Bertram 25 conversion to an outboard powered CC

ktm_2000 · Post by **ktm_2000** » Aug 19th, '22, 22:13

my buddy came over and helped me get the motor on the boat after work today, it took 20 min to lift up the engine on a cherry picker and then roll it down the driveway and sliding it over to the area where I park the boat. It was a little dicey sliding the cherry picker sideways and I ended up moving the boat to meet the engine instead. The engine aligned and bolted up easily and I did need to go back to the hardware store to get a shorter set of bolts for the lower bolt holes. I ended up with 3" upper and 2.5" lower bolts.
after motor was mounted:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/EpS2ifRavbm2NYQU9

I hooked up a battery and tested how much tilt I could get with the minimal sized motor well and I think I am in reasonable position, not great but not bad either. The prop should be at the water line.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/a7gbGVCEXefrDMVh7

I think I could get more tilt but the area which is tight is lower down where the engine harness attaches
https://photos.app.goo.gl/jfGTZrGvYWQdvjzb8

I may be SOL for taking the boat for a ride, the new Hydraulic ram that I purchased that supposedly works for most manufacturers seems to not line up with a Honda.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/YB29wbTxsf9Kpxux7

I do have an older ram that was given to me that has a slot in the center attachment point and I temp hooked it up and used washers and a bolt to hold it together. I am guessing it will take me a couple hours to jury righ a way to make it work. I am not sure it will be worth it. Most likely I will move the boat down to my other house, back the boat up to a place where I want to store the motor, lift the engine up and off the bracket and pull the boat away and lower the motor down onto the engine stand

captbone · Post by **captbone** » Aug 23rd, '22, 08:12

Looks good.

I think many of your trim and clearance issue are caused by the jackplate. The rise should be greater for the engine allowing the ram to pivot and also not crush the rigging tube.

Armstrong and Stainless Marine make an excellent 12inch bracket just for your application.

https://www.stainlessmarine.com/product ... -brackets/

ktm_2000 · Post by **ktm_2000** » Aug 30th, '22, 10:16

Captbone,

I think you are right about getting something to let me tilt the motor a bit more, where it is at right now is probably good enough. I did buy a 14" setback jackplate but it is only rated for 625# which is @50# less than the 300 Zuki I have on order. I don't know if I just suck it up and buy the HD 12" jackplate that Cam bought over the winter and swap it out. The nice part is that the holes are all drilled, it would be lift the engine and swap the bracket operation. I did measure off the keel and the motor was 1 1/4" up so I think the height will be good.

I had last week off for Vacation, my house went on the market and under agreement so I am getting that past me. I did move the boat to the cape and took some pics at the rest area in Wareham off 195. The process of selling our house tapped me out so I didn't get anything done. Hopefully next week I can take the honda off and get the boat to the dealer to install the suzuki.

Seeing the boat near the water even though it didn't get into it helped

https://photos.app.goo.gl/5eZCHwkFwPRkNPDJ8
https://photos.app.goo.gl/PX7nuZLWZZ2KvDFt5
https://photos.app.goo.gl/YHJasjGLk14vRBND8

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Aug 30th, '22, 12:20

ktm_2000 wrote: ↑Aug 30th, '22, 10:16
Seeing the boat near the water even though it didn't get into it helped

LOL...you set that bar pretty low. I'm so glad you're seeing the glass half full.

I know it's really tough as hell sometimes to do that. It will all happen when it's ready to happen and not before.

ktm_2000 · Post by **ktm_2000** » Aug 30th, '22, 12:38

When you start with the bar really low, there is only one way to go, up. Then again, if you had my luck, you'd trip over it

Hopefully I can get most all of my moving done this weekend and start making progress again next week.

