bertram31.com

TRIVIA:

What is this hole made for?

You... may be the winner !

The left one is my stereo and cell 12 v solar charging plug.
The right one is the normal 220 v plug.

What is is the upper hole for?
It was made on purpose during my vacation.

A mistake!

Huh !

Those like Kevin who dared, will be given priority in a tie situation !

Now that I've spent 20 minutes staring at the photo, and becoming more puzzled every minute, I have to take a stab at it. All that is behind that panel in that area is the top of the midships bulkhead and the ac wiring leading from the cockpit to the distribution panel, and it's a bitch to get at from either side of the bulkhead. You didn't make the hole just for wiring access, did you?

Access to secure the wishbone from the outriggers?

http://www.leetackle.com/wishbone.html

Yannis,
How about a remote speaker for the VFH radio cockpit? Or maybe a digital depth readout? Or just a giant screw up.
Pete Fallon

Wow, how imaginative all of you but, hmmm, let's see:

Tooeez: I'm flattered by your time spent on the puzzle but,... I do not have an a/c. And, no, this hole was not made to gain access to wires of any sort !

Mike: Nice try, but like in the case before, this hole has nothing to do with gaining access to a screw or nut - either to fasten or loosen up !

Pete: You made a triple guess, which enhances your probabilities to win, but...no. I was not willing to install anything of that sort !!

Hint: I did this hole with my wireless Black&Decker and a cup drill (lucky me I had it with me). I was reluctant to drill because I might do a serious damage to cables, but it appeared as the ONLY way to solve my problem... and indeed it was !!

I'll set a prize for the winner(s), so keep trying !!!!! YOU may be the winner !

You needed that round piece you cut out to plug a hole somewhere else in the boat.

I spent a few(at least 5) minutes looking at it also just wondering. We usually just state problems or ask for advice. I am not going to lie, deviating from the norm is a lot of fun! Trying to get into the head of a fellow boat owner as to what something is and why it was done.
My final guess is onboard integrated ash tray and it doubles as a vapor detector. One time use only!

Access hole to spray a bee/hornet/wasp nest! Like this one on my boat:

I started laughing with Peter's answer ! I found it profoundly far fetched!!

Then, I admit, I was just amazed with Kevin's ...unconventional (to say the least) way of thinking !

And finally, I saw Cam's wasp nest and thought how clever the wasps are in the U.S. !!!

Out of these three latest replies, I confess that Cam is coming the closest to answering the question !!!
Cam, you have to be more specific if you are to be given the credit of the "Trivia Grand Solver" !!

C'mon guys, its getting easier now !!!

To retrieve a rodent or unwanted pest Greece has to offer unfortunate boaters behind that blind cavity?

yep, gotta be a warf rat in the hull!

Like Willie the Warf Rat on my old 13 Whaler!

To retrieve a DEAD rotting mouse that haunted my life for 15 days and almost ruined my life and my vacation ! It was so rotten and stinking, I opened this hole blind; the bastard was at least 20 cm higher up in the pilaster where-in between the cables- he had made his nest. Before we took him out we had removed TONS of plastic bits, rubber bits, you name it.We finally took him out in separate pieces with the kinked pliers !!

Rocky is dead-on ! He is the winner of this Mega trivia, however, equal merit goes to Cam for almost having given it away. Well-done guys; you deserve a prize.

Can anybody think what prize these fellow boatmen deserve, whose unsurpassed whits finally gave this problem the right answer???

I also wish to thank all the other participants for the fun time they offered to me, but to others as well.!!!

Yannis.

Yannis I understand your pain, we have to deal with rodents almost weekly on our Toyota cars and trucks- some say the Japanese make the wire harnesses with traces of soy. Those dirty rats!!

This was fun. I suggest another contest to decide what you should plug the hole with. My entry is cover it with one of those MIckey Mouse decals from Disney.

Tooeez,

I was thinking of covering it up with a teak plug, so that it can be reopened for the next dead mouse.
In fact I was thinking of making another hole opposite for that matter.

The new contest could also be: "What shall I do with the round piece I'm left with" !!
Any ideas?

Yannis,
In a day and age where we can abate the smell of a decaying teamster in the trunk of a Lincoln with chemicals/compounds, a hole in a vintage Bertram seems extreme for a four ounce mouse. Next time look to plan "B".
Harry

Back when I was in the (Israeli) Navy rodents were a huge problem because to keep their teeth sharp they need to chew stuff... On a boat that's mostly steel or aluminum with very little wood (except for tables, bunk sideboards etc) that means that they'll chew cables...

