bertram31.com

Morning all,

I'm the proud new owner of the 31 sedan "Wicomico". She made the trek from Tall Timbers, MD to Galveston, TX back in early March.

Her previous home: https://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-bo ... ect-2.html

Previous owner, Glenn, is a member here. I was able to dig up some photos, I'm not sure if they're all the Wicomico, or sisters.

If anyone has any photos, or stories, I'd love to see/hear them. Looking forward to getting to know y'all and learning about these awesome boats.

Andrew

Welcome to the forum. Are you planning on running your boat as is or restoring her?

Hey Rick, she's not a runner at the moment, as I only got the hull back to TX, no engines or trannys. There will be some restoration and renovation in her future.

Dont know about engines, but trannys are plentiful these days. I heard there was a bunch at the CMA's

Nice boat.
I kinda wanted the sedan myself, and just put a tube frame second station/crows nest on the roof, but i ended up with a sportfish in my price range and didn't want to wait anymore.

Good luck with yours.

I looked at all those sedans when we bought our first bahiamar we went to delta Ville va and saw the whole fleet of police boats.those sedan are very cool I wish I had one but two bertrams is enough good luck with her.put a pair of Cummings in there and you got something going

Congratulations and welcome!

One thing you have to give some thought, before you start your improvements or modifications, is to decide whether it is ok for you to navigate the boat from the station inside the cabin, mainly for three reasons: Noise, ambient temperature (Im thinking summer in Texas, oh boy), and comfort (or sitting too much forward as you jump those waves).
Good luck in your project!

Welcome to the Board.

Good luck with the boat.

Fromt that Hull Truth post it looks like someone started working on her and it looks like it had new engines at some point.

Welcome!! I looked for a sedan as well I like the look and style. I ended up with a FBC we had one for years in my family so it was nice to bring one back. Good luck with your future projects. There is a ton of information on here so I believe you came to the right place.

Welcome, it will be nice to see whats in store for the ol' gal.

Carl

thanks all.
Yannis, one of the carrots I used to incentivize the wife was A/C in the cabin. I do want to try to incorporation marine friendly sound attenuation into the ceiling and interior upholstery as well. As far as the seating position, the bridge location vs cabin helm don't appear to be too different, may 2' towards the stern for bridge?

Wicomico,

Sound attenuation? Inside the cabin when the motors are turning? I would make space for a pallet of Tylenol instead !

Yes, two feet, plus a whole boat under your feet to take the slack when you're on the bridge...

And what, will you be running with the AC on and the door closed? By the time that cabin reaches acceptable temps in the summer, given the non existent insulation, you would have ....reached your destination.

And when it’s wet and the windshield is wet, how does this affect your visibility? I mean to the point to not be able to tell if its night or day? You may have wipers though...

I don't mean to obscure your enthusiasm, what I’d do is go ask ppl with the same boat to see what they say.
Or perhaps I’m too old for this, LOL.

Good luck!

yes, sound attenuation, in the cabin and motor covers. I've been on plenty of boats with zero insulation and AC. it's rarely that hot while you're moving down here with the sea breeze, all windows except the corners open. If it's wet from the seas, I probably won't be running; if it's wet from rain, I may. Either way I have wipers. I've never seen a sedan down here, most I've encountered are NE seaboard. If anyone knows of one, I'd love to reach out to them.

Wicomico wrote: ↑Apr 11th, '23, 13:28 yes, sound attenuation, in the cabin and motor covers. I've been on plenty of boats with zero insulation and AC. it's rarely that hot while you're moving down here with the sea breeze, all windows except the corners open. If it's wet from the seas, I probably won't be running; if it's wet from rain, I may. Either way I have wipers. I've never seen a sedan down here, most I've encountered are NE seaboard. If anyone knows of one, I'd love to reach out to them.

While you're renovating consider spray rails. Also if you're consider diesels then cummins over yanmars as they are quieter.

Wicomico wrote: ↑Apr 11th, '23, 10:53 thanks all.
Yannis, one of the carrots I used to incentivize the wife was A/C in the cabin. I do want to try to incorporation marine friendly sound attenuation into the ceiling and interior upholstery as well. As far as the seating position, the bridge location vs cabin helm don't appear to be too different, may 2' towards the stern for bridge?

I'll be following along to see your ideas.
Im in florida with similar promises to the wife to justify the boat.
My plan for my sportfish, is to make the lower station the primary operating station, with the upper as secondary, so we have similar hurdles to cross.

This seems to run contrary to what most people do, (eliminate lower station and fiberglass over the windows) but i don't mind being weird.

I have the Express, so running my boat is like standing on your motor box at the rear of the cabin. Its a bit higher, but further back and a long-winded way of saying I think our line of sight is basically the same. Biggest problem I have found was when running in slop I have limited vision into the troughs of oncoming waves. In lower New York Harbor that used to be a huge issue as we always had floating and near floating debris...a few times coming over a wave I'd see a chunk of wood in the trough...no brakes on boats. I was good for tweaking a shaft and wheel each season till I added a tower. If it got sloppy and I wanted to run, I'd go up there and those few feet make a huge difference in seeing whats in the water...floating and near floating which is often worse. Up n downers', I've been lucky to avoid those verticle telephone poles, but not by much. Anyway...since then the waters have been cleaned up ALOT and not so much the issue it was. Oh...seeing isn't too bad. Water and spray when windy does come back at me. Wipers work but I prefer Rain X or leave window open n duck away.