CamB25 · Post by **CamB25** » Sep 7th, '22, 07:45

My jack plate is a 10" Bob's Extreme. The Evinrude has a bit of set back built into the engine so I could actually use a 6" jackplate and clear the transom/splashwell when the jackplate is fully extended. Evinrude has the integrated steering (no ram) and the rigging tube does not move. My routine at the dock is to lift the engine all the way and tilt it almost 100% until the skeg clears the water. Lift is a key feature. I use lift to trim the engine on plane - generally 30 deg of trim and 1-2" of lift gives me the best performance with my prop, and to put around in ~2 feet of water.

Let me know if I can gather any measurements for you from my boat.

I'm eye-balling the duo-prop Suzukis 300 or 350. Might call to see how many years the back order is today. I'd like to make the change while the Evinrude still has some value over scrap. It's running great and has less than 300 hrs,, but there is no dealer support within 3 hours. If I can't fix it, I'm screwed.

ktm_2000 · Post by **ktm_2000** » Sep 9th, '22, 09:16

Cam,

I am curious how much heavier duty the HD model is vs the standard duty 14" setback model that I got a while back. I didn't realize it at the time as the specs on it said it could support a 300HP motor but those specs are probably for a bass boat with a 20" leg as they only support 625# Of course a 300 / 30" leg is 656# and I am guessing that is dry and closer to 700# with oil.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/otCWXrCP9gxXdLh56
https://photos.app.goo.gl/MRWMKz6X9ME3fqAc8

I ended up buying the straight no lift bracket which didn't have a weight restriction and from what I can tell both brackets are made the same. I am guessing that the hydraulic motor can't reliably take the increased weight and that is the restriction?? I did call Bob's Machine shop and their folks told me that I wouldn't have an issue but couldn't put anything in writing, I am guessing if I ever got into an insurance claim I would be on the loosing end of it.

I still have that 14" hydraulic bracket... haven't sold it yet

CamB25 · Post by **CamB25** » Sep 12th, '22, 11:16

I wonder if you can retrofit your 14" action jac with the new Extreme jac pump/ram system?

beachbum · Post by **beachbum** » Sep 14th, '22, 02:36

ktm_2000 wrote: ↑Aug 30th, '22, 10:16 Seeing the boat near the water even though it didn't get into it helped

https://photos.app.goo.gl/5eZCHwkFwPRkNPDJ8
https://photos.app.goo.gl/PX7nuZLWZZ2KvDFt5
https://photos.app.goo.gl/YHJasjGLk14vRBND8

Wow, she's looking great! What kind of performance are you expecting with 300 horses of outboard power?

ktm_2000 · Post by **ktm_2000** » Sep 14th, '22, 07:53

I think Cam can hit high 40s mph top end and cruises 26-29mph from what I remember on his posts

I would think just a tiny bit better than what Cam is getting as I did a lot to keep my boat light and my doghouse is a bit more aerodynamic than his center console, on the other hand I would think his 300hp 2 stroke to be a bit more powerful so the various factors would even out and the boats would end up being very similar.

I haven't done anything on the boat since moving, gotta get my a$$ in gear.... I did get a boost by going out yesterday and fishing the beach near my house over my lunch break and then again after work. I caught a 1/2 dozen small stripers and a few 5# bluefish one of which I kept for dinner.

what a difference being able to walk <5 min and go fishing, our little bay is loaded with 1-3" pogies.

captbone · Post by **captbone** » Sep 14th, '22, 09:14

I will be curious to see how your boat floats. Even with the flybridge my 25 Bertram OB was way too light and I needed to add a lot of weight. I would step on the boat and it would heel 30+ degrees. I ended up with an 8D diesel battery and adding sand bags of the COG. I was worried about weight and it turns out I was worried about the wrong end of the spectrum. More weight is a good thing with 25 Bertram conversions, sounds crazy but that is my experience.

