Sedan sport fisherman?

Pete Fallon · Post by **Pete Fallon** » Feb 3rd, '14, 00:05

Steve,
You might not have to climb steps in the Bahia Mar but the head is the V-berth, can you say EXPRESS.
Pete Fallon

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Feb 3rd, '14, 07:24

Lack of cabin space does not make the Bahia Mar the most family oriented boat for weekends and trips. Fishing, diving, overnights and day boat for sure perfect...but the 31 FBC or Express with their puny cabins are already tight for a boat of its size...cut that down even more...I have been stuck at a marina on vacation in foul weather for days...that cabin is small for two people, six people is laughable.

This is my favorite shot of the boat, one of our best memories...went out for dinner with 12 of our closest friends. Anchor boat, call water taxi to bring us in to restaurant. Then an awesome 12 mile night ride back at 6 knots in the dark. Everyone just sitting around on the deck, kids playing in the cabin...an Express Cruiser has its place. Plus the best platform for fishing short handed.

How much closer to the action can you get then this.

Now another real nice option...winter...it gets toasty warm in that enclosed area for Bass trolling standing over a pair of Big Blocks.
Summers...we open the rear screen to let in the air but keep out the Flies...AKA- those Fire Island Horse Flies.

Bertramp · Post by **Bertramp** » Feb 3rd, '14, 08:36

Pete .... my Bahia has a head with sink and door on the starboard side.

My first 31 was a Flybridge cruiser (actually, it was at a Montaul Yacht Club rendevouz years ago with the new owner ... named Captivator)
After a cold and rainy Columbus weekend in Connecticut, I realized that I needed a family boat and sold it
..... in my mind, all 31s are day boats and suitable only for occassional sleep-overs.
There are plusses and minuses to all of the models, but .... they are great boats !!

PeterPalmieri · Post by **PeterPalmieri** » Feb 3rd, '14, 09:33

Carl,

I think this is the first time I'm seeing your lady, looks very nice!

Pete

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Feb 3rd, '14, 13:45

Bertramp wrote:Pete .... my Bahia has a head with sink and door on the starboard side.

My first 31 was a Flybridge cruiser (actually, it was at a Montaul Yacht Club rendevouz years ago with the new owner ... named Captivator)
After a cold and rainy Columbus weekend in Connecticut, I realized that I needed a family boat and sold it
..... in my mind, all 31s are day boats and suitable only for occassional sleep-overs.
There are plusses and minuses to all of the models, but .... they are great boats !!

I'd say your 100% correct.

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Feb 3rd, '14, 13:52

PeterPalmieri wrote:Carl,

I think this is the first time I'm seeing your lady, looks very nice!

Pete

Thanks Pete. I am trying to plant the urge to put her in this year. Been looking over some old pictures of past years...lots of great memories on that boat.

But when all is said and done, whatever you use to get out on the water is the best...even if surf fishing off the beach.

Pete Fallon · Post by **Pete Fallon** » Feb 3rd, '14, 14:13

Carl,
Do you need any parts for your express? I have the four original hatch covers for the engine box they are painted Imron 508 white, in very good condition along with the hinges, I also have the original destroyer aluminum wheel.They are yours if you want them. I am moving back up North to have my 4th knee replacement and I am selling my house her in Fl.
Pete Fallon

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » Feb 3rd, '14, 14:41

Pete what doctors/ hospital are you going to use up north.

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Feb 3rd, '14, 15:34

Pete Fallon wrote:Carl,
Do you need any parts for your express? I have the four original hatch covers for the engine box they are painted Imron 508 white, in very good condition along with the hinges, I also have the original destroyer aluminum wheel.They are yours if you want them. I am moving back up North to have my 4th knee replacement and I am selling my house her in Fl.
Pete Fallon

Ahhh Pete...I knew about the boat having to go. So sorry to hear the house too.
Only stuff...but sucks to see it go. Get your knees back and than screw the house and its upkeep, go lease a Condo in Florida.

