Almost B31 - cresta 32

[DavidDW]

Hi Guys,

I thought I would share my project with you.

I live in Sydney Australia and am heavily into gamefishing (or I used to be before I started on my project boat!)

I have always thought B31s looked great but there are only 4 or so in the country, and when I started my project (6 years ago) there just wasn't really an import option. I was poor, just out of university, and didn't have the money to spend on an already built boat.

Of course if I knew what I did now, I would have saved my money and bought something complete and saved a packet of money and a whole lot of heart ache.

I ended up buying a 32' cresta (a deep v boat that is proportionally fairly similar to a B31. She is a fairly large 32 footer. I have been rebuilding her from a totally stripped out stage to specifically be able to fish heavy tackle (130lb) for marlin off Australia's east coast where we encounter blue/black/striped marlin. I purchased her without engines or tanks, put her on a truck and sent her 2500 miles from Darwin to Sydney.

In the photos she is being unloaded to what I hope is her final pre water home after a fairly stressful time with the old boat builder. I am having the engines 2 x 240hp perkins installed shortly as well as finalising the internals and plumbing/engineering. Most of everything was removed from the boat for transit, so she is a bit of a shell in the photos. Fuel capacity is 264 gallons which should give her a good range if driven sensibly. She should be able to cruise at 18/19 knots with a top speed of around 24. This is plenty for the work she will be doing as efficiency is the key in my mind.

I have taken many ideas from the B31 boards as well as from the building tips pages. I owe you guys and Capt. Patrick a lot.

Sometimes I sit at work and listen to Brewsters "I must rebuild a 31 Bertram" clip when nobody is around (of course wearing the headset with the image hidden behind various spreadsheets).

This place is like an AA group for boatbuilders and without it, I am sure I would have lost what remains of my sanity long ago.

I hope you guys enjoy the photos.

Additional photos can be found at www.fishcrazy.net (under cresta project - left side of screen half way down) nb these are very old!

[Bertramp]

good looking boat ..... enjoy !!

[In Memory Walter K]

Good luck, you've earned it!

[jackryan]

That's quite a project. Keep up the good work and post lots of pictures.

JR

[TailhookTom]

Pretty boat -- good work!

[IRGuy]

Good looking boat.. nice lines! I have been rebuilding my Bertram 33 for almost 4 years.. am now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!

Don't lose the drive to completion.. About a year ago, after doing a whole lot of big tasks (for example: rewiring the whole 12 volt system between the batteries and electrical panels and engines, making all new cabinets for the cabin, replacing all the steering hydraulic hoses, replacing the gearshift/throttle controls and cables) I started on the smaller tasks.. I made a list.. things to do before painting (my boat had been hand painted by the previous owner.. a "doofus" and I had to sand all of it off), things to do after painting but before launch, and things to do at my slip. Each time I finish a task I leave the entry on the list but cross it out. When I get a little weary of working on her I look at the list of completed items.. it gives me a little kick in the butt to see how much I have done, and the shrinking list of what I have remaining!

Good luck!

[Bob H.]

David, Love the broken shear line...nice deep V, those Perkins are bulletproof..keep us posted on the progress..lookn good.BH

[34Hatt]

Yes quite the project from what it was to now is a lot of changes.
Good luck hang tough the end is near!

Dan

[DavidDW]

Thanks Guys - I'll be pushing to try and get her operational as soon as possible from this point and will be completing some of the finishing touches once she is on the water.

It's nice to not be completely responsible to finishing her off at this stage, but, I always manage to find heaps of jobs to do from a distance. I finished building all the engine room air induction and extraction system, over the weekend and will be building some fibreglass tuna tubes over the next few weekends.

I hear you on the list writing IRGuy. I have pages and pages of the things. They tend to still be growing unfortunately!