bertram31.com

i captain a few boats one of them is a 45' cabo express . the owners father had a 31 bertram when he was a kid so he remember it well. i told him my 31 was a dryer boat then his cabo so we bet , well he is a millionaire so i will not go there so we bet trading places the mate will drive and i will be the owner well guess what; the best wine in his wine cooler served by owner.

Looking good there Captian Lico! !

Bet that wine was sweeter than ever...

hb

he said you have big ball going one on one against cabo. the thing is the water goes up the windshield because of the sleek contour and then flow over top of upper saloon/driving station and falls off edge of top into cockpit . feel like rain in cockpit in heavy seas. when you look at both boats at the dock anybody would take the bet.looks twice the size and appears huge looking from stern because the beam is 3' wider anyways we just went outside inlet for stripers . shimp cocktail ,and other exotics with very expensive wine---quite a day , oh don`t bet against a 31 bertram even with a 40knot cabo

you would have lost that bet in my boat...but then that wasn't the bet.

Very cool...





Whats funny...or Sad...soon as I saw the Red Wine, first thing that comes to my mind...hope he don't spill any on the Teak.

You could have been standing in a multimillion dollar home with Pearl White Carpets balancing a Full Goblet on your nose and I never would not have paid any mind to dropping or spilling.

sim you better be at the greenport brotherhood get together .you and harry barb will put phoenix into the wind at 38mph. here is part of the crowd on the boat we have another 3 on the bridge . running wot. trying to get a drop of water in the cockpit.

I wouldnt bet against you Bob....that last picture says it all...tough to get wet when your wake starts at mid ship engine boxes...even with 12 people on board...weight distribution and power...Im still listening...dont forget me this year at Greenport...Harry said your ride took of like a hot rod outboard...BH

bob i could never put one over on you ! i would never bet against you ride either just cannot wait to see that work of art. yea the wake is at engine box and brakes in back of boat. look at the water shooting out the exhaust almost thrust! your will be better!

The Rendezvous always seems to coincide with the exact week we go on vacation. Now I'd love to do the get together, especially if I could bring "The Boat"...but I always seem to get out voted by family and friends.

That is one hell of a flat wake Bob and your right the exhaust looks like a Jet Drive!

Carl

sim if you walk down the line of beautiful bertrams you look at the chine at the extreme stern of the boat. you can estimate the overall weight of the boat by observing where the chine is in relationship to the water . when we loaded up with all these passengers the chine was two inches under water . a stock 31fbc with 454" mercruser has the chine about 1" out of water about the same for stp 315hp yanmar . this was by far the heavest boat in the fleet that day so you could really respect those 315hp cummins putting that boat on plane in 5 seconds pushing 14,000 lbs and attaining that top speed. enough boat talk you have to come this year this is the vacation it does not mean the girls have to hang around while dad is in dicussion with brothers. it means the girls and mom can go off into the town and have a great time. something for everone in greenport and if you come by car you have the vineyards just north of town.sim be there!

Bob's right, boat rides competely different with the Cummins. Even my 270 Cummins lowered the chine. I am about 3/4 inch under water now with a full tank of gass and no one on the boat. no tower, so I am really light.

I would guess with the 454's the chine was about 1 inch above the water. I am attributing a large part of the difference to the added weight of the diesel fuel. Diesel is slightly heavier then gas.

tony that is the perfect riding aptitude. extreme end of chine (were it meets trasom) should be 3/4" under water . A) to get full effect of reverse chine B) perfect planning angle to have water breaking under front of pillar for dry ride . C) able to take a larger wave without stuffing the bow.

With the cummins and a 3.5 next gen the chine is a good inch under water with full fuel. I need to move boot stripe and waterline up as the as awl grip blisters when it stays wet. The chine makes a sweet line for bottom paint but has to be changed any pics on how you guys handled the break ? Just follow the water??

i have same problem, imron with blister as bootstripe under water. jp has figure out a good bootstripe waterline bottom paint line maybe he has a photo. capt patrick use the same on buddy boy.

The chine makes a sweet line for bottom paint but has to be changed any pics on how you guys handled the break?