You said Boston, correct? When are you scheduled?

I appreciate the offer for covers and wheel...but last I looked I still had those on the boat. But then again in a marina that has been closed up for a year and a half...lots of things do go missing.

Pete Fallon · Post by **Pete Fallon** » Feb 3rd, '14, 21:10

Carl,
I thought I would give you the first shot, I will hang on to those items, I've been using the bottoms of the hatch covers as tops for my work area in the garage, I cored the with PVC foam so they are a lot lighted than the old ones. maybe Ill leave them at L&H Glen is redoing his 31 express that he got from AJ Boat yard in Salerno, he traded a flats boat for a project 31.
Pete Fallon

Pete Fallon · Post by **Pete Fallon** » Feb 3rd, '14, 21:13

Bob,
I am going to Mass General in downtown Boston, some time around the end of March. I could have had it done last month but I didn't feel like sliding around on ice and snow especially while I'm on crutches 24/7.
Pete Fallon

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » Feb 3rd, '14, 21:45

Pete I am truly concerned! I also have the been plagued with knee problems.although not nearly as serious I had right knee operated on and it has held up.i hope to GOD they are sucessful you have suffer enough.

Pete Fallon · Post by **Pete Fallon** » Feb 3rd, '14, 23:01

Bob,
I went to the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan back in August 2010 because the hospital in Ft Lauderdale/Miami area could not take an MRI because I had too much metal in my knee. I was impressed with the staff and the doctors I met while I was there which was about 7 hours. If I lived in New York area that's where I would go.
The only reason I am going to Mass General is that the doctor that is going to do the replacement came highly recommended by my doctor who is the chief of orthopedic surgery at Holy Cross in Ft Lauderdale and 3 other doctors at Mass General. My doc was at a national conference of Ortho doctors in Dallas in October, he had a round table discussion with 10 other doc's and asked them point blank, if you were going to have your knee revised who would you go to, they all said that the guy that I am having it done by at Mass Gen was the one they would go to. I know that it's # 2or # 3 in US for orthopedics and back in 1978 they saved my leg by doing the 10th arthroscopic surgery every done in the world, I was in the pre-op room two other guys that morning, when I looked closer to see it I recognized anyone it turned out to be Booby Orr on one side of me and Brad Park on the other. Needless to say I've had a lot of surgeries but I feel confident at Mass General. I've got a lot of family in that area and it's only 17 miles from where I am going to be living. Thanks for your support I hope your knee holds up because the more they cut the worst it gets. I just hope they find that a different brand of implant is going to be better than the last 3 POS from Depuy(Johnson& Johnson), I found out that the implants that I've had have been outlawed in all the British Commonwealth Nations, along with Ireland, Australia and New Zeeland.
I've been trying to get a lawyer to take on J&J but nobody wants to tackle them. They sent one law firm that was looking into my case over 10,000 pages of documents about how good their knee was, needless to say that firm sent my stuff back and said they wouldn't represent me because they didn't have the resources to deal with a huge company. That's all for now.
Pete Fallon

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Feb 4th, '14, 06:52

Pete,
Thank you for first crack at those items.

I can understand why lawyers may turn their nose up at your case....and many others for that matter. Good friend of mine walked into an ER as he was disoriented and came out in a Wheelchair for life several months later due to Gross negligence...in short Bed sores ate to the pelvis and destroyed too much of the bone and...
He sued and won a 6 million dollar law suit against the hospital...has to be at least 5 years ago...hasn't seen a dime of it. Still has collection agencies calling him for money, can't buy the handicap vehicle he needs to get around, can't finish making the home improvements he needs to make his home conducive for getting around in a wheelchair. He has been to court time and time again, but hospital has deeper pockets and just will not pay...they offer to settle for an amount which is less then he owes. I always thought if you had a case and won...you collect....does not seem to be the case as I thought.

