bertram31.com

Want to thank everyone who’s called texted, answered my posts and met in person. Since coming clean on looking at Buddy Boy and getting into my own boat, I’ve talked to; 3 guys looking to buy a 31, a couple guys that are hoping to repower to diesels and 4 or 5 guys that are doing a repower currently. 3 of those are getting the air boxes from Murrays. Not to mention all the old salts that have done this or are publicly doing it on this board or Facebook.

I’m at 10 years of ownership, I’ve asked a ton of silly questions over the years and as you all know my skill is fishing, watching project dream boat and writing a check for the next project.

To all my new friends that don’t have the skill level of Snipe or Bob Lico come on out and share where you are and what you are doing. There are tons of cool projects happening or being planned out that the rest of the guys would love to see.

Pete

Peter

You mean it has been 10 years since we had lunch.

Wow how time flies.

Tony Meola wrote: ↑Oct 15th, '21, 20:34 Peter

You mean it has been 10 years since we had lunch.

Wow how time flies.

It sure has, My oldest was two years old at the time. He’s in 7th grade now. Not quite 10 years I think we had lunch in the spring of 2012 and my wife was pregnant with our youngest who’s in 4th grade.

There is no such thing as a silly question. Knowledge is king not only for doing a good job, but doing that job without financial waste.

Been doing restoration and customization of cars for a while now, mostly domestic. Now I've switched recently to European and one thing I've noticed is the lack of knowledge for most owners that allows slick talking car shop owners to take car owners to the cleaners because they have no clue.

This type of web forum helps owners to approach their projects with enough knowledge to get through it without life long therapy afterwards.

Bruce wrote: ↑Oct 16th, '21, 05:36 There is no such thing as a silly question. Knowledge is king not only for doing a good job, but doing that job without financial waste.

Been doing restoration and customization of cars for a while now, mostly domestic. Now I've switched recently to European and one thing I've noticed is the lack of knowledge for most owners that allows slick talking car shop owners to take car owners to the cleaners because they have no clue.

This type of web forum helps owners to approach their projects with enough knowledge to get through it without life long therapy afterwards.

Bruce

Well said. I would add, even though this is a board dedicated to the 31 and of course we welcome all Bertram owners, we also welcome those with other brand boats. The basics of the working on a boat is all the same.

The only silly questions are those not asked.


Everyone here has something to bring to the table, sometimes just a different perspective means the most.
My uncle is one of the smartest people I know, it took him years to realize he should never touch tools. Zero skills in that department, yet he tried over the years creating messes of magnificent proportions. He tried to unclog the sink in his his tenants basement apartment. We have no idea why he put the pipe wrench on the waterline, but he did and ripped it apart flooding the kitchen in the process. It took him years to realize writing a check to those that possessed mechanical skill was his strong point..after that he never looked back or felt inadequate for not being what he thought he needed to be. It was one thing he was not good at, did not like doing or have interest in.

Peter, I’m looking forward to seeing the progress on your boat.

Hello, my name is Steve and I have a boat addiction.

Last week I purchased one of the last wooden hand built Albury Runabouts built by Willard Albury, sight unseen.
I still have Tommy's 20' Sportsman to repower and paint, etc.
Both of my vintage Boston Whalers got whacked in Hurricane Dorian. The 13' Sport is still in one piece, 1968 Johnson 33hp went under water, flywheel won't move after soaking with Marvel Mystery Oil; found another 1968 Johnson 33hp for $600. I'll put Humpty Dumpty back together without too much fuss, console was knocked loose, etc. but all there. The 1965 16' Nauset looked like it was in a war zone, hole in the side the size of a basketball and all mahogany above the gunnel line was mowed down like a machine gun, engine was toast. Ordered a new Mercury 2 stroke tiller 40hp for that as the back bench was the only thing left. It will be a good conch boat and trash dump boat (my house) does not have road access so I have to take trash to the dump by boat weekly. That boat went from Pretty to Functional. Oh and it's almost a year now I'm waiting on that new Mercury 40hp to ship.
The 31' was here in FL during the storm so it's ok, but it could use a some TLC, some of the bulkheads are rotted and need replacement.
All of the other boats were on Man o War Cay for Dorian which had over 200mph winds. But I was very lucky they were all on land and protected. Boats in the water or anything in general was lost.
I'm somewhat retired now, so it'll give me something to do, and I enjoy it. 5 boats
Here's a link to photos of some of the boats.