Here's Buddy Boy after the bottom paint and boot stripe were raised. It's not a straight line with an angle break, but a softly arched line from the transom into the point that the chine is clear of the water by an inch or so when fully loaded with fuel.

You don't worry about taking water in thru the scuppers...

Couple of guys or a nice fish wold put them underwater...No??



It is something I worry about when we put the pool in the cockpit...Its alright when just the kids are in it...but soon as a couple adults make there way in...those scuppers just get too close to the water for comfort...

sim it`s not a canoe ! the big deal is the 230 gallons of diesel . capt patrick layed out that waterline perfect with plenty of leeway . more often then not about 1" up on hull side as you can see buddy boy has at least 3" not close at all to scuppers with full tank and 12 adults and full tank with hole filled with all kinds of fishing equipment. like large anchor,28 feet of chain and 1400' of line.after loading fuel no matter what you do with people the boat does not go down.

Some of the earliest print ads for the 31--obviously gas boats with smallest gas tank--touted that the chine break was above the water--enabling the boat to to spin freely or turn on a dime when when handling big fish.....

craig the chine slightly below water will stop any chine walking at straight ahead higher speed and most important " dig" that chine in on a lock to lock turn at high speed without sliding increse safety margin 100% from barrel roll . ask harry or dug on this board.

Thanks for the photo Cap'n, if Ican post this pic you'll see I may have to work with the hailing port if I go too high.
Kind of hate to sacrifice the gold leaf,may scallop the boot stripe or something

bob,

I am pretty sure the chine will be out of water at high speed going straight and no matter where the boat is sitting at rest or low speed if you crank a turn at high speed u are going th put dig the chine into the water on the inside corner.

the ad was referring to handling a fish--pretty sure it was below planning speed.

your boat is a speedster but for most the chine is not out of the water like the boats at tropic star lodge .

With the 270 Cummins and full fuel, my exhausts are a little more that half way covered. My scuppers are in the same place as Buddy Boy.

It is pretty tough to bury the exhaust. Can do it but tough. With the gassers, extra 50 gallons a fuel, a couple of hundred pounds of ice and 45 big guys plus takcle extra coolers full of food etc, most of the weight at the stern, the water came up to just under the top of the exhaust.

That was the only time I ever touched bottom at speed trying to cut a buoy that I never had a problem with before. I say touched because the props kind of skimmed over the sand.

Never tried to cheat on that buoy again.

tony were you one of those college dudes of yesteryear? you know ,how many can we fit in a phone booth ------wow 45 guys .that may be a record of some kind for a 31 bertram .

I'm sure Tony must have meant 4-5 big guys (or at least I hope he did).

Walter thanks. Yes some times the fingers work faster than the brain. 4 to 5 guys. I was the small one.

Man did that stern drag trying to lift that boat on a plane. ONce up there it was fine, but those 454's worked hard.

That's the difference I really found when I changed to diesels. Same fuel consumption, same performance whether it was just me and my son or a bunch of guys, Ice, beer in coolers etc.

Thanks guys that waterline talk just answered many of my questions, at Greenport i took pics of just about every boats transom to try and guess my waterline, Bobs boat will be the closest comp, at least 1" up on the chine should do, 2" will make sure its right. BH

bob 1" up on the chine will be perfect for you. i have you dialed in already!

bob i should note something here in hull desigh. yes you have to have big balls to make a bet comparing a 45' cabo express and a 31bertram . most people would actually laugh at you. as a captain you have a ace in the hole ; look at 99% of the cabin style boats out there. every one of them have a sleek look from bow to top of windshield (excluding downeasterner) what happens in the deep is on occausion a wave will ride up the deck, then up the windshield and over the top into cockpit . the 31 bertram (personlly i believe some upper parts were copy from rybo. ) but that my opinion, will break that water with the unique brow above the windshield and cast the water off to the sides rather then up and over.those of you whom brave the waters of the atlantic know damm well what i mean. bigger is not better trust me.this summer i have a junk boat to captain i would be nervous doing anymore then 5mph in this 37' searay sundancer. hit a wave in this and you will wear the atlantic. i agree to pilot but not out inlet just to and from fire island and eateries.