Sometimes the best doctors are not The Best Doctors for you. Best of luck with this knee surgery...it was a good idea putting it off too...snow, snow and more snow up here....we got real spoiled the last couple years with mild winters.

Carl

Dug · Post by **Dug** » Feb 4th, '14, 15:46

Pete,

Where are you going to be living? If you need anything, let me know.

Dug

Pete Fallon · Post by **Pete Fallon** » Feb 4th, '14, 20:27

Dug,
Somewhere on the North Shore, I haven't rented a place yet, more than likely Salem, I do have a line on an apartment opening April 1. Trying to sell my house here in Stuart before I commit.
Pete Fallon

lobsta1 · Post by **lobsta1** » Feb 4th, '14, 20:27

Pete,
If this summer you want to get on the water on a B33, let me know. We're over in Beverly at Tuck Point Marina.
Al

Pete Fallon · Post by **Pete Fallon** » Feb 4th, '14, 20:37

Al,
Thanks for the offer, I was on a Jet Blue Flight in early December two rows behind me was Norm LeBlanc. Do you keep the boat in Beverly or Salem?
Pete Fallon

Pete Fallon · Post by **Pete Fallon** » Feb 4th, '14, 20:50

Al,
Thanks for the offer, I was on a Jet Blue Flight going to Boston for doctors appointment in early December, two rows behind me was Norm LeBlanc.
Your at the old chemical condo dock just before Jubilee yacht club is that correct?. Hell I fished out of the old lobster docks next door when I was a kid, I worked for Elliot Rowand before he built the new fish market, his new building is where the old Colonial Dinner used to be. Used to eat breakfast there after coming back from Rowand's trap nets out near the Dry Breakers, loads of mackerel, butterfish, whitening and an occasional monk fish with the entire mouth filled with mackerel. After having breakfast his brother Malcolm would take the boat and we would haul 400 lobster traps and be done by 3 PM after starting at 4 AM. I did that for one summer between freshman and sophomore year. Elliot's parents lived right across the street from me on Beach Ave.
Pete Fallon

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Feb 5th, '14, 10:35

Carl, Pete,
The best way to sell the express difference is to get those skeptics on board and let them take the helm for fishing or a cocktail cruise.
Works every time.

Bertramp · Post by **Bertramp** » Feb 5th, '14, 11:45

Pete Fallon wrote:Dug,
Somewhere on the North Shore, I haven't rented a place yet, more than likely Salem, I do have a line on an apartment opening April 1. Trying to sell my house here in Stuart before I commit.
Pete Fallon

For any of you guys thinking they would love a place in Florida .... i will say that Stuart is one of my favorite spots !!

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Feb 5th, '14, 12:05

Mikey wrote:Carl, Pete,
The best way to sell the express difference is to get those skeptics on board and let them take the helm for fishing or a cocktail cruise.
Works every time.

True...very true Mikey.
I may not have the bell of the ball at my dock...but when we get a group together for a dinner/cocktail cruise....they always seem to migrate at my boat.

Pete Fallon · Post by **Pete Fallon** » Feb 6th, '14, 05:11

Carl & Mikey,
I loaded some pictures of my express into photo bucket, try this link, let me know if it worked. http://s129.photobucket.com/user/Peter_Fallon.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Pete Fallon

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Feb 6th, '14, 07:32

No luck opening the link Pete.

If you loaded your pictures into the bucket and want to share...
When you click and view the picture in your album...you should see the screen shot I attached below.

Click on the bottom box that says [img}...you should get a quick message that says copied.

Now go back to the Bertram forum and Paste the Link in your reply box with a double "Ctrl V" keystroke. Link should be pasted into response. Do nothing more except maybe a preview to see picture posted. Or continue to write before or after the link.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Feb 6th, '14, 10:41

True...very true Mikey.
I may not have the bell of the ball at my dock...but when we get a group together for a dinner/cocktail cruise....they always seem to migrate at my boat.

