bertram31.com

My Luhrs center console is finally getting some work done. The last time I did anything was with my dad 9 months before he died. The yard has finished removing the rest of the rear decking that my dad and I started ripping up. They will be replacing the deck and engine box, put in an in deck fish box/live well, check the integrity of the gas tank (pressure test) and get her up & running, hopefully before this season is over. They will also refinish the bunks that my uncle and I had roughed in, in the bow cabin. Then I will have someone come in and finish the cabin in some sort of padded vinyl. She is also desparately in need of a hull repainting.

It's good to hear the motivation is back again...

Good luck with the project Harv!!

Carl

Looks like a fun boat. Sometimes we just need some time off from a project that deserves the proper attention. Your dad would be proud.
-Joe

Face wrote:Looks like a fun boat. Sometimes we just need some time off from a project that deserves the proper attention. Your dad would be proud.
-Joe

This is a fun boat, but too small for a crowd. It served us well since 1974.
Dad would be prouder if I finished the Bertram, but this one has to go first.

Harv

Keep at it. These projects tend to drag out longer than we would like but when they are finished it is well worth it.

Tont,

I want to finish this one, so I can sell her.
Then I can concentrate on the Bertram.

harv
the stringers look pretty good

Charlie,

those are the deck supports .
Some of them need to be replaced.
I put those in with my uncle about 25 years ago
after she sank in the Hamptons.
At that point the boat was stripped to a bare hull.

Harv I think those deck supports should do it. 2 x 4's on 12" centers! that's my kind of internal structure, nice.

Structurally heavy boats don't go fast, but they go smooth and don't break.

Scot, This boat was built in 1970, and just like my Bertam (71) she's built like a tank.
She was one of three built by Luhrs, and the only one remaining. She'll cruise 30kts all day at 13 gph,
and top out around 40.

The three Muskateers, Dad at the helm, Uncle in the blue jacket, and a much thinner me waving.
Just like the boat, I am the only one left.

Single big block inboard?....V-drive?

Present configuration is 454 Crusader, Borg Warner tranny with 2:1 reduction, coupled to a Stern Power outdrive. She swings a 19 x21 inboard style prop.
You can also see the shift cable, and the steering tiller arm on top of the drive.


The old configuration was a 360 chrysler, same tranny, and a Dana outdrive. She once hit 52mph with an undersize prop and reved up to 5500rpm.
It was fun to outrun the jet skis, but we did reprop for 4400 max rpm

Even moore history....this boat originally was equipped with a 427 Daytona motor, coupled to a Holman-Moody outdrive.

Here's one more of her on blocks next to a B28.

Harv the engine looks a bit forward, is there a jack-shaft? Looks as if the aft cockpit is opened up, and the engine box is about 4ft forward.

Coolest Luhrs I've ever seen. Get her going Harv. I want a ride. Hurry up and bring her to Greenport.

That's a configuration you don't see every day.




Funny thing...that picture of the 28 next to you reminds me of when I requested my marina to chock me up high, as I needed to pull the shafts...

maybe they misunderstood me...and they where high when they chocked up the boat.

scot wrote:Harv the engine looks a bit forward, is there a jack-shaft? Looks as if the aft cockpit is opened up, and the engine box is about 4ft forward.

Scot, engine is a little forward because she's hooked to a real transmission before the outdrive. The outdrive is very simplistic....
no tranny,
no manual cooler
something like 35 moving parts total.....or less

She is cooled by the ocean water passing over the lower skeg which cools down the 90 weight gear oil. Mike ohlstien knows about these drives maybe better than I do.

If you look at the very first broadside picture, the engine box ends directlyu below the backrest of the fighting chair. For anyone interested, it is an aluminum Rock-a-way chair, I also have a fiberglass Rock-a-way chair in my garage.

John F. wrote:Coolest Luhrs I've ever seen. Get her going Harv. I want a ride. Hurry up and bring her to Greenport.

UV said the same thing s few years back.
Doubt she will be finished in 2 weeks.
You are always welcome aboard after she is finished.

Harv

Interesting boat. Back in the early days, the old Luhrs were pretty good boats. Then they some how diluted the whole company when some of the family members started to play with Silverton.

The cooling of the outdrives is pretty unique. Never heard of that one.

Tony,

Whether true or not, below is the recollection of what we were told about the boat prior to buying her.

This boat is what caused the whole fiasco with Luhrs, Silverton, etc.
Look at her lines closely. They look very similar to those of a Donzi. The fact is, It was a blatant ripoff of Don Arranow's design, and he sued Luhrs for it. That's why production stopped at 3. One was destroyed in a warehouse fire, another during ocean trials, and mine. Then Luhrs created Silverton in an attempt to remain in the boating market, and later Luhrs came back with their new designs.