I am chomping at the bit to do a 31 Moppie open with a single OB. I think it would be great but I know I would have huge issues with it being too light and buoyant.

ktm_2000 · Post by **ktm_2000** » Sep 14th, '22, 09:50

Captbone,

I will be curious as well, I know I took a lot of weight out of the boat with various different components but I did put quite a bit back and I believe that I have taken steps to keep the weight as close to my old configuration as possible where the weight on the boat was more concentrated into the stern. I went from 60 gallons of fuel to 140 and I shifted the tank back almost at least 18", my 4 group 24 batteries did go forward under the doghouse and I also have a 40 gallon livewell on deck integrated into the leaning post. The battery move should somewhat offset the change in weight of the doghouse being lighter than the combination of old center console and radar arch.

My boat with the I/Os did sit with the rear chines out of the water at rest and really didn't like a lot of weight in the stern and would wallow a bit when I was running a 40 gallon livewell in a stern corner. I think the livewell being on the center line and near the center of buoyancy which is on the diagrams from Bertram will help. I also have a fairly large area forward of the doghouse under deck where I can add weight if needed. To me I want her to be stern heavy and if the bow is too light I will either add weight to the shelf in my fishboxes or add tabs to keep the bow down.

under deck view - fuel tank starts at back of motor well, white box in middle is where batteries go, white hoses are approximately where livewell is located, can see shelf in fishboxes near front bulkheads.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/VdMiRshRtVbBxDFo8
old motor well before deck went down
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Y1fvosNYrawrb3LN6

CamB25 · Post by **CamB25** » Sep 14th, '22, 16:05

As a reference, a full fuel tank brings my chines in contact with the water, just in contact. 129 gallons, stock location extended forward. She rides marginally better full, but I have no complaints about the ride at any fuel level. Only when I get above 40mph does the boat get really light in the stern and will wiggle. I really can't sense much of difference with humans in the 2 stern seats, either, but most of the time I have 3 or 4 people in the bow and I'm the driver. 25 - 30 mph cruising.

The boat is sensitive to wind. a strong-ish wind will blow the bow around and I'm in constant correction mode at the helm....tabs down, sawing a bit with the wheel.

At displacement and trolling speeds the boat wanders considerably. Lots of corrections. Looked at auto-pilots, but that's $5k!

I have no frame of reference. These may be characteristics of the stock configuration. If I had it to over again I would have built the boat for twin O/Bs. I think it would be a little better balanced, overall, but the difference may not be measurable. I think you could get similar results to mine on a B31 with a single...Merc v-12 600 might be enough weight!

captbone · Post by **captbone** » Sep 14th, '22, 18:07

I fished one day with 82 gallons of fuel and 6 full size men. The boat ran much better all around. It was more sluggish but the ride quality improved drastically. It wasn’t jerky and lost the snap roll.

My complaint is mainly at rest with stability when light but I loved carrying heavy weight for a number of reasons.

ktm_2000 · Post by **ktm_2000** » Sep 14th, '22, 19:05

I found that my passengers typically wanted to sit in the stern of the boat on the engine cover, 2 people on the engine cover + a full livewell, the boat would wallow, if I could get those people to sit in front of the center console the boat ran better. I never ran with a lot of weight in my cabin and ever experienced any bow steer other than a couple trips coming home in 4-6' following sea and I was stuffing the bow into the back of waves.

I was more concerned with too much weight in the stern so I put the livwell towards the center of the boat and made the fuel tank quite a bit larger so with full fuel I would offset the weight I took out of her converting to nidacore. With both full fuel and a livewell, I won't be far off my pre-renovation weight based upon my calculations.

beachbum · Post by **beachbum** » Sep 15th, '22, 14:43

In terms of chines, mine are just touching with a full tank too, but a single diesel sterndrive.

Having said that, I've stripped off all the old antifoul back to gelcoat (or in some areas where there is no more gelcoat....resin) and the hull has been sat in the yard drying out after the hottest summer Europe has ever recorded. Epoxying the below waterline section soon so hopefully it'll be a bit more buoyant!

captbone · Post by **captbone** » Nov 19th, '22, 09:40

Any updates?

captbone · Post by **captbone** » Dec 17th, '22, 23:23

An interesting twist interpretation of the CC Pilothouse.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 8547ac003f

CamB25 · Post by **CamB25** » Dec 19th, '22, 09:53

captbone wrote: ↑Dec 17th, '22, 23:23 An interesting twist interpretation of the CC Pilothouse.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 8547ac003f

$17k? He must have buyers lined up!

