28'-37' Old Bertrams

[anthony]

I think for what you are looking for it would be hard to beat a 35' Bertram. Lot of boat for a 35' and run great with a set of 330hp Cummins...probably an honest 27 knot cruise at an efficient 20 gal per hour burn. Do you really need to go faster?

[go boater]

I think for what you are looking for it would be hard to beat a 35' Bertram. Lot of boat for a 35' and run great with a set of 330hp Cummins...probably an honest 27 knot cruise at an efficient 20 gal per hour burn. Do you really need to go faster?

well, no... I cant say that I "need" to go faster than 27 knots, but I'm just stepping out of a 31 fountain CC that did 55 knots all out on the GPS. I liked the fact that i was passing almost everything out there.

[go boater]

Goboater,
I purchased a 1973 35 Bertram four years ago. I totally gutted the boat and set it up for charter fishing and it has served me very well. These boats were built when the thought process was "more is better" lots of cloth and resin. She takes a head sea like a battleship.

A great, dry ride for me. She is built like a TANK. I have a set of B series Cummins in mine, they are only 300hp each but I get a good cruise out of her for what I do and run it 500 off the top. In my business I am looking for longevity and these are the ticket for me. You can put the higher horse power b's in one with no problem, I think they go up to 480hp now and they will fit fine.

Good luck !!

Troy

she's a beaut! i like that you opened up the salon to the cockpit with curtains... Any more pics? What do you think 370-480 HP would do for this boat in so far as cruise speed / fuel burn and overall comfort? I LOVE IT.

[Capt.Troy Crane]

she's a beaut! i like that you opened up the salon to the cockpit with curtains... Any more pics? What do you think 370-480 HP would do for this boat in so far as cruise speed / fuel burn and overall comfort? I LOVE IT.

Boater,
I honestly think it would be a little squirrely running fast. Mine in the corner pushing 30 knots seems to run a little light up on top. Remember, in 1973 most, if not all of these were sold as gas powered boats and weren't designed, in my opinion, to see those speeds at cruise.

Mine is light by design, from me stripping it down for charter so it runs up in the water more than others of this model. I can't say enough for the ride, I fished today in a nasty NE wind with 4 to 6 foot breaking seas and came in at cruise with very little spray on the curtains and a soft ride, solid boats.

I think the 370 or newer 480's would be great but I can't get the hours out of those that I can the 300's or 315/330's. Plus they will not give me any warranty if I were to use those (370-480 hp) in a commercial application. I put roughly 900 hours a year on mine so the lower hp's suit me well for longevity purposes.

I like the winter back curtain, it opens the salon up to the cockpit and you don't feel like you are sitting inside a closed cabin. I get a lot of comments from my customers about that feature.

Good luck !!

Troy

[Capt.Troy Crane]

Looking good Troy. I'm hoping to book you for a day sometime after you get done with striper fishing.

I know what you mean about the head sea. The Bluewater Lady is 42 @42,000lbs. There were a few days I was glad to have that under me for the ride home.

Nothing like a good solid feeling under you when it's rough know doubt, mine weighs in at half of that but you can tell.

Hope we can get you guys out, I want to check out some of your rigs !!

Troy

[JohnD]

Capt Troy, nice pictures of you're boat I had seen some before and wondered how the interior looked.

I haven't posted much before but thought I'd weigh in, I agree the B35 is an awesome boat (disclaimer: I've owned a B35 for 7yrs now). Though if all you're doing is fishing it's hard to be a B31 for simplicity and fishability (several different layouts).

Another older hull which you didn't mention is the B38 which actually preceded the B37 and came in 2 stateroom layout with a cockpit close to that of the B35.

In 2007 I repowered from gas to diesel, 454's to Cat 3126TA's 420hp. I've not played with the props to get the max out of her yet, but with help from some others I got decent numbers the first time out. I went with 21x26 cupped and turn over 2900 on the top end; cruise 22kts @ 2100 or 26 @ 2600 topping out at just over 30kts wot. I'm sure I could do some prop work to get better numbers but I'm happy with what I've got for now and don't like wasting thousands chasing a few kts.

So, with any of these older boats, I'd look for a good solid diesel boat to start with, either original or conversion(done right). With the market today, repowered boats are being sold for pennies on the dollar.

From my own experience these older boats are pleasant at a 25-27kt cruise some seem to nose over past 30kts so some shaft angle work may be necessary?? As for power, cummins 6bt's or yanmars is a good option for the B35. The CAT's 3126/3116 up to 350hp are also ok as you can go with the ZF201A's (10degree down is the ticket), go over 350hp and that’s above the 201A's rating for mine I had to use 280A's and had to raise my salon floor about 1.5 inches. If your goal is to cruise at 35kts and top of 40kts in this class of boat maybe an older Bert isn't your ticket. If you can live at 25kt cruise then you're on the right track.

The one wart in most older berts is the genset under the cockpit which requires a little more tlc to keep it from turning into a ball of rust.

As for B35's from 1971 to 1980 they had the smaller bridge and only one state room and the salon was mostly open with a half counter to port and optional lower steering to stb and a center door in the aft bulkhead. from 1980 on, the bridge had seating in front and a day-birth along with single stateroom also the salon has a full length counter on the port side and the door in the aft bulkhead is on the port side. Mine's a '73 and I like the open layout of the cabin and having the lower helm.

These boats will handle more than you can for sure. Though I don't go off shore a lot, in 2006 I was on my way to the Atlantic City rendezvous and caught the tail end of TS David. I came out of the Atlantic side of Cape May attempting to head north to AC and was greeted by 6-10 footers (in the trough I was at or below the crest of the next.) I didn't go far before turning around, this was a pleasure trip and I opted to lay over another day. The trip left me with a new appreciation of the capabilities of my boat, the next year I repowered.

Check out www.bertramrendezvous.com for some picks of all different models.

br,
JohnD

[B.C.]

Three years ago we repowered a 42. We took out 475hp and replaced them with 720. We cruise at 28 and top out at 34, it sure runs nice at 34kts.

[Sea Draggin]

Three years ago we repowered a 42. We took out 475hp and replaced them with 720. We cruise at 28 and top out at 34, it sure runs nice at 34kts.

Darryl, are you out there? I hope your following this thread

[Capt.Troy Crane]

Capt Troy, nice pictures of you're boat I had seen some before and wondered how the interior looked.

I haven't posted much before but thought I'd weigh in, I agree the B35 is an awesome boat (disclaimer: I've owned a B35 for 7yrs now). Though if all you're doing is fishing it's hard to be a B31 for simplicity and fishability (several different layouts).

Another older hull which you didn't mention is the B38 which actually preceded the B37 and came in 2 stateroom layout with a cockpit close to that of the B35.