One of my grease monkey friends on another boat once went to synchronize a second generator into the electrical panel got the scare of his life... As soon as he hit the synchronize button there was a minor explosion in the panel... It turns out that one of the effing rodents was sitting on the breaker points and its body caused a short... 360 volts 3 phase power... That boat was out of commission for almost 2 weeks while the whole electrical panel was being rebuild...

On my own boat one day the weapons guys were running a diagnostic on the missile system and were being confronted with intermittent faults... Upon closer examination it was found that the frigging rodents had chewed through a missile cable's insulation and had caused internal shorts... It took about two weeks to rerun a new cable, test it, make the connections, test the connections and get everything re-certified by the weapons system manufacturer...

However, we would NEVER use poison to get the rodents... If poison was used they'd simply make it back to their nests (more often then not in the AC ducting) and die there... At which point we had two choices: either go without AC (Israel's summer is not unlike south Florida's summer but without the rain) or start dismantling the AC ducts to get at the cadaver... If you were very lucky you found it pretty quickly... More often then not you'd be at it for a week before you found the cadaver...

But, since rodent trapping was distasteful, there was an incentive - 3 confirmed kills equals one day furlough... It didn't take too long for my "rate" to increase to 4 confirmed kills... I loved going on furloughs :-)

My little trick was that I had heard or read somewhere that when the rodents die in the trap they mark the trap with urine with a special smell that would cause other rodents to avoid the trap... No matter how enticing the bait was... Based on that I'd soak a "successful" trap in diesel for a couple of days... It certainly didn't hurt the trap as it was metal... Then I'd give it a good scrub with dishwashing detergent (to get rid of most of the diesel smell) and reset it... It never failed to work...

So, to sum up what may be valuable information for other members:

* NEVER use poison!...
* DO use metal or plastic but NEVER wood traps...
* ALWAYS thoroughly clean a "successful" trap before resetting it...
* Hard sausage (e.g. salami) is a better bait then cheese!...
* It does absolutely no harm to set a few traps even when you think you don't have a problem (i.e. you don't see any droppings or chew marks)...
* Rodents on boats are like the proverbial bad penny... Regardless of what you do in terms of limiting food etc they WILL be back!...

As for the prize......my guess is that you will let the winner of this contest come repair the hole for you......

Or may be a....one of a kind.... "Rat Skin Hat"! ! !

hb

Harry W,

it wasn't just the stench, it was mainly the fact that one day I woke up with thousands of little white worms crawling on my ...pillow !! They were everywhere. I was cleaning up in this area and suddenly they would start falling from the ceiling ! They headed everywhere; inside my zipped duffel bag, my shoes, under my mattress, you name it. I had to find the devil and quickly, and given where he was hiding, this hole was my only option.

Nav,

You're right, I shouldn't use poison, but how else? I had already dismantled all side panels inside and out, I had removed all stuff, looked under everything possible, but as you suspect, I just couldn't find him. Moreover, as I read on the poison pack, the poison takes up to a week to kill so I had already spent about a full week in... pet company.During which he chewed on the pot handles, the cutlery handles, the reefer insulation, shall I go on? Let alone the droppings...
As for the trap I fully agree, it is the best solution, only two things: I have only seen wooden traps not plastic or metal, but this shouldn't present a problem because next time I will dispose off of the trap and mouse in one motion. Then, use another trap. And second, I heard that peanut butter is very successful as bait!!

Harry B,

I haven't kept the skin or else, you're right, I could well use it to make a hat !!
As for the hole the decision is made: it will stay there "in remembrance of...", I will put a nice teak plug over it, and it may someday serve as a trigger for my ...grandchildren to ask "why is that teak plug over there grandpa ?..."

I know, The prize winner gets the little sucker mailed to him as a "I told you it stinks"! Well Yannis at least your at the end of the battle and now look back and laugh a little! Good to know there was only one, right? Uh oh, hope that does't make you wonder now! Better set them traps just in case. Not wood of course!

Rocky and Cam,

If our friends here won't help in defining the prize, don't worry, I'll think of something !

Yannis, I hate to tell you this BUT, from my experience, where there's one of the critters there are more... They simply do not live a solitaire existence...