V10 mercs - 350 and 400, under 700 lbs. I tried to get one on order, but they are not taking orders yet, of course. Just teaser you tube videos.

ktm_2000 · Post by **ktm_2000** » Dec 23rd, '22, 12:15

folks, I haven't done much on the boat. It has taken more than I thought to transition to living full time at our MUCH smaller cape house and make it more livable. Add to that my work went stupid busy so I've been tapped out.

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Dec 24th, '22, 09:57

It’s the way things go sometimes. The time will come when you can back to working on the boat.

ktm_2000 · Post by **ktm_2000** » Jul 17th, '23, 13:17

after many trials and tribulations and a WHOLE LOT OF WAITING, the marina finally put the engine on my boat and did a water test today.

I had only put 40 gallons in her when I brought her to the shop so I am guessing that she was light. I wasn't there for the test and don't know how many were on board but here's the quote from the shop.

"I was able to water test today. Performance was good.
WOT 6,150rpm @47mph - this was a short burst to check max rpm for prop size. WOT ranges from 5700 to 6300
At 4k 29mph 4.5k 34mph"

if I end up fully loaded for fishing with 24-25kt cruise at 4100-4200 I will be ecstatic.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/396V7iBRKFjJzrna8

I've been silent for quite some time as I've waited, hopefully I can get the boat back and finish her up this soon. I promise better pics and info then.

pschauss · Post by **pschauss** » Jul 17th, '23, 14:21

Great news!!!

neil · Post by **neil** » Jul 17th, '23, 15:22

Boat looks great,I have a 1962 25 moppie with 3 liter iOS they definitely run better with a lot of weight,but I only cruise at 22 knts keep up the good work

Tony Meola · Post by **Tony Meola** » Jul 17th, '23, 20:06

That Suzuki looks great.

This is good news. Hopefully you will shortly be testing her out yourself.

CamB25 · Post by **CamB25** » Jul 18th, '23, 08:15

Great! Numbers seem reasonable.

ktm_2000 · Post by **ktm_2000** » Jul 18th, '23, 10:02

Cam- given that she had @40 gallons on board, how is she sitting in the stern compared to your boat?

I am going to pick her up today, I've got to finish up a few items before I test her hopefully tomorrow!!!!

I'm not 100% of what's left to do on her to be able to run her as she's been at the marina for an extended stay.

CamB25 · Post by **CamB25** » Jul 18th, '23, 11:59

She's looks light in the stern. Load weight aft - fuel, water, batteries, etc. More weight back there might drop your numbers but it will ride better. And your deck drains will be under water.

I had 11 people on the boat the other night, most in the bow area. I was cruising at 4700 versus normal 4000, but she got up!!

What prop are you running?

ktm_2000 · Post by **ktm_2000** » Jul 18th, '23, 12:01

not sure will find out in at 3pm when I pick her up

CamB25 · Post by **CamB25** » Jul 18th, '23, 12:07

Exciting! I remember the day I hauled the boat to the Evinrude dealer for final setup. We went for a ride afterward with the owner...thought I was going to pass out from nervousness. I told him, "Man, I'm not sure this thing will float!" He seemed way more confident than I was!

