bertram31.com

Guys,

I posted a few months back while I was in the middle of the purchase of a 35 Bertram in Cudjoe Key. The owner was in the middle of a restoration about 7 years ago, hurt his back and never got around to finishing. I spent the past few months getting her ready for the run home to DE, left the keys July 9th, and made it home July 15th. It was an awesome experience running her all the way up the coast. Besides shearing the shaft on one of the water pumps, it was a relatively smooth ride home (weather and mechanical).

The boat used to be run out of OC, MD as a charter. Not sure if anyone here knows her or has fished on her but the name is My Sanity. Wally, (owner) took her down to the Keys maybe 10 years ago when he moved there. While there he had a tower put on, built custom cabinetry, electronics, etc. Now it's time to finish taking her apart, fix what needs fixing, and put her back together.

To start, I removed all the old wiring and distribution panel, cockpit deck, and rudder shelves. I'm in the process of stripping off all the old bilge paint to get ready to be repainted. Is there any harm in sanding down the top woven layer of the glass to get to the paint that is in the low spots of the weave? It comes off really easy once it gets hit with a sander or flap wheel, but didn't want to take it all the way down if its causing harm.

One more question...engine related. Engines are Cat 3116 DITA at 280 hp. Towards the end of the trip up the coast I started noticing a hint of gray smoke out of the port engine. I took her easy the rest of the way, and the smoke came and went. It was only really noticeable after about 1600 rpm, maybe when the turbo started to spool up?? When we got back to port I noticed some oil around the top of the engine block. Looked a little closer and both air filters had oil in them, but never saw a bit of smoke out of the starboard engine. Is there anyway to narrow this down or would the engine guys here need to see it run under load? Sorry, diesels are a whole new world for me, and I'm not sure what info is needed to troubleshoot. Any advice or things to look for would be appreciated.

I'm going to try to post some pictures, hopefully successfully. I don't have any pics on the computer after I started the demo, so once I get them on here I'll post em. Looking forward to your guys input as I work through the rebuild process!
-Mark

Congratulations.

The 35 is one heck of a boat. Which bridge layout do you have? They made one with a bench in front of the console and one without. I am not a diesel expert so I will let the others chime in, but I may be wrong but depending on the year, you may need to watch those cats.

Thanks Tony. Its a 1971 so it doesn't have the forward seating on the bridge. I actually prefer it that way as I'll use it mostly fishing and I like being by myself when running to/from fishing grounds. It's sorta my time to unwind and reflect. And yea, I'm curious to see how the engines do. I did my hw on them and knew a repower could be in the cards in the near future, but maybe they'll hold up...we'll see. I've been toying with the idea of doing it while its torn apart, but lot's of other places I could spend that money...

Mark S,
I'm glad you had a good trip back from the Keys, a pretty uneventful trip if that's all that happened. Take your time and enjoy the refitting now that you've got her back home. It's going to be a lot easier to work on it without having to get on a plane and then drive an hour or so to get to the boat. Have a good Cat guy check out your port motor, might be just a simple thing. Good luck with the boat, nice looking ride.
Pete Fallon

Not much I can offer in the way of advice, so I'll leave that for others to chime in on...

But did want to say you bought a good looking boat...lots of potential there for sure.
Sheared shaft on water pump from Keys to DE...for an older boat with older power I'd say uneventful is putting it mildly.
But very glad to hear it.

Thanks for posting...looking forward to the rebuild.

Best of luck with her,

Carl

I'm in the same boat as you... My '79 35 will be making her ride home by the end of this week after a mild rehabbing... 3116-350hp cats... My journey is only 40mi door2door...

Good looking boats guys, congrats. What are the performance numbers as far as cruise speed and fuel burn on those 35's? My wife commented about getting a larger boat. I think a larger boat would be nice in some regards but the boat we have is treating us very good.

Thanks for the compliments guys!

Kevin wrote:Good looking boats guys, congrats. What are the performance numbers as far as cruise speed and fuel burn on those 35's? My wife commented about getting a larger boat. I think a larger boat would be nice in some regards but the boat we have is treating us very good.

Kevin, I was getting about 1 knot per 100 rpm on average. Max rpm on my 3116s are 2600 so cruise at 2200 gave about 22kt. She was loaded pretty light though so I'm sure I'll lose a bit when she's done.

Whaler1777 wrote:I'm in the same boat as you... My '79 35 will be making her ride home by the end of this week after a mild rehabbing... 3116-350hp cats... My journey is only 40mi door2door...

Capt John, where are you keeping your boat? Project boat or is she ready to go?

I fished on the Sundowner in Kona when the Isaacs had her. That 35 had the seat forward. Coming out of Kona harbor he jumped on her and she got up went so it was not a slouch. But 5 minutes later it was lines in the water.

She will be on Long Island NY... Shes up and running, not a project, just needs some cosmetics...

Mark, great looking 35 roll up your sleeves and dive into the rebuild..plenty of pics and keep us in the loop..BH

Nice rides. Enjoy them. Whaler, how many Bertrams do you have now? 3?