Yes, you could go with wooden trap and use it as a disposable thing... Or you could get these:

Shipping out of the US:



http://www.amazon.com/Victor-M130-Quick ... +Mousetrap



http://www.amazon.com/Ortho-0321110-Def ... mouse+trap

Shipping out of the UK:



http://www.buysend.com/product/19492/2- ... t-control/

Or, you can roll your own:



The last one I would improve by weighting down the bottle with some earth... Also simplifies the drowning in a bucket of water step...

Yes, peanut butter is also a highly effective bait... Whatever you do, forget about being "humane"... These rodents are vermin... They cause a lot of damage and spread disease... Do NOT get "humane"!... If your trap doesn't kill them - dunk the whole trap into a bucket of water!... If you practice catch & release you're simply pushing off the problem onto somebody else...

Nav you're unbeatable !

Thanks for the various alternatives.

Humane ? Are you serious ? I have heard too that recent mouse traps are made so they don't kill the mice, rather they confine them so you can get rid of them later.
These traps are NOT for me !!

Oh, while I was cruising somebody proposed a glue, its like a gel; I bought it, spread it according to the instructions, my mouse got stuck for a while until he got loose ... spreading this glue all over the place... I cannot describe what I've been through, the b@stards...

Well-

Yannis wrote:If our friends here won't help in defining the prize, don't worry, I'll think of something !

I like Harry B's idea with a twist,

Harry Babb wrote:As for the prize......my guess is that you will let the winner of this contest come repair the hole for you......
hb

How bout the prize winner gets (this one's for Cam)- a round trip paid expense trip to Greece to repair the hole! Free bar, epoxy, 545,Imron,and live band included on stern of boat!

With a twist...

Fly my band over there and we'll play for free on the dock while Rocky works his magic repairing the hole. This would be good therapy!

I was initially thinking something like a flight with Branson Galactic in the outskirts of the solar system, but since you guys are so humble in your demands let it be !

(let's make so that everybody believes we go with your proposal; I bet everyone after this will be answering to all sorts of trivia questions !!!)

Free bar and epoxy ! and band therapy; what is it that you guys drink ??? gimme some of it quick !!!

Cam you play the bass too?

yes - bass and tenor sax in this band. do you play?

Sounds good Cam, I'll bring my EV ETX-18SP and ETX12P's with me on the plane to compliment your band for sound!
And Marina!

I need those Saturday, Rocky. We have a set of QSC k12's and a ksub. These work great in bars, but we need more bottom for Saturday's outdoor gig!! One of the hazards with everyone playing direct to the board and using IEMs....no amp that I can turn up!

Yeah Cam I'm a bass player, I just read John Fs interior thread where he spilled that he plays guitar, didn't know that before. I've picked up over the years there is a whole bunch of us who play.

I myself am just an amatuer sound person for small functions and fun just like quality with everything especially boats.
Yes Cam you'd love the EV subs for bottom they get down big time!

Yannis: There is always the old farmers trick for catching rodents:

Drill two small hole opposite each other just below the lip of a 5 gallon bucket. Drill the same holes in the top and bottom of a Coke can. String a tight wire through the Coke can and through the holes in the bucket so that the can is in the middle of the bucket and will rotate on the wire. Put peanut butter on the can and a wood plank ramp up to the edge of the bucket next to the wire. Put 2 gallons of water in the bucket.

The mouse will go up the plank, out on the wire and climb onto the can which then dumps him into the water in the bucket. You can catch lots that way without resetting.

I vote for adding speakers as a hole "plug".

Sounds like we have the start of the Bertram All-Stars (think George Clinton and the P-Funks)!! A wall of BASS! Maybe we should have a RAVE at the next rendezvous? Ha!

Yannis - for my prize, I would like to see more pictures of your floating vacation!! I use them for inspiration as I continue the eternal grinding on my B25!

Thank you Rawleigh, I take note. Given that everything on board is driven by solar juice, I cannot have an ordinary car stereo. I bought a portable speaker that links via cable or Bluetooth to my i-pod and I have a bank of more that 1000 songs divided into categories; excellent little sucker with minimal consumption, you can play it inside, out on the deck , take it to the beach...
http://www.supertooth.net, the disco 3 model for E 70 I think.




Cam, I just came back from the boat where I demolished the forward bulkhead, that of the anchor space. The boat is in a true mess - as you would expect - only add to that a few rat poops and you get the picture.
I have great pictures from the summer that I wish to post, only my cell got wet and it doesn't function properly. I will have to wait for Stefanos (my son) who will try to move them into my computer. Then I will start posting. Thanks for the interest.

Yannis.