The sound in cabin is better than it is with me standing on motor box with an enclosure...but even still it's not bad and I have no insulation left on boxes. At least not yet...still enjoying the sound of diesel.

Carl, now that your boat has gained in value thanks to the diesels, you can sell it better and get what you always wanted. A 28!

thanks all, I'm excited, but for now, need to formulate a plan for the shipyard. With too little ones at home, I have too many plans that fell by the wayside that I was planning on handling myself. So I'll be saving up,and hopefully by the time they're ready to start, I'll have some cash to hand them. The window frames are the only thing supporting the cabin top, yes? anyone pull these off to powder coat? going to have to redo the deck, might as well do stringers while in there or moisture test and leave alone if fine?

Geebert, I've been on Aquasports my whole life, out of Hialeah. Current is a 240 Seahunter I hauled back from Ft. Pierce. Hopefully can convince the wife that I need that Aquasport and the Bertram.

From my understanding, the wood inside the stringers was only put there to give the fiberglass structure shape. Meaning if you find wood in there, wet or otherwise...move your attention onto something else. My guess is the support holding the deck up will need attention as will the bulkheads and rudder shelf. As you said the window frames...that one has been on my list of things to do since I bought my boat. That and a paint job...and new curved windows.

Wicomico wrote: ↑Apr 12th, '23, 09:51 Hopefully can convince the wife that I need that Aquasport and the Bertram.

That could be tougher than the restoration.

Yannis wrote: ↑Apr 12th, '23, 09:08 Carl, now that your boat has gained in value thanks to the diesels, you can sell it better and get what you always wanted. A 28!

You have a point Yannis, maybe it is time to give up my ol 62' 31 Bertram for a 28...A NEW 28 year old 31 Bertram!

Hmm, wait Yannis...they didn't make the 31 28 years ago. I think the last was the 1986 Silver Anniversary edition, which would be 37 years old. I guess I could go that route...

What 28 did you have in mind?

Carl,

Just the Bertram 28, a model designed by Bertram’s D. Napier, as an improvement to their 31.
Indeed such was the visible improvement, that this model became Bertram’s all time best seller, almost outselling all other models combined, the 31 included.
I’m sure there's one in your yard or in your marina, if the owner is around ask for a visit, you’ll be surprised by how clever that little boat is. Bring other 31 owners along, it’s worth the effort!

If I was worried about the window not clearing in heavy rain or heavy seas, I would suggest going to any good detail shop, and pick up ceramic coating for windows. It helps the water roll right off.

I use it on the car windshield and it actually works really well.

Yannis-
When perfection is created, manufacturing is kept at limited quantities.

Nope, no 28 Bertrams in the marinas around me that I know of...but then again it's hard to tell as it kinda looks like alot of other boats. You know, nothing distinctive like the 31.

It’s done on purpose.
The B28 owners don't like to show off like other boat owners. They prefer to enjoy a better boat even if it resembles, to the untrained eye of course, to other boats...

Yannis wrote: ↑Apr 13th, '23, 13:43 It’s done on purpose.
The B28 owners don't like to show off like other boat owners. They prefer to enjoy a better boat even if it resembles, to the untrained eye of course, to other boats...

Oh Boy! If only UV was still around. This would have gotten lively.

Tony Meola wrote: ↑Apr 13th, '23, 21:20 Oh Boy! If only UV was still around. This would have gotten lively.

I'm sure the words Ugly Hyena boat would have been mentioned. He had such a way with words...now that I think of it I think I have seen one of those 28 Bertrams over by Jersey.
So Yannis, you think they really meant it to look that way on purpose?

Carl wrote: ↑Apr 14th, '23, 07:49 I'm sure the words Ugly Hyena boat would have been mentioned. He had such a way with words...now that I think of it I think I have seen one of those 28 Bertrams over by Jersey.
So Yannis, you think they really meant it to look that way on purpose?

Now that's funny.

Carl,

The beauty is in the eye of the beholder...LOL

Yannis wrote: ↑Apr 15th, '23, 08:29 Carl,

The beauty is in the eye of the beholder...LOL

Yes, yes it is.

Congratulations on your purchase. I remember when she was a working boat with the Virginia Marine police around in my part of the Chesapeake bay.

Here's a photo shopped sedan with upper station like i mentioned.
Looks like they raise the roof line also.

You know what. That is a good looking boat. I like the way they did the upper station.

Tony Meola wrote: ↑Apr 20th, '23, 20:40 You know what. That is a good looking boat. I like the way they did the upper station.

Your right Tony, almost looks like the upper station is not real and "photoshopped".


oh wait, it was.

Carl wrote: ↑Apr 21st, '23, 06:19 Your right Tony, almost looks like the upper station is not real and "photoshopped".
oh wait, it was.

Lol

I should have noted that, but it is still a good looking boat the way they drew up the top.

No arguments from me Tony!


In truth, I too did a double take before realizing and putting the words together with the picture