bertram31.com

Just got back from the boat with the surveyor. He thinks the hull is holed. I might agree, but in a different spot than he suspects (hard to see under there, would have to be in a small boat or swimming. He's calling it a total loss right now, wants to crane and barge it to the bank where we can look at it better. He thinks he sees evidence of water on the engines, but not over the batteries, which are lower than the engines. Also says he sees water in the cabin, which I didn't see.

Might be better to take his word for it, take the money and the memories, let them auction it to someone else who can start over again.

CAPT. Mike,

Sorry to hear that bad news, but might not be that bad after you have it checked visually.

Good Luck,
DQ

Thanks, Doug, that is what I'm hoping.

Mike,

Speaking as someone who has done major below the waterline repairs on numerous boats, including the B31, & along with your own assesment, you probably don't have severe problems. The surveyor sounds like a doom & gloom guy to me... Nothing that Noe can't fix, even if you think that it's beyond your skills. And I can walk you through any hull repair you want to tackle yourself.

Br,

Patrick

Never assume...kicks you in the ass every time!

Until he knows for sure, I'll side with Capt. Pat & DQ.

Carl

Mike
If he thinks its that bad tell him to payup! ! !

Then if its that bad, at least in his eyes, the boat should not be worth much, so, at that point buy it back for yard fees....

After all it is their (Insurance company) game. They make the rules.

Really sorry to hear of the damage.........I certainly would not throw in the towel yet.

Harry

Thanks, guys. I sort of feel the same way about the hull, need to see it out of the water. If the engines did go under, might be more than I want to deal with, unless they want to buy new ones for me. I'm interested in seeing the running gear to see how much pounding that part took.

Oh Mike: Real sorry to hear that.. Hope its not as bad as all that.
Wayne

Mike,
Sorry to hear about your express Black Sheep, I would have it hauled and get a good glasss guy to really check for hull damage. If the surveyor and insurance people want to total her take the money. We aren't getting any younger and there is still alot of 31's on the market. Mine is still for sale. Another thought, if you want to keep her have a friend buy her from the salvage company and resell her to you.

I've only totaled one 31 Bertram, he hit the south jetty in Palm Beach at 25 knots, spilt the bow wide open, every strake and both chines were split open, Pat knows which boat. No insurance coverage at all. The owner did some half assed repairs, called me for resurvey, I still condemed it, he put it back in the water and ran it for 2 more years, the boat had tons of dead glass throughout the bottom, it flexed like a wet noodle but he still ran it. I didn't want anything to do with that boat and told him not to call me ever again. Last year I heard he had hit a reef in the Bahamas and holed the bottom again. I don't know what happened to the boat after that incident.

I takes alot to kill an early 31 hull.

Is that the bright yellow B31 that was actually UP ON the jetty for a week or two?
Looked like that was a case of relying too heavily on electronics and technology, while not using eyesight or caution. Gut wrenching sight ...

Pete, you hit the nail on the head with the part about not gettign any younger. I put many years of my life into this boat, and I don't know that I have enough left to rebuild it yet again. I had been thinking of tryign to sell, anyway, but there isn't much market - even for 31's - in the current fishing climate and with fuel prices the way ythey are. Nobody wants to charter, and I can't afford to "fun fish"

If it turns out to be not that bad, I'll let them pay to get her out , do minor repairs, and try again. I agree with Pat and yourself that a hole in the hull can be fixed as good as new - at least on a 31 Bert.

Capt Mike,
So sad, but not necessarily the end. I agree with Harry and Pat. Get it out, get it surveyed by someone of your choice, let'em total it, take the money, get'er repaired. Wish I lived closer, I'd bring my Tyvek suit and help you do it.

Looked like that was a case of relying too heavily on electronics and technology,

No. Just another case of a boat owner with shi* for brains.

Mike

If there is anything we can do let us know.

John

Thanks, John. Did your place in Hide-a-way come out OK? I haven't driven much past Kirby, where it was interesting to see the big crane lifting pieces of the tall shed off of Akela.

Mike,
Teddy Shuster's house blew over, and moderate damage to a few other houses. We got lucky at our place, and so did Daniel m. also. To bad about Ed Bass...one of your close buddies, right?