PS: Bruce, now that you are doing European if you find a nice 230SL or 280SE let me know I could use something to go to dinner in with my wife. I don't drive anywhere anymore unless I'm hauling stuff to the Port of Palm Beach but if I get rid of the truck I could always rent one from Home Depot for the day. https://photos.app.goo.gl/KbHDnW2mJF7NPPXh7

Steve,

Or better yet, a BMW E9, in any of its 5 configurations (2800cs, csi, 3.0cs, csi, csl) the latter being very expensive.

Yannis,
I love that body style. Yes you are spot on. A 3.0CS would be so cool. I'd even get a lesser desired automatic for less money...I'm getting old, I don't need to shift gears manually anymore. That is actually my first choice of cool cars. Just darn expensive.

Steve,
The very early version was I think a 2500, which should be even better priced.
For the manual vs auto I have an inner conflict!
Anyway, for me, the best looking street car mankind has ever produced, better than the pagoda, better than the e-type, better than the gullwing, better than the 911...

Steve, thanks for sharing the pictures and the back story of your boat addiction, as I suffer from the same affliction. The pictures are great, and you have quite a collection. I had the pleasure of visiting with Willard Albury at Man-O-War about 10 years ago, along with his two sons. Are they back up and running?

By the way, are the pictures of the B-20 Sportsman current, or are they pre-Hurricane Dorian? It looks great in the pics. I hope you were able to connect with the resources I shared.

Tommy,
Thank you for the contacts. This week has been hectic. I plan to call them soon. Thank you!

The B20 pics are recent, I got it running after a bit of sweat. It was the fuel pump gunked up. Engine runs solid at slow speeds but jumps about at high rpms. And the shifter cable is worn and has some play I believe. Took me a while but I got it to go into both reverse, neutral and forward without conking out. From what I've learned it could also be this little device worn down that shuts down the engine when shifting. I'm getting a bit of water into the bilge when it's in the water and not on the lift. Must have a leak in the bellows is my guess. Also a lot of play in steering, the sterndrive needs some love. I'm still moving forward with the Inline 6 being rebuilt up at Michigan Motorz. So far they say its coming along nicely and I have a fresh water cooler for it as well they will be putting on it. Plus Electronic ignition etc. The next feat is to figure out what stern drive I need to match up to it. SEI makes replacement mercruiser drives, and they gave me a list of everything for this engine. However, I've read that some people don't like SEI...not sure if I will have a choice. I called a local Mercruiser service guy here in Lantana and he threw a ton of caution at me about the inline 6 project as a whole, but I think he may also be that type of guy. He recommended a new/reman 3.0liter 135hp with all new components. That may be a slow dog dropping down to that horsepower. I am attracted to "new"...however, it'll be more expensive than my 165hp reman project currently underway. So I think I will learn as I go and stick with the 165hp reman project especially after I speak to your friends who have the same.

Willard just passed away in August while I was there. He was getting old and they were caring for him at home. It was NOT covid related. When the runabout was offered for sale I jumped on it. Very few of these boats built by him left. I'm a purist or an OCD boataholic and I like to keep things and restore them to their original state or better. As you can see in the photos it did not get too beat up in the storm. I'm having Edwin's look it over now and it will be in their yard. The seller's family has had it since he built it in 1975, one of the last he built. They also had Willard rebuild it 5 years ago so I bet it's solid. The owners say the 90 2 stroke Merc rough starts, I don't know if that was before or after the storm. Hope it's not locked up like my little 33hp.

Yannis,
I had a BMW 2002 back in the mid 1980's. Those are still plentiful and in a lower price range, but not nearly as "James Bond" cool as the E9 body style. I like looking at all the cars for sale and daydreaming, but boats are more my passion than cars. It seems I always have time to dedicate to working on my boats but not my cars. I wasn't a real attentive custodian to my classic cars, I've gotten rid of them all as of now. I just don't seem to have anywhere to go on the road that would be enjoyable to justify one and they sat in the garage most of the time. That's why I'm thinking if I make a point to take my wife to dinner more a car for that could get my attention. My wife didn't like that I "needed a special car just to take her to dinner!"...LOL. I'll keep my romantic thoughts to myself I suppose, men and women have different ideas on that I guess. I'll never figure them out.

Steve,

My dad had a 2002 too, back in the day.
I also don't sacrifice a millisecond for cars, cars are to take you from a to b.
If a or b are in the mountain, then you get a 4wd.
That’s just about it for cars for me, lol!
I have a 2003 subaru forester, my 6th subaru, the only make I find hard to destroy, although my previous forester I managed to burn, left it without oil and pushed it to the limits....

Steve,
I'll check tomarrow. We have a double bay full of lifts with Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Jags, Ferrari, many of which are consignment.