bertram31.com

Want to thank my Bertram Brother and partner in crime Harry Babb for helping me jig up the cabin for my 66 Bahia Mar..a pile of plywood and two by fours and 16 hours later we came up with this..I think we nailed the look I had in mind..a new version of the tried n true Commorant Princess..give us your thoughts..BH

Now THAT'S a surprise!

Walter, Nah! no suprize to me with Harry around. You a lucky guy Bob to have Harry as a partner in crime.

DQ

Where's the bottom of your boat?

Bob,
All I can say is reinforce the hell out of the original glasswork, the original design of the 31' houses( lower and upper windshields and fly bridge faces) were meant to shed water to the rear of the boat, like a ducks back. There is going to be alot of stress when green water catches under the new revese window sheer. I kind of like the look, I'm just concerned about loading stress up and under the house front when a big one comes over the bow. Just my 2 cents worth. Good luck with the build.
Pete Fallon

That is what we call a " portuguese bridge " and I like it a lot.
Your crime gonna be a piece of art for sure. Nice work.

All the best

To Mike's point, I thought there was a deep v bottom to a Bertram???????

Awsome!!!!!

So Bob let me get this straight.

You came down for the redezvous on the 37, went up to RI fished a tournament, caught a yellowfin, won some money, stopped off to hang on block island and then built this super structure.

All over the course of a weekend?

Unbelievable and looks great!

i told you at our meeting friday i love that reverse window .i used to go to the hudson canyon overnight on a 43' torres (sp?) converted longliner . great view and i feel the water will shed off. i would set the hold top in "granite mix" that is expoxy with 70/30 mix of high density filler and colloidal silca ,a bitch to sand but a must! from the underneath (assuming you made some kind of 11/2" base rail) i would install 1/4" 316ss LAG bolts with fender washers not screws every 6" along the entire perimeter .again granite mix over the heads of bolts and on the inside of house a contour radius of granite mix along the entire perimeter of house inside and out.this is the procedure i use on my windshield . i hit some mighty big wave at high speed not so much a hairline in paint!!! trust me do it and forget about it.needless to say i ground f/g surface to green glass with 40 grit mini disc.before i started. i should add after initial expoxy joint is made i solid taped the inside on the outside i mix the granite and applied one layer of tape with a 1/8" hole every 6" then i put the granite mix in a empty 10oz. cartrige. i squeeze the mix till the mix came out the adjacent hole i follow this all the way around perimeter till a little mix came oozing out the adjacent hole. on the inside the tape will bulge a little this take every bit of air out and a rock solid seam. the empty tubes are availabe at worst marine.---------------out

Mike, Its a new bertram 31 flats boat, you should have seen Harry and I peddling the top around the yard like barney rubble and fred flinstone we got about one mile to the coors light. Hull is in the barn and the deck is just about ready to go back on..easier to jig it up on the ground.
Pete P, That was a weeks worth of fun, buildn jig, bertram rendevous, Block Island hosted the fishin tourney.
Pete Fallon, I will bond the cabin using plexus adhesive, 1" fillet both sides, tabbed to original windscreen with 1708, and fastened from below with the screws like Bob Lico used on Phoenix.
Luis, Portuguese bridge indeed...all the charter boats in Orange Beach, Alabama sport the same cabin style. The look is all business.
And to Capt. Pat and Harry Babb for telling me in Greenport to build the damn thing myself..you got the hard part done, just lay up the foam and cloth. BH

You guys like the "LIMO TINT" on the windows?????

I think it looks "Bad to the Bone" ........cannot wait to see the finished product....

hb

That's perfect, nice job on the sweeping return at the stern.


Is that the jig and you build out of fiberglass?


Either way pretty work

Looks stunning...

JP wrote:Is that the jig and you build out of fiberglass?

That's correct JP.....The jig was offset 3/4" per surface to accommodate the foam and fiberglass that will be used to construct the cabin.

The foam panels will be cut and screwed from the backside to the "Jig" then the outside will be glassed and faired.

From there the jig will be removed and the glasswork will continue from the inside.

