bertram31.com

Hi everyone,
I've been lurking around this site for awhile and now I feel qualified to join
cos I've just bought a Bertram 28.
She needs some tlc but is basically sound but the big issue is I have to
re engine her.
So I will have a million questions to ask!
I know this a site for the famous Bert 31 but over here in Europe they are a small fortune and don't appear to be good value (condition wise) so I managed to find this 28 and struck a good deal.
I think she is one of only 3 or 4 in the UK and my plans are to do the work required and then ship her to Antigua.
When I've taken delivery of her and worked out exactly what I need to do
(end of Jan) I will be back in touch
Regards, Ian (an excited Bert owner) Saunders
Yippee !

Welcome aboard. I have 35B now; but owned a 28B. I liked mine and I am sure you will like yours.

Welcome to the world of Bertram. Post some pix of her when you can.

Welcome and I'm sure you will enjoy the Bertram fellowship.

For your repower, you will get as many opinions as there are engines to choose from. My $.02 cents is this: If the boat is going to live out it's life in Antiqua then find out which engines are best supported in that part of the world and go that route.

Enjoy.

I have a B28 with 351 Ford engines. You can't find these now. If you convert to the GM block you will find that you will have a fair amount of hull work to do because the block just will not lay in the shafts have to be changed.

I hydro lokced an engine and had to rebuild this winter and a number of our mechanics are older gas guys. As you look at diesels you will find that there may not be the options that there are with the 31 given the limited space and cost.

Given that negative news you may want to consider bolting on 2 outboards on the back with a bracket. This kit can get the 28 up to 45 knots and are extremely economical to operate. It also gives you tons of space under the hull. The 26 came with outboards as an option and given their reliability over gas maybe a great option.

Finally it makes it an easy boat to dry stack...

And the reasons not to put on outboards would be:
- they are very expensive, you could buy diesels for the cost
-you would have to re-invent the transom.....designed for inboards
-outboards drink fuel like I drink beer
-outboards for the most part are disposable....use a couple of years and time for powerhead.

I do wish my boat would perform like it had outboards but not worth the trouble or money. Just my .02

You will find many people here willing to help you with your quest. Good luck!

and they look wrong.......very wrong..

-outboards drink fuel like I drink beer
Kevin do you drink beer like a two stroke or one of the new four strokes?

Welcome to our sandbox. You will find a world of knowledge and opinions here as you probably already know.............the entertainment aint' (southern term) bad either.
Congratualtions on your boat..........I'm sure it will bring you many hours of pleasure both repowering it and playing with it.
Harry Babb

Well, since you brought it up, even though it is an analogy, the answer would be both. In a twin engine boat, the two stroke EFI Mercs in the 250 hp range drink around 66 gallons an hour at WOT. The 4 stroke 250 twin Verados drinks 59 gallons an hour....not much better despite being a 4 stroke.
I really don't drink that much unless I am stressed, depressed, overloaded at work, under appreciated around the house or am suffering from a bad case of the D.T.'s. Under good conditions I drink more like a Steyr.

Welcome!

I have a 28B with Yanmar diesels, and not too surprisingly, I think yannies are the absolutely perfect choice.

Cheers!

Kevin
Your numbers confirms my opinion of outboard motors........"The only way to get enormous horsepower out of such a small block is to sling enormous quantities of gasoline thru it".

My first outboard motor was a mid 60's model..........I think it was about 75 horsepower. By the time the boat was loaded with fuel tanks (6 gal) there was hardly enough room for other gear. But believe me I was having the time of my life.
I am not much of a fan of large outboard motors at all.

Harry Babb

They have thier place, but not on the back of a Bertram.

So what is the most anyone has spent on fuel in a one month span? Just curious. A little off topic but what the heck!

I'm just about finished repowering my 28 with 5.7 fuel injected chevy's. I had more people telling me they wouldn't fit than ones that did. I did have to change a few things none of which involved cutting up the floor or shaft realignments and such. I did upgrade to 1 1/4 shafts but my boat had the original 351 pcm engines and i had no other problems changing to gm. I actually highly recommend doing it way easier getting parts for chevy's then fords. Feel free to ask any questions whoever may be interested on the mods i did to get the tbi unit to fit below the floor.

So what is the most anyone has spent on fuel in a one month span? Just curious. A little off topic but what the heck![/quote]

Sept 06' 2 offshore trips = approx. $700.00.

Not bad, Huh :shock: :shock:

In ten trips offshore in July I spent 4500.00. Used 150 gals a trip at 3 a gal. Give or take a little. The lp6s burn about 10 gal hour eachat 28.9 knots (seas permitting). Those are overnight trips.

Welcome! And lota luck.

I would not do the out boards. The boat next to me has two out boards @ 250 hp and they cost $21000.US each. How long do they last? Maybe 1000 hours.

Get GM 5.7 liter. You'll be fine. They are throw away engines and parts are cheap. Maybe you could buy them here(in the U.S.) and ship them over there.

If you'd like, send a PM and I will help.

Hey Dick, I think you missed a zero in that price for the engines.

scott will you be able to make montauk 07 neil

Neil:

No sure what the disposition of the boat will be. I got the old tank out and I will put in a SS one, but then I have to deal with the engines. I am not sure whether to run the old bone Gassers or keep the boat out and put all that saved up money towards diesels. My guess is Timmy and I will be sitting on our boats all summer without a water view.

I might get down there without a boat. Maybe hitch a ride some where or you never know, Timmy might get the Tubb in the water. In which case he'll be looking for people to help paddle it down there.

Scott

Scott,
can't under stand the post about the "o"'s. I just got new glasses. Maybe you want the phone number!

Ok ... I went back and fixed it.

P.S. I signed up for the event in Montauk and haven't been able to get a slip. Somethings' wrong with the phone