rookie mistake. It was fine for a few years, but needed to be glassed, so that's my other winter project.

John

John F.

Scott- When I get a chance, I'll get some pics to you. The pulpit is basically 3 2"x5" planks that were laying around. I epoxied those together to make the pulpit (its about 16" x 5' total), and laid that on the boat. I then scribed 1/2" by whatever mahogany I had for the side pieces, and epoxied th...

John F.

Bob- Just kidding about the windshield. 36 knts. in 6' waves? Ouch.

Glenn-

Hope all is well. Get her together and we can meet out on the Bay. Did you get a tank?

John

John F.

You also have to figure in how much Bob likes to f'glass in the windshield--then it'd be a real trick to run.

Whaler-

Nice boat--good luck with her.

John F.

Teak on that 25 of yours will look great.

John F.

JP--Its new fluid, same wheel, old seals, it doesn't leak. I'm going to go back over everything, and then try to isolate stuff, at the suggestion of the teleflex tech guy (very helpful guy and very patient)-- --take the lines off the cylinder, and make sure it moves freely. If the cylinder moves fre...

John F.

Mark- I did this pulpit as one of my first B31 projects. It replaced a diamond plate steel pulpit that was on there. Its basically solid with the sides made of mahogany and I scribed and cut them to fit the contour of the boat. The Butler puplit was nice (and expensive), but it wouldn't fit the cont...

John F.

Walter/John/Bruce/Sim- Thanks for the advice. I'm using the Teleflex fluid bought at West Marine for too much money--and at $20 quart it sucks to keep disconnecting things to check and have the stuff run out. Oh well. I disconnected the rudders, and they turn fine--no binding there. I loosened the c...

John F.

Amazing work guys. There a professional manual writers out there, and alot that aren't so good.

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Winter Projects-Pulpit, Outer Deck Support, Steering Stuff