Ed and I aren't real close, like we used to be. The wife has an uncle who has a 50 Hatt on "A" dock at Kirby. It sunk - the only boat in the marina that did. He's been trying to sell it for years, had it "well insured". Sorta makes you wonder. Also, he came back Saturday to "check" on it.

My hogs and feeders came out well, but I have trees across the road in the woods property - BIG trees. My big camper is leaning against a palm tree in the front yard, took the small one to the woods and it survived without a scratch.

Mike

Sorry to hear about your boat. But I agree with the others. First find out how bad it really is then take it from there. They are tough little boats plus if you want to stay in the game, there are still a lot of them around.

mike i would love to give you a hand just say the word ------------bob

Bob, Tony, - thanks for the support. I'll look at it more closely tomorrow, more closely yet when it gets on the ground. Need to get my radome off before looters do, also some of the cables for the chart plotter. Took just about everything else off before we evacuated.

Mike the good thing about doing it the second time is your already know the boat and have that masterplan down. No more hemming and whorring over the details.

When I replaced my old wood deck and supports to glass, I spent more time thinking of ways to do "this and that" then I actually spent putting it in, and I will be the first to tell you I spent way to much time doing that too. Then when I had to yank it all out the following year to replace the glass tank...I was able to put it all back in in very little time as it was a puzzle I already knew.


Carl

Mike, Keep a stiff upper lip. I tend to agree with most of the guys that it might not really be as bad as is being described by the surveyor.

Harv, I zoomed on my pictures of the hull, don't see any hole. I'll go over in a little while and look again - with binoculors. I'm not curious enough about it right now to go swimming - it has to be picked up, regardless.

Mike: Hopefully this will be a chance to get some of the years of insurance premium you have paid back and still keep Black Sheep. I agree with what the others have said about buying it back after the insurance co. totals it.

I just looked at it again, definitely a big hole in front of the shaft logs on the starboard side, but it has to have happened AFTER the water went down, as it settled on the piling. Talked to Noe at the boatyard down the street, he says he can get a crane to lift it and move it to his yard, where I'd have a lot more control over it, and the surveyor agreed to authorize that. Noe says he can fix it, no problem, or will let me fix it if I want to. Just need to get it out and see what other damage we have, if the engines got wet, etc.

Might just fix her and keep her, or sell out and become a boatless captain for hire, let somebody else spend their time and money buildign a boat.

Mike,

Be sure that the repair is done with epoxy, not ester reins...

Br,

Patrick

Absolutely. I've seen a lot of wild stuff Noe has done - rebuilding a burnt 35 Bert into a big center console, puting bubbles in the hull to fit an engine under the cabin sole, and turning that Vietnam river patrol boat into a classy sportfisher. He does good work. Just depends on the insurance company's attitude.

Hang in there Mike. Like a wise man once told me "There is nothing quite so satisfying, as simply messing around in boats."

We all use these vessels as an escape from wives, work, or whatever.

Hang in there Mike, Ernest is right, these vessels are not really for fishing, cruising, etc....they are for our relaxation and sanity.

Basically just a place to go break out the tools, a cold beer, smell the salt air and enjoy an afternoon. When we get the chance to run the boats and catch fish....all the better!

Ernest,
My buddies got into Koni Kai last Saturday, FED's stopped them at Clear Lake, threatened to take their boat and truck if they tried to go to Bolivar, they found a launch in Dickerson and went anyway. The Sheriff's patrolling Bolivar by boat let them "look & leave". He warned them about the flesh eating bacteria, snakes, dead animals, etc, etc, etc.

The FEDs are major turds, the locals are much more understanding.

We infiltrated pretty deep on Saturday. Hiked basically all the way to the beach. Got to meet the Fire Chief, two real nice Tx. Rangers, and then the Sheriff's Dept. All of them were not real happy with the gun on my leg, but they were cool once they realized I didn't steal it from a house. Basically, I was detained three times. The big fear of all the LEO's - old men falling off roofs and having to be med. evac-ed or looters.

BYB is totaled.

Weird though, my little shack still stands, less the ground floor, all decks, plumbing, and a/c. Good news is my ocean front view. I can now see the water.

Whole place looked bombed.

Rumor is that a military bridge will be dropped over Rollover, and we will be allowed back in a week, give or take.