bertram31.com

Pete Fallon

Cam,
Nice looking chair, one suggestion, what about putting hand holds recessed into the top board if your not going to put a cushion on the backrest, if your using a back cushion never mind. Nice job on the woodwork.
Pete Fallon

Pete Fallon

To the faithful, Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to all the members of this board. Hopefully 2013 will be better than 2012 with all the bad things that happened, Sandy, Newtown, Obama, my knees and the death of UV. It's 7:00 A.M. and the world hasn't ended yet, the translator of the Mayan langu...

Pete Fallon

Wilbur!!!!!!

Pete Fallon

Terry,
Good luck with the new elected post, I thought about running for office once but my friends said I was too honest.
Pete

Pete Fallon

To the Faithful, I found the gaskets from a company in Maine, checked internet GM throttle body gaskets, old Mercruiser kit was 158.79 for 4 O-rings and 2 paper gaskets, Volvo parts were 181.00 for same thing, Got the 4 gaskets, 8 O rings for $36.00 including shipping. Thanks for everyones help. Pet...

Pete Fallon

To the Faithful, Planned obselsence has hit my boat. I installed 1996 7.4L Throttle Body Fuel Injected engines in my 1961 Bertram Express back in 1996, now the replacement gaskets between the upper and lower sections of the TBI are no longer available from Merc, not even the superceded numbers. Does...

Pete Fallon

Harry, The 903's in the mid 70's to mid 80's were the ideal no- see-um control engines, they will run on the pins all day, but the fuel dock had to nearby at the end of a long day of fishing. We had them in the ladder trucks on the fire department, it was hard to see were the fire was sometimes beca...

Pete Fallon

Russ,
Use a heated up puddy knife or a long flat blade knife, it will cut thru the 5200. Some people think that things never break, I guess you can't fix stupid.

Pete Fallon

Russ, If your not fishing for giant blue fin or marlin I would install a smaller chair. I had a Pompenette RM chair with teak ladder back, 4 striking gimbles and a teal foot rest, it was bolted to an H frame under the cockpit sole which was thru bolted to the deck supports 4" pedestal, caught a bunc...

Pete Fallon

I am a surveyor and I give that a Bristol Condition rating. No restoration needed, that's the real dripless packing system.

Pete Fallon

Cam25,
You could also use sand bags, that's what Ric used when he re-did his 31. They also come in handy if you live near the ocean.
Pete Fallon

Pete Fallon

Jon, Send me your complete e-mail address and I will send you the pictures i took when I surveyed the boat in 2008. Like Sim said the struts have to have enough meat on the barrels to rebore and if I remember correctly there wasn't enough to rebore yours on one side. Some of the early 31's had a set...

Pete Fallon

Jon, The Charmisa is or was owned by Stanton Terranova from Rhode Island, he used to keep her at Jupiter Inlet Marina, I haven't seen it there for the past 3 years. He also was a friend of Eddie Murray's( Finest Kind a 1963 Express) and a lot of Ed's and Stantons ideas were incorporated into each bo...

Pete Fallon

Jon, I did a quick survey for a client on nthe west coat of Florida back in April 8, 2008. Boat was built 6-7-62 hull 242, old Chryslers with direct drive trannies that hadn't been run for a long time. An old owner had put on wooden spray rails at the bow area , the starboard side was reading wet on...

Pete Fallon

Jon, Welcome to the sandbox, I also have an express cruiser 1961 hull 85. Like most everyone here I will help you with any info you need. If the boat is in running condition just use it for a while and find out what really needs to be done. Retro fitting to a FBC has been done before, if it done cor...

Pete Fallon

Mike,
The drawings are all classic boats from great designers soundings is showing some class for a change, instead of ugly bubble boats.
Pete Fallon

Pete Fallon

Jamie, The hatches in the floor are easy enough to replace, 3/4" Marine plywood with mahogany supports. I redid mine (1961express), used marine plywood with 4 coats of epoxy thinned resin, frames are 1" white oak with 4 coats of epoxy, I used some fiberglass non skid material that was left over when...

