Bertrams getting around

[Lars]

Found a nice group of B31's in the harbour of Aqaba, Jordan a couple of days ago. Any others with pics of Bertrams in interesting places?

[John F.]

That’s great. Thanks for sharing.

[Tony Meola]

Lars

Not surprised. King Hussein the former King of Joredan owned a fleet of them. I understood the former Queen sold them all after his death, but maybe some of them are from his old fleet.

In fact Fred Haas who does not really post too much anymore here owns one of the Kings original boats.

[Lars]

Aha - that explains it. Thanks for the trivia! Makes sense, as this marina is not far from the king’s villa.

[MarkS]

It’s good to be king!

[Tony Meola]

It’s good to be king!

Or the Queen after the King died.

By the way I only know that little piece of Trivia is because at the AC get together, Fred and his father told me the story behind their boat and that they actually found paperwork on the boat with the Kings signature on it.

That Bert hat the 3208 Cats on it and from I was told was a great riding boat. It sat at least 6 inches lower in the water than any of the other 31's due to the weight of those engines.

[Lars]

I love how knowledgeable this group is on little snippets like this - keeps adding to the experience. I met with King Abdullah last week; it would have been a great conversation piece to know of his father's boats.

[Rawleigh]

What is the crazy paint job on the second one from the left!

[Lars]

What is the crazy paint job on the second one from the left!

Same pattern repeating all around the hull. Would never have thought of it, but actually pretty cool in real life.

[Tony Meola]

Lars

Ok you really met with the King or you wish you met with the King?

[Lars]

I did Tony. I am chairing "The Sahara Forest Project", and the king is a keen supporter of a major scale-up of our Jordan facilities. Cool stuff - check it out: www.saharaforestproject.com

[Tony Meola]

Wow

Now that is quite the project. That could be huge for them.

[Lars]

Pics of more B31s from the Aqaba, Jordan fleet taken last week. Got confirmed that these used to belong to the late king Hussein like Tony informed. They look like they are still in reasonably good nick. Most other older boats in the area are pretty sad, but these look like they have received a bit of upkeep. Love the sport fisherman layout..

[Craig Mac]

If that is an unmolested factory sportfish-----first one that I saw without a lower control station.

[Lars]

Agreed, was thinking the same thing. Possibly a flybridge without bulkheads. But that interior must have been modified anyway.

[Tony Meola]

That boat gas been modified. Look at the seating.

[Preston Burrows]

Super post Lars, very interesting - I had read before of the King of Jordan's ownership of B31's and nice to put photos to words.

[Keepat]

I helped commission those bertrams in the early 80s. Below are a few pictures taken in the late 80s
They all had a very clever have tower and cockpit shade (designed by Arthur Burr) The top was designed to hinge forward to allow the boat to be shipped overseas. They also on occasion would trailers the boats to the Dead Sea, another reason that the tops need to be re-tractable.
Thanks
Pat

[pschauss]

Are those cockpit shades available off the shelf or were they all custom made?

[Keepat]

Are those cockpit shades available off the shelf or were they all custom made?

No, they were custom-made. Would be easy to have made!

[Marshall Mahoney]

Coming back from an overnighter at Abu Nu'ayr island off the coast of Dubai -- around 1979. Mom and Dad on the flybridge and me with my feet up on the bow rail.

https://i.imgur.com/WOH0kSQl.jpg

[Marshall Mahoney]

[Lars]

Awesome old pictures! Amazing what this group knows and has lying around.
The tops and shades must have been well made, as all the boats still have them in good condition today.

[Carl]

Half way around the world and as different as things are they are still the same.
Great picture, thanks for sharing MM.