I recall the older Luhrs being a good boat then, as said they went downhill for awhile...

a buddy was looking at a fairly recent model that I was against, just because of what I had known of then in the Silverton Years...but with some prodding from the faithful here, I took another look...low and behold...they are making a nice boat again...not a Bertram...but then again I'm not to sure Bertram is making Bertram anymore.


Harv, you have two special boats on your hands...very cool...

Harv:
That is the neatest Luhrs. If the outdrive goes, can you find replacement parts? Or easy to put another brand outdrive on it? Just curious, because I am not a big fan of outdrives, but that one is really unique.
By the way Harv, do you need a footrest for the rock-a-way?I have one you can have, it even has the rock a way emblem on the wood.
bob k

Harv

When my dad was looking for a boat, I was given the job of finding it. Hence the 31 Bert. However, I was all over NJ and with Silverton and Luhrs in our back yard I of course checked them out. The Silverton folks told me that Silverton was basically a family spin off.

I think Luhrs sold out quite a while ago and I believe the family left the Silverton fold many years ago.

Never heard the story of yours before.

Look at it this way, you are a one owner club. You could start your own website but then if you had a question, you would have to answer it yourself. LOL

Sorry could not resist.

Harv Found this. The dates for the Silverton start up sound right.

Luhrs Boats

The history of the Luhrs Boats Corporation dates back to the 1830’s with a German immigrant by the name of Henry Luhrs. He became involved in the marine trade supplying ships in New York City. He eventually owned his own chandlery and even his own ship, The Sophia R. Luhrs. His grandson, another Henry, shared the same love of the sea and continued the family heritage by building and repairing boats on the New Jersey coast.


About 100 years after his grandfather started his business, the younger Henry opened his; a small yard in Morgan, New Jersey. From these humble beginnings sprang a vibrant and thriving business called the Henry Luhrs Sea Skiff Company. As the Luhrs Boats business grew, Henry’s sons, John and Warren became involved and soon the company was producing over 1200 boats a year. In 1965, Bangor Punta, a huge timber conglomerate made Henry an offer too good to refuse and the company was sold.


John and Warren, soon after the sale, struck out on their own purchasing Silverton Sea Skiffs, a fledgling builder in Tom’s River, New Jersey. Following their father’s recipe for success, the brothers were soon ready to expand and Warren, being an avid sailor, knew they could create value in that market as well. Hunter Marine was started in 1973 and was soon followed by Mainship in 1978. The Luhrs Boats name was finally reinstated with the family in 1985 and production started in 1986. Business continued to grow and Luhrs Boats needed space of its own. The St. Augustine plant opened in 1987 with its extensive waterfront access and has expanded multiple times. A new facility in Midway, GA also went online in 1999 and will help the St. Augustine facility in meeting demand.


Now, an employee ownership company, Luhrs Boats is serving the needs of the sportfisherman in building some of the best mid-size fish boats in the world.

Tony Meola wrote:Harv

When my dad was looking for a boat, I was given the job of finding it. Hence the 31 Bert. However, I was all over NJ and with Silverton and Luhrs in our back yard I of course checked them out. The Silverton folks told me that Silverton was basically a family spin off.

I think Luhrs sold out quite a while ago and I believe the family left the Silverton fold many years ago.

Never heard the story of yours before.

Look at it this way, you are a one owner club. You could start your own website but then if you had a question, you would have to answer it yourself. LOL

Sorry could not resist.

Like I said, I don't know how true it was, but it was what we were told, prior to buying her.

capt2kids wrote:Harv:
That is the neatest Luhrs. If the outdrive goes, can you find replacement parts? Or easy to put another brand outdrive on it? Just curious, because I am not a big fan of outdrives, but that one is really unique.
By the way Harv, do you need a footrest for the rock-a-way?I have one you can have, it even has the rock a way emblem on the wood.
bob k

The first drive on the boat when we got her was a Dana outdrive. Basically very simialr to what we have now. I was still able to get parts to rebuild the drive 6 years ago. Stern Powr the company is still in existance. If this one should no longer be fixable, I will get a new Stern Powr drive.
http://www.sternpowr.com/

As for the footrest, I have one, and a second chair made in fiberglass.
I don't use the pedestal on this boat because the gunwales are all the same distance from the seat, and we just put our feet on that instead.

Here's the fish

Harv

I am sure it probably is a Luhrs, just not built by the Luhrs family. Luhrs did produce boats in the 70's, it was just wasn't the family.

You could always right a letter to Luhrs and ask. The family bought the name back is building them again. Maybe they have some history. Heck, if I was them, I would offer to buy it just so they have conversation piece.

A few years back, while at the NY Boat SHow, I had seen the senoir rep for Luhrs. I had shown him a picture of the boat and he seemed to know all about it. When I asked if Luhrs would like to buy it back from me, to keep as a piece of history, he respectfully declined.