Pete Fallon

Charlie, I don't know him personally, but he has been a SAMS certified surveyor since 2004. He's from Indian Rocks Beach, Florida over on the West coast of Florida. Good luck with your repairs, I was looking at the youtube videos of the damage on Long Island and Jersey Coast you really got hit hard....

Pete Fallon

Ac1977, Even although I am surveyor I agree with Bruce I00%. One instance down here after hurricane Wilma, the yard call me and asked if I would look at a large Sea Ray that had been damaged,( a long time yard customer). The adjuster was there once and the insurance company would not total the boat,...

Pete Fallon

bbtiller, The 31's did not have showers from the factory, if there is one it was put in by a previous owner. The shower floor is a fiberglass molded pan, that goes half way up the 3 bulkheads, the sink counter top is a molded part that is attached by screws to the lower pan and into the bulkheads. T...

Pete Fallon

George, Welcome aboard, nice looking 28', she'll clean up nicely. Please invest in 2 more jack stands for the bow area, get rid of the concrete blocks they are not meant to be used as blocking on boats, concrete blocks do not do well when compressed for long periods of time. Get some wood blocking a...

Pete Fallon

Sash, Go with the large Lee's with the solid rivot style cross pin, if your going after the big fish get the striking gimble style for the two rear side holders. I've used the large Lee's 30 degree for over 30 years, 10 of which were fishing for giant blue fin with bent butt 130's never had a proble...

Pete Fallon

CatchThis, Any large plumbing supply house has the plugs, they are used for filling the hole in kitchen sink where the pull out sprayer goes, measure your bow chock hole for the correct size. They come in chrome, stainless and white. Welcome aboard, don't hesitate to ask questions there is a wealth ...

Pete Fallon

Joe E, If you haven't ripped the old ones out take a look at how the were attached to the stringers, If they are gone, the original OEM Bertram copper straps were glassed on to the stringer so they would not get ripped out or bent down. They used a flat head bolt 1/4-20 threads bolt hole was drilled...

Pete Fallon

Jamie, When I got my 1961 Express there was a lead ingot in the Port engine box weighed about 50 pounds bolted to a 2x4 just laying between the outer stringer and hull side. I had it in the boat for years until I changed out the old Chysler 440's with 1997 454 TBFI Mercruisers. When I removed the in...

Pete Fallon

Faithful,
If anyone cares the Army Corp of Engineers has made new hours for all the locks on the cross Florida Waterway starting on November 13, 2012 . New hours are 7 A.M. to 7 P.M. seven days a week.
Pete Fallon

Pete Fallon

DPFlaumer, Like Walter said ethanol is a cleaning agent along with the mass murderer of older fiberglass fuel tanks. If you don't have any of the symtoms of ethanol related problems leave it alone. I would invest in an inspection camera (Harbor Freight) for around $100.00, comes in handy for other b...

Pete Fallon

Russ, Sim is right on on the weight, my 1961 express with 454's, 162 gallon tank full, 25 gallons water, 6 gallon waste, fighting chair/rocket launcher, 21' Rupp outriggers ,12 rods, 2 anchors/rodes, 2 spare props, 3-3 tray built-in tackle boxes full of stuff, spare parts, weighed 15,500 pounds Ther...

Pete Fallon

Joe,
What is this part used for and what model Bertram (25', 28' or 31). I go by Taco Aluminum quite often in my travels. Let me know I might be able to find it in South Florida.
Pete Fallon

Pete Fallon

Spencer,
The 31 Bertram at the widest point is 11' 4" rub rail to rub rail, just about where the aft supports for the hard top meet the gunwhale. I would suggest contacting your lift installer for propper sizing more than likely 14' between poles.
Pete Fallon

Pete Fallon

Charlie, Thanks for the reply on the Boston Whaler, are you still looking for a winter place, the condos in Stuart are starting to go up in price, the ones you looked at last year are up 20K. I saw your inquirey about Wilimginton NC , Jim Bailey and Tommy Drake keep there boats in nearby Altantic Be...

Pete Fallon

The Faithful, I have a client in the Bahamas that is looking for a 15' Boston Whaler for his kids, he's got a 2008 34' Venture I had built for him. The Whaler in question is on E-bay in the Finger Lakes region of New York, anyone close to that area that can look at this boat for me(my client is in t...