Let the games begin! Gas is $5.19 at my marina in case you have been off the water for a while! Shocker!

ktm_2000 · Post by **ktm_2000** » Jul 18th, '23, 12:32

my house is less than 1/2 mile from a boat ramp into buzzards bay, maybe 1 mile to a regular gas station. I'm going to keep the boat in the driveway and tow. Gas is $3.60 around me, thankfully as I have at least 100 gallons to fill her up.

ktm_2000 · Post by **ktm_2000** » Jul 19th, '23, 08:01

I finally got my boat back yesterday afternoon.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/oDCryUKcFihd8eoh7

The description of the maintenance items for the motor seems fairly straight forward
1. pair of low pressure fuel filters yearly
2. oil 100hrs
3. block anodes every other year
4. water pump impellor every 2-3 years based upon usage (said I could go 3-400hrs) there is a grease fitting which will grease the shaft coupler so it should allow the longer interval and not cause grief when trying to get it apart if greased properly

The digital shift is pretty cool, has a trolling mode and can change rpm by 50 up or down

He wasn't able to get my displays to integrate with NMEA out of the engine. I can understand as I hadn't updated them and they were somewhat a mess. It took me a couple hours last night to get the updates done. I connected both to my home network, the port said that it needed updates, starboard nothing. Then it wanted a memory card inserted to do the update, I put one in from my drone and it just wouldn't work. 45 min of troubleshooting later I finally found a blurb that the unit can't see larger than 32 GB and the one from my drone was 256gb so out I went to walmart to get a pair of mini 32gb sd cards.

the port display then downloaded and installed updates fine, starboard not so much....

I tried downloading the updates from the website and putting them on the SD card directly, no go. The update did not match the display even though I double checked. going back again, I tried all the different models and every one of them had links to the same update , the B&Gs site was not setup properly. Every reboot of the port display it said that there was an old update, I used the storage viewer, no updates were on the 2nd card I had put in and it confused me. I messed with the port some more and got data from the engine but it is not in a pretty visual display https://photos.app.goo.gl/WyXh8QRnPg3o1cWD7. I will have to figure out how to map parameters to a more visual way of showing the data.

some more messing around and I noticed that the charts didn't match display to display, I had bought it with a CMAP card for both displays and one unit was showing basemaps. I went back and looked at storage and the update had been saved on the port display to the CMAP card, why it asked me to put in a card if it was just going to put it on my chart card????? who knows

I used the utility to copy the update over to the 2nd 32gb card and then put it into the other display and that updated and rebooted fine, now both are same versions. I got them both talking to the VHF and the vhf now shows GPS location and the AIS receiver is working and picking up commercial traffic https://photos.app.goo.gl/AeLhocyn4Xjy759w7

ktm_2000 · Post by **ktm_2000** » Jul 19th, '23, 08:02

Cam to your question 16" x 17 pitch prop

CamB25 · Post by **CamB25** » Jul 19th, '23, 13:27

Ha! I like that picture by the ATM!!

16 x 17 should be really close. You need to get the boat loaded to a normal condition and test. That Suzuki likes to spin up, so 17 might be perfect. My prop is 16 x 18 and tops out at 5200 - 5400 rpm. The Etec top end is 6000 but the engine makes max power at 5200, or so I'm told. 17 for me might be a tad "better" in terms of rpm, but 18 was all I could find during COVID. I will tell you that I'm deeply engaged with Sharrow right now, just for fun. Their props are pretty special. I'll let you know how it works out. I've tested 2 versions so far and a third is in UPS.

Cards for updates? Can't you simply connect to wi-fi for updates?

John F. · Post by **John F.** » Jul 19th, '23, 14:26

Your 25 looks great. Great numbers.

ktm_2000 · Post by **ktm_2000** » Jul 19th, '23, 20:12

First ride after the repower

I got out of work at 5 and scrambled to fill the boat with extra tools, saftety gear and hooked up the truck when my wife got home. I added 56 gallons of fuel to get her close to 100 gallons and headed to the local ramp.

When nothing is onboard at that fuel, the rear chines are just touching the water, when climbing onboard and going to a stern quarter I did get some water in the scuppers and that is with the deck raised over 1" from stock. I will need to get ping-pong balls to cover the scuppers on her.

I do have some water leaks coming in from the thru-hulls on my livewell and fishbox drains so I will have to do some tweaking there.