She looks like the kind of place I would want to be. You mentioned a foray with twelve aboard. Tight but right! The best party is not one hundred people in a gymnasium, its the same hundred in a phone booth. Intimate. The ride back @ six knots reminds me of a restaurant across the Rappahannock from us. Same ride with a full moon after a feast of Old Salts and wine, the best there is! Have to agree with Bertramp, they're all good depending on your own point of view.

Pete,
Best of luck. As you know I'm a titanium knee person with success. Do what the Doc's tell you post surgery. Don't improvise. You'll do great. By the way, when I redid my steering in Dreamsicle with Hynautics (?) I found that the original wheel (which I really loved and wanted to keep) didn't work. So with Rawleigh's help we figured out how to adapt and modify and it looks great! Uncle Vic (God rest his soul) gave me detailed instructions for bringing back the shine to it. Someone out there will love it. If you don't find a home for it and want to move it on let me know, I have a place for it.

Ain't that purdy??!!

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Feb 7th, '14, 13:04

Huh...so that's what the helm is supposed to looks like.

Very nice!...almost unrecognizable without all the extra holes, shiny wheel and shifters.
Not to mention the sweet looking paint job.

Nice idea with switches down below.

Pete Fallon · Post by **Pete Fallon** » Feb 8th, '14, 01:25

Carl & Mikey,
Maybe this will work, 48 images of my boat.[url:http://s166photobucket.com/user/Bertram ... Express186]
Pete Fallon

John Jackson · Post by **John Jackson** » Feb 9th, '14, 21:56

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » Feb 9th, '14, 22:25

Boat is totally encapsulated in ice! Never seem weather like this in Sayville perhaps forty years.

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » Feb 9th, '14, 22:42

Hey brothers this is not my first load of pumpkins . I pilot a 45' cabo express every year and last year the 510 Bertram ( boat is sold) there is advantages and disadvantages of all.many times I don't want to be " in the action". My 31 is one of the driest boats I have ever piloted sometimes 24 miles to offshore wreck and and teak covering boars totally dry. The water spray on the cabo run across roof and drops into cockpit just the nature of express ,the bridge causes that same spray to divert around and them fall aft of transom .tough backing the express between larger boats on either side because you cannot see your sides like the FBC. Those 850hp mtu's don't give you too much lee way.

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Feb 10th, '14, 08:10

bob lico wrote:Hey brothers this is not my first load of pumpkins . I pilot a 45' cabo express every year and last year the 510 Bertram ( boat is sold) there is advantages and disadvantages of all.many times I don't want to be " in the action". My 31 is one of the driest boats I have ever piloted sometimes 24 miles to offshore wreck and and teak covering boars totally dry. The water spray on the cabo run across roof and drops into cockpit just the nature of express ,the bridge causes that same spray to divert around and them fall aft of transom .tough backing the express between larger boats on either side because you cannot see your sides like the FBC. Those 850hp mtu's don't give you too much lee way.

Bob, you said it...different strokes for different folks.

Not wanting to be in the action...cannot say I have not taken to the tower when the lower station would have been just fine.

As far as backing down...when you get used to it, the boat is almost an extension of yourself. You know exactly where you are in relation to your surroundings...kinda like putting your Corvette up to a turtarrier and stopping inches away from ramming front end into it. But I will say the 31 Express is a bit different then a Cabo....then again I was not on the Cabo long enough to get a real feel for it.

What is my worst hangup with the 31 Express...any express...can't see right in front of the boat like on a bridge. Low floating Flotsam/Jetsam in a heavy chop are almost impossible to see from lower helm till its too late. It is the reason I made my tower for boat... I was good for one bent shaft or prop each season. ... Lots of crap in my waters....Lower New York Bay, Raritan Bay... The Hudson River and with all its piers falling apart has a constant flow of debris coming down the river and a good amount of that goes into the bay then circles around and around. EPA will not allow anyone to remove the piers...so its gotta fall apart, fall off and hopefully get picked by Debris Ships as it floats around.

