bertram31.com

Well its been 7 months on the hard and she hit the water today.

5kW Northern Lights purrs like a kitten, man they make a quiet gen set.
New ZF gears were rattle free and the whole boat performed great.
Swinging 20x26 Michigan 3 blades with a #4 cup, top end 32.7 @ 2875 (Bseries @ 330hp) full fuel, full tools (holy crap can you fit a bunch of stuff in a b31 cabin) 2 guys.
Would like to play with the wheels a little bit more but the happy number was 2450 @ 27.5kts adding the extra 1" of pitch and a little cup got us almost 1.5kts at cruise.
The Centek Centubular exhaust sounds good, the faster you go the quieter they get. The teak decks got the back deck quieter and the new rudder bearings and boards took care of the steering. Lit the UW lights off and the 3 AL75H's were plenty, no worries catchin bait here,,,, the back of the boat looked like an aquarium.
It all worked, kinda nice when a plan comes together. Got the sandblasted glass in place and the new 200qt in deck fish boxes are being built, stainless lined and divinycell insulated.......... no more tuna beaks through the fiberglass shell.
Its been fun guys but now its time to go fishin..................

Congrats JP on a job well done, you have set a new benchmark, as have others with there hard work & money, I hope mine floats come May 18th when I splash mine for first time in 3 years.

Thanks to Capt. Patrick for bringing everybody together on this GREAT SITE!, and great information, I'm ready to go fishing too!

DQ

Great news JP! I bet she looks great running!

JP,

Way to go. A finished project motivates all of us in the build stage to keep grinding, sanding and painting.

More pictures please!

Very impressive! Can we get a walk thru @ AC?

JP,

Pretty work! Know you're ready to start thinking boating & fishing rather than sanding, fairing, and wireing... Bring her to Montauk.

Br,

Patrick

jp you heard capt patrick bring her to motauk we are going to the rocks tomorrow neil

jp i have one important question how slow can you troll and what is your speed in reverse with both gears ingaged (docking).i will go to montauk if i could figure out how to dock at high speeed.

She's 3.7 in forward and roughly that in reverse with both in gear. Came back at about 8kts goofing around with her while jockeying some boats around today(lots of fun, these things handle like a toy) Minimal transition time from neutral to gear engaugement which makes this set up one of the easiest boats on the planet to dock............ just bump her in and out and she'll go anywhere.
Hell the big boats I drove were 6kts in gear at low idle and they all docked easy. The more they move without having to give them fuel the easier the whole procedure is.
Embrace the power

wow thanks for the quick return.i am not sure what the problem is,for one thing i have the vucan drive on the zf gears when put it in gear your in --your in!! no slip at all like a race boat with crash boxes.secondly those props put huge holes in the water when you put them in gear even when you let it idle a minute the props are 21"x 27" 4 blade with "trick" full cup .if you could put the props to your face you could shave with them.they have been thinned.if i go in a 5mph zone i will get sinkers throw at me big waves even at low speed.i considered trolling valves but zf tell me they are made to troll with not go to go foward and reverse rapidly.if i cannot find a solution i will prop down .

JP,

Where did you decide to mount the three lights?

I'm coming out of the water in the next month to have mine mounted, do bottom paint, etc. I'm anxious to get mine in.

Thanks,

JohnV8r

JP,
So jealous I could just s#*t! Congrats.
Closing in on Dreamsicle getting wet. Actually she goes in next week for a few days to establish a water line then out and finish. Maybe midmsumer.
Fingers crossed.