As for performance, the 1st 2hrs on the motor you need to keep the engine below 3000rpm. At those rpms she really doesn't want to plane and is only doing 11kts so I did a lot of putting around and during that time I found some terns working and went over to check them out and I put on a tiny popper and we caught a bunch of small snapper blues. My girls loved it, I did the casting and held the rod so they wouldn't drop it and it was a guaranteed hookup as they reeled. No sale on touching the fish after I took them off the hook as each of them would run around the other side of the doghouse. It is really nice that doing a bit of fishing and you can't hear the motor running. We messed around with following the blues moving around until she went over 2hrs running time. From there the manual says run it at 4k and I pushed her forward and she effortlessly leveled out on plane and settled in at just under 24kts.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/fwJidtLgAJ4GvSVRA
Clean wake
https://photos.app.goo.gl/KxDLuyaZYM5SQdhKA

My kids didn't really like the faster speed so I varied the speed between 4k and down to 3500 and she is real quiet at 20kts and that was a happy medium.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/MAVh1w2XtAKoVfC46

I didn't want to push it so we head home and I got a decent pic before putting her back on the trailer.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/eWb8xB6bYC6EvoYh9

Tony Meola · Post by **Tony Meola** » Jul 19th, '23, 20:40

Nice job. I like the dash set up. Clean and easy to read.

Good luck with her. Time to make memories and get the kids use to handling fish.

CamB25 · Post by **CamB25** » Jul 20th, '23, 08:12

That looks great! People are always amazed at how well the 25 runs with just a single engine. Sips fuel (in relative terms) and just works!

Do you have trim tabs installed? I installed a pair of Lenco's on the bump out portion of the transom and they work very well for keeping the bow down at lower speeds.

I see your transom mounted transducer works as well as mine....anything over displacement speed is a wash out. Mine is a Simrad 3 in 1. I also have an Airmar B150M thru hull hooked to a Garmin. The Airmar works at most speeds.

ktm_2000 · Post by **ktm_2000** » Jul 20th, '23, 08:49

Cam,

No tabs and I am going to try to avoid them if I can. The bow did pop up and want to run high if I stayed at 3k rpm ~11kts as there just is not enough power at that rpm to push her over the hump and get fully on plane. I did notice at 3300rpm and I was on plane doing 14kts so she still has her low speed planning capabilities. So there is somewhat of a hole, 8kts-12kts, I think with the 2 engines prior and more blade area (2) 15"x17pitch vs 1 16"x 17pitch, she did better at those speeds but it is not terrible and nothing that I'd be worried about.

My experience last night is mostly break-in time as I would normally go through no-wake area for 15 min warmup then hop on plane. The ride at 3500 rpm and 19kts was quiet as she was loafing. To me the difference is the old motors seem to also be geared different, I would cruise at 3600 rpm at 22-23kts, I have to spin the zuki a bit more. I have to say she really wants to run, I can't wait to open her up a bit and see 4000-5000rpm

As for the transducer, In my wake shot there is no signs of the transducer spraying, I am going to tilt it down and try to get more bite and see if it displays better, I think it just needs fine tuning.

I am going to run through a bunch of stuff today as the marina had my boat for quite some time and I didn't finish everything.

the nice part is the Bertram has its looks, I got stopped by 2 different people at the Gas station then another guy dropping in and then another guy putting it back on the trailer. These old girls have their charm.

Tony Meola · Post by **Tony Meola** » Jul 20th, '23, 21:29

ktm_2000 wrote: ↑Jul 20th, '23, 08:49
the nice part is the Bertram has its looks, I got stopped by 2 different people at the Gas station then another guy dropping in and then another guy putting it back on the trailer. These old girls have their charm.

They all have that classic look that is timeless.

ktm_2000 · Post by **ktm_2000** » Jul 24th, '23, 08:44

I've used the boat a few more times and have 15hrs on her. I fished with 3 guys on saturday and wanted to stay somewhat local for that trip but ended up going a fair distance. The motor is amazing, it allows the boat to get on plane with ease, even with a fair amount of weight on her. I am seeing 2.4nm/g at cruise which seems quite good to me.