Pete Fallon

Guy's, I had a 20 sportsman with a 165 I/O used it to commute from Salem to Marblehead for 3 summers, nice little boat. I have had the 31 express for 34 years still the nicest riding boat I've ever run. Surveyed a couple of 26's one in RI and one in Ft. Lauderdale. The 20 is more versitle easier to ...

Pete Fallon

Capt Pat,
Got the mass mailing in Stuart I was starting go go through bullentin board DT's. Glad your back.

Pete Fallon

Keith, How long was this boat sitting with water inside the hull, you have your work cut out for yourself and your helpers. The original decks look like they were the balsa cored ones, I think I remember you said you were going to use diamond plate for the decks, if not remove all the old balsa and ...

Pete Fallon

Guy's, The locks are back open after a month, If your going across the state, I noticed that just after the railroad bridge in Indiantown going West, the entire width of the waterway is choked solid with weeds, it's been in the mid 90's and the weeds are growing like crazy. Also use caution near the...

Pete Fallon

Spencer, Make sure when you buy the external raw water pick-ups you get the ones with the removable screen insets. I just did a survey on a boat that had pick-ups with lots of holes but you had to remove the entire bronze fitting if you needed to service (clean out holes of bottom paint build-up). I...

Pete Fallon

MY other east,
Welcome aboard wher are you going to be using the boat, Florida? New York or where else.
Pete Fallon Marine Surveyor

Pete Fallon

Steve, I wouldn't use Coosa board for upright supports and sub stringers. I don't think that there is enough vertical strength in Coosa board. I would bite the bullet and get the fiberglass I beam channels from Mc Master Carr. Or you can do what I did and use white oak 1"x 8"x10', soaked in thinned ...

Pete Fallon

Guy's, The St Lucie waterway locks(Cross Florida Waterway) in Stuart (First lock coming from in from Stuart) is closed to all boat traffic for the next 2 weeks to replace defective seals. The notice stated that they will beclosed for at least 2 weeks. So no boat traffic to the west coast across the ...

Pete Fallon

Walter, Make sure that the transducer face is clean and the protective plastic stick-on is removed, I've seen brand new x-ducers not work correctly because someone didn't remove the protective covering. If that's not the problem try using some dish washing liquid soap on the transducer face, wash it...

Pete Fallon

Rick, I'm glad you got the problem fixed, I know Brewster declined being on the program, I used to fish along side Billy Monte 30 years ago. Some of the situations they showed were realy bogus. I hope you have a good season withthe two fin blunas, I'm still having major knee problems and will be goi...

Pete Fallon

Rick, I would clean off both the shaft, nut and the inside of the stuffing box, right down to the bare metal. The teflon residue may be causing the new packing to just spin around on the old surface. Take some wet sandpaper and clean all surfaces to shinney metal, then install new flax packing no mo...

Pete Fallon

Rawleigh,
Thanks for the info on where to find Decks Oile.

Pete Fallon

Pete Fallon

I've heard of using a Chinese finger to connect lines but a Chinese dick is a whole different ball game if you know what I mean. Ouch!

Pete Fallon

IRGuy,
Tip Top teak is the best. The old Deck's oile 2 part product worked for me but I haven't been able to find it here in FL for a long time.
Pete Fallon

Pete Fallon

Preston, The double clamping is only ment to be on the thru hull fittings at the sea cocks, not the bilge pump out let it self. As for check valves you can go either with or without them, I prefer not to have them, I think it's just another fitting to break or clog up or freeze in the winter. The Jo...

Pete Fallon

The best of all THUUUUD. At the Casablanca next to the flop house

Pete Fallon

BC Bertie, A few more suggestions, on your battery conections no more than 4 connections on the postive posts. The location of your washdown inatkes should be lower in the bilge, when a 31 rocks back and forth you will loose suction on the pump, also when under way unless youv'e got a scoop strainer...

Pete Fallon

Like Walter said blocked vents a possiblity,or tank expanded and popped the joint when someone over pressurized the tank. They might have been trying to see if the tank had any leaks and over pressurized it. Anyway the tank is history now, before you install new vent lines make sure that the vent fl...

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