Keith Poe · Post by **Keith Poe** » Feb 11th, '14, 02:30

Does it count if I broke through 2 feet of ice and went swimming under it and didn't crush my sk-hull?
Yes its what's wrong with me.

Pete Fallon · Post by **Pete Fallon** » Feb 11th, '14, 03:39

Carl,
I'm still trying to get the photos of my express from Photo Bucket to post on the board, if you send me your regular e-mail address I'll send them via a PDF file.
I can't believe you have that much crap floating in the waters around the area where you do your boating. In 10 years I only hit one submerged long line with a lead core on the bottom edge, I was doing about 23 knots when I hit it, I thought the boat was going to jump out of the water, I threw one blade on the starboard prop and that was it. I chopped up a bunch of lobster buoys especially coming back in to Salem in the late afternoon directly into the sunset. The express served me well without the tower, my mate used to beg me to put a half tower on the boat but I never could find the extra cash to do it, he's dead and my knee is so bad I couldn't climb into a 1/2 tower. The giant tuna in the cockpit that afternoon paid the expenses of a new prop and then some. A giant from Stellwagon Bank back in 1982 was just a little one at 760 pounds, it took me about 1-1/2 hours to go 10 miles on one engine to get to the Producers Fish dock in Gloucester to sell the fish at that time I think we got about $2.00 a pound dressed out at 680 just about $1,300.00 back then. When I stopped tuna fishing in 1993 that same fish would have brought $24,480.00. I fished with a couple of guys for 22 days in the summer of 1993 and we got 11 fish most were in the 400 to 500 pound range but at $30 to $36 bucks a pound it was a good summer. The only guys from Wicked Tuna program that were fishing at that time was Billy Monte his wife Donna & his mate Paul, the other guys weren't even born yet, with the exception of the guy from Green Harbor that was the mate on Tuna .com, can't think of his name right now but he and his brother were fishing out of Marshfield.
Pete Fallon

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Feb 11th, '14, 07:52

Pete,
The last couple years the waters have gotten drastically better...but when I 1st took the boat over from the former Stewart...a close friend of my dads and tuna fisherman extraordinaire in his own right. The area was loaded with crap...big timbers, telephone poles, truck tires, trees, limbs from upper Hudson River then at that time Staten Island still had the Landfill open and open water dumping was allowed 10 miles out...but many a barge never made it out that far and some garbage made its way back...so bags, line etc...waters were a mess.
Tower became a requirement for me after a few years...I had looked into it for a couple years...ridiculous pricing. I didn't have the means to bend up the pipe correctly so I couldn't build from scratch the way I wanted...then one day driving out of a customers marina I saw a tower sitting in the side of a yard, it was exactly what I wanted...just a bit too small...inquired if it was for sale, which it was, made a couple measurements...figured how to make it work by splitting and adding some here and there. Made an offer of a grand and drove away with it tied to my lil pickup.

I grew up with Giant tunas sitting in the back of dads station wagon many a morning as he took a quick nap before meeting with buyer. Tailgate down, tail overhanging the back...my school bus would pass the house and all the kids oooed and aghed as we went by. The Mudhole was hot for giants back then and dad worked at a Poly Tech as a machinistm, had the entire summer off with lots of additional time off to fish and tunafish. Parts of the season boat went to Gloucester, Road Island or in our backyard at the Mudhole. Think his biggest was 1146lbs which they boated in about 20 minutes...from what I understood they were a pretty tight crew...I was too young to go. By the time I was old enough giants disappeared from our area.

Pete you can email me pics at Carl@simachine.com, I'd love to see your pictures. If I receive and you want, I can post them for you.