There are some faults which have come out... self inflicted. I mentioned that there was some water in the bilge, well I found it, a small hole 6" off the transom. I'm sure that I did it when I was glassing the transom/ stringers and bunched up some excess glass in the limber hole which was where the stringers met the transom. I remember jamming a fein saw as well as a grinder in the hole to cut the glass away and must have went overboard. I gooped it with 5200 for now and will get some fresh epoxy and then do a proper patch.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/et5TBznmCRjVVB4p8p
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Jkoe9dyMPiWW6Fvg6

the 2nd fault is with the helm face of the doghouse, I had added some thin panels of nidacore to somewhat enclose the underside of the doghouse. I didn't heavily reinforce it and the upper joint cracked on both sides. I am going to put a few layers of 1708 on the inside of the joint and then grind down outside face of the crack and glass again.

here's what the piece looked like before glassing. The crack occurred where the clamp is
https://photos.app.goo.gl/aV5QNECwF8e4DQ2Y6

Critical stuff for wife and kids- porta-potty - I didn't measure and the porta-pottie we have won't fit under the v-birth insert now, I added 3/4" nida on top of existing floor when renovating. I will have to purchase a new smaller porta-pottie. For now it is in a plastic tub in the cabin.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/7zXsbEH5Cu93boUTA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/CPE9v8cKiScNmaTC6
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ru6S6z8YtumhbUxw8

lastly - balance and rocking
She is a little bit more tender than before, I think that the weight of the 2 engines spaced out made her more resistant to rolling as if you are on the port side gunnel, the starboard motor would act as a counter balance. Now all the weight is on the centerline and she can tip more. 4 guys on one side, she'll tip a bit, nothing terrible but she does.

as for balance bow to stern, I probably have too much weight in the stern. I was paranoid of having enough and probably overdid it a bit. Even though my deck is 1" higher, I am getting water in the scuppers and have ordered up ping pong balls to stop the inflow and will work on creating storage in the cabin so gear weight will be forward.

She's not 100% perfect but none of the situations are major problems and there are ways to get around them so I will address them in turn and continue to improve her. I do have to say she is significantly better than when she had the old iron in her and I am VERY HAPPY with the outcome.

CamB25 · Post by **CamB25** » Jul 24th, '23, 15:48

Scuppers...It's odd that you raised the deck 1" and they are still low. My deck is up 3/4" or so and the scupper holes are even with the deck, but are much higher than yours. My holes are above the line where the hard chine starts. Maybe 2+ inches higher than yours? I still get some wave water in the boat when fishing, but nothing annoying. Strange. It's not the weight balance of the boat, it's the position of the holes.

Is your boat a 62? Maybe Bertram raised the stringer height in 63?

ktm_2000 · Post by **ktm_2000** » Jul 24th, '23, 19:29

Cam,

My hull is registered and titled as a 1964, https://photos.app.goo.gl/hywBSuEANakXwHv66 tag says june 63

Here's a picture when I brought her home from Waukegon, IL in 2003, the scuppers are in the angled portion of the chine
https://photos.app.goo.gl/EgK2fuJwYChfhULT6

here's a pic now, the scuppers are at least 1" above the angled portion of the chine
https://photos.app.goo.gl/xbDrt5o7jnk4qfr77

Saturday we went fluke fishing, the setup now allows 5 rods to be worked on one side of the boat while going through the rips. The amount of water coming in isn't too bad, it does get compounded when all the rods go off at once and 3 guys are on one side of the boat, leaning to that side enough to put the scupper in the water, the water gets on the deck, then afterwords the boat levels off and since I haven't fully installed the bomar hatch, it leaks in the bilge. The bilge pump came on a few times to pump out the water, nothing threatening but one of my goals was to have a dry bilge. I wanted to wait on installing the bomar hatch until I gelcoated the deck, since I got a late start on the season, I want to use the boat as much as possible and will put off finishing off the deck this year so I am going to get a tube of silicone and put a couple temp screws in the deck hatch. If that were water tight, none of the water would end up in the bilge even if I didn't do ping pong balls.