The roof is yet to be made but when it happens the roof will also be foam glassed then bonded and tabbed to the cabin sides.....and will have a Brow in the front and overhang on each side

Pretty cool...

hb

Nice!

Having spent a few weeks in Alaska in the last few months I can tell you that's an "Alaskan" version of the B31. Many of the boats in Alaska and the Northwest are designed that way. It's a logical design. Plenty of vision from an elevated perch, the angle of the windows provides a complete view of the fore deck and it's shaded with less sun glare. For Southern waters I can see an enclosed house with the AC pumpin and keeping the Capt nice and cool.

Only one more thing to add, you guys really should stay away from each other when tools are involved.

Scot wrote:Only one more thing to add, you guys really should stay away from each other when tools are involved.

Not bad......uhhhh......Bob had the vision and together we made it happen......we measured it with a micrometer, marked it with a crayon and cut it with a chain saw......

Quite frankley....I am proud to be a small part of this project

hb

we measured it with a micrometer

Of course you did Harry, what else would you know how to use?

Bob .... very cool !!
Not for the southern Bahia guys, but for the NE .... a VERY NICE addition.
good job bro !

Any updates?

Major, Lost power for a week, this weekend the deck goes on for good with plexus structural adhesive, then I will get the foam ordered for the cabin and get back to work..cut trees for 5 days sick of hearing my generator and chainsaw...BH

Cabin Update, Finished laying up the cabin walls this week, two layers of 1708, one layer of mat on each side of the A500 3/4" foam. Did the outside layer on the jig then popped it free and repeated the layup on the inside. Hoisted it up on the boat this morning, next step is to plexus it to the original Bertram windscreen followed by a healthy fillet and tabing inside and out. Walls were left "long" to help fit the roof. BH

That's a good piece of progress Bob.

All of the figuring, photo taking, sketching and prototyping are now in hard glass......and I estimate that there are more hours designing than actual laminating....?

The jig worked out as planned???

I cannot wait to see the top go on.....keep up the efforts.....looks really good! ! !

hb

Harry jig worked out great...it took about 3 hours to lay up each side and cover with peel n ply then roll all the air out..just kept flipping the jig over to work the layup on the flat..roof is next and try and figure out what I should do for windows. BH

Bob H. wrote: next and try and figure out what I should do for windows. BH

I'd recommend using something "See Thru" for the Windows and install towards the bow...




sorry Bob, I couldn't resist and bad joke going by.

Looking good...I don't even have the time to think about attempting something like that, never mind doing it, very nice!

Carl

great work!! is the cabin roof going to have a hatch so you can steer in the air like brewster?

Randall, Tank commander helm just like Brewsters...he wrote the book on a how to build a fishin machine..Im just borrowing a few pages..
Sim, It only took about 40 hours to get the cabin and jig to this point...BH

Bob

Can't wait to see the finished product. Should look really sharp.

Bob....

Looking Great ...!!

I've got to get down there to see it in person one of these days...

Ray

Thanks for the feedback guys...Ray or any Bertram Brother is more than welcome to stop by...would be glad to share the progress...just drop me a line..back to grinding Fglass...BH

Bob can't wait to see finished product. Keep up the good work.

Nice job BOB !!!

Gert

Bob H. wrote:Harry jig worked out great...it took about 3 hours to lay up each side and cover with peel n ply then roll all the air out..just kept flipping the jig over to work the layup on the flat..roof is next and try and figure out what I should do for windows. BH

We have these in the launches at work http://www.beclawat.com/
They are kickass.... Heavy duty and they have built in heaters so they defrost the moisture inside and ice on the outside....

They do any custom size as well...

Second week in march sound good bob? Project looks pretty cool

John, Nice windows...like the trim rings..will drop them an email once the roof is done..
JP..March sounds good..can give me your thoughts on a few ideas I have..BH

Bob, nice design on that wheel house. The reverse layout should give you a lot of space inside. Looks like your taking full advantage of the strength of composite construction- when will she splash?

Pushing ahead full speed hope this summer I get to see her float...bonded the cabin on today and layed out the first layer of the roof...same glass layup schedule but two layers of 3/4 A500...BH