If .pdf files...that may be the problem with Posting...not sure if Photobucket allows .pdf format. Try saving and loading pictures as .jpeg...maybe start with one to see if it works.

Carl

Brooks Gallagher · Post by **Brooks Gallagher** » Mar 9th, '18, 15:41

That is in fact the 1961 Bertram 31, "Marauder". That is my mother and father on the cover of Soundings running it on the backside of Monomoy Island, MA . Shortly after being on the cover he removed the windows and tinted them coke bottle green (took him forever to get them back in. Almost missed an entire summer of boating!). He also installed a lower station (driving up top was not the most fun place to be in foul weather). We had some great times running it to Maine, Cuttyhunk, Block Island, Stony Brook (Long Island), and many other places. We ran into some pretty nasty weather along the way, but she never failed us. They don't make them like that anymore...the hull was almost an Inch thick he used to tell me! He sold it to a man in Fire Island, NY and that was a sad day for me. What a shame the way it was treated... really sad to see. I loved that boat...

Craig Mac · Post by **Craig Mac** » Mar 9th, '18, 16:25

I am pretty sure that Tommy Gifford's Stormy Petrel was a sedan with a tuna tower --it was an early boat probably '61.

There was a second one named Thunderbird that appeared in an early advertisement.

Tony Meola · Post by **Tony Meola** » Mar 9th, '18, 22:01

Brooks

I have to look around. I may actually have that issue floating around.

That is a great story.

Do you know who your parents actually sold the boat too? Maybe someone here knows the boat.

Charlie J · Post by **Charlie J** » Mar 10th, '18, 05:38

before I bought my Bahia mar I looked at a sedan
in south port n Carolina , if I remember the boats name was bald head
in ruff shape original 440s, the owner used it to run to and from bald head island
the sedan is a sharp model, not to many around

SteveM · Post by **SteveM** » Mar 11th, '18, 08:52

There's one on a lift just North of me, around Lantana/South Palm Beach area. Has a tower of some sort. Also was one on the West Coast of FL with a tower, I think it was put together by the guy at Mastry. Very good looking boats. I recall the State of Virginia has used them as Patrol Boats, there were a number of them up that way a while back.

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Mar 11th, '18, 11:38

Brooks Gallagher wrote:That is in fact the 1961 Bertram 31, "Marauder". That is my mother and father on the cover of Soundings running it on the backside of Monomoy Island, MA . Shortly after being on the cover he removed the windows and tinted them coke bottle green (took him forever to get them back in. Almost missed an entire summer of boating!). He also installed a lower station (driving up top was not the most fun place to be in foul weather). We had some great times running it to Maine, Cuttyhunk, Block Island, Stony Brook (Long Island), and many other places. We ran into some pretty nasty weather along the way, but she never failed us. They don't make them like that anymore...the hull was almost an Inch thick he used to tell me! He sold it to a man in Fire Island, NY and that was a sad day for me. What a shame the way it was treated... really sad to see. I loved that boat...

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I remember this post from several years ago like it was the other day. Also recall when that issue of Soundings came out...guy at my marina with a beautiful 40' Grand Banks came running down the dock with a copy Hey your boats the Best Boat ever made, see and shows me the cover, flips to article...
I still have that magazine around here somewhere. Looked at that cover for years...kinda based my boats tower off that boat. Funny after all theses years to find out it's your parents on the cover.

Thanks for sharing,
Carl

neil · Post by **neil** » Mar 11th, '18, 16:39

We bought our first Bahia are from the va state auction,they had a few sedans that we thought very cool but went with the Bahia only because it was the only one in the fleet that was running,the sedans are very rare and awesome,if one of them was running ,we would have done it,we could not ask for a better boat than our Bahia,it has served us well and will continue to do us the same for many many yrs

Brooks Gallagher · Post by **Brooks Gallagher** » Jul 20th, '18, 14:43

Tony, I don't know the name of the guy who bought it off the top of my head, but i will inquire.