CamB25 · Post by **CamB25** » Jul 25th, '23, 07:15

I think I see this now. You have a thru-hull in the transom bump-out that I thought was the scupper. Your scupper is the unfinished hole outboard of the bump-out, correct?

My bilge pump fires off occasionally when we are fishing or sitting in the stern. Not a big deal, but I, like you, would prefer it didn't happen. My bilge hatch is homemade and not watertight at all. I'm envious of your Bomar hatch, but installation on my boat will be fairly major surgery. I might get this done over winter maintenance next year.

One way to lessen the amount of water coming in is to re-locate the scuppers more toward the center of the boat. I have 3, 1" Moeller tubes that are located in the transom bump out roughly even with the deck surface. I did this because I have seating in the back corners...no access except in the center of the stern under the 1/2 splashwell/live well. I left open space between the seating areas of the "module" (It's all one piece) and the transom/hull sides to avoid trapping any water. Water can flow easily along the transom. I have pie plates in the seat boxes that allow access to this area aft and to the sides for my thru-hulls. This more centralized location works fine. As the boat rocks from side to side the water exits in the center.

I have never taken water in over the transom of the boat....not even close. I have taken water over my T-top (punched a big wave heading out). Any water on the deck drains in a instance while running.

Your boat is about a month newer than mine. BluBert was born on 5-29-63.

neil · Post by **neil** » Jul 25th, '23, 13:21

I found my number this winter in two separates spots b 25/62/9 it is a moppie likes yours

ktm_2000 · Post by **ktm_2000** » Jul 25th, '23, 13:42

Cam,

The bump contains the thru-hulls, livewell drain to port, fish box macerator pump drain to starboard, my regular and crash bilge pumps are higher up on port side
https://photos.app.goo.gl/65dKvxSBgAtvm9zF9

I can't see the output from the bilge pumps when at the helm, when I had them out the side of the boat I could see them work. The inside of the transom being exposed now doesn't let me hide the hoses so all now go out the back.

CamB25 · Post by **CamB25** » Jul 27th, '23, 06:54

I have blue LED on the helm that illuminates whenever a bilge pump is running. Good visual reference.

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Jul 27th, '23, 12:09

CamB25 wrote: ↑Jul 27th, '23, 06:54 I have blue LED on the helm that illuminates whenever a bilge pump is running. Good visual reference.

I agree...one of the best things we did. If the boats pumping water, I want to know why.

Rawleigh · Post by **Rawleigh** » Jul 29th, '23, 08:32

I have a red light for the AFT bilge pump so I'll know if it's on while I'm running. I'm very glad to hear you got her in the water and got some blood on the deck after your long build. That's got to be very rewarding!

ktm_2000 · Post by **ktm_2000** » Jul 31st, '23, 09:04

In the past I had a warning buzzer go off when the pump went on, I will have to figure out how to make that happen with the new setup.

I've been using the rig a bunch, my girls are slowly getting used to running at cruising speed and a few bumps here and there as we've been taking them to the beach on the back side of mashnee island and doing some sandbar time with them. They love jumping off the gunnels with their lifejackets on and swimming while we are at anchor. We have 18hrs on the motor so far, hopefully the engine oil/ filter shows up tomorrow so I can do the 20 hr service this week.

There's a bunch of small issues which I am chasing and trying to fix, none of which are terrible:
1. horn relay died, need to order a new one
2. transducer is not doing well over 20kts, need to adjust
3. Need more OH $hit handles for the girls to hang on to
4. Need to figure out lock for cabin door https://photos.app.goo.gl/dqm8d7aUxtbqknEB8
5. Need to sand and varnish cabin door frame
6. some of the hose fittings for livewell are leaking, been given advice to swap hose clamps to another style and heat the hose and then clamp before it cools
7. install ping pong balls on scuppers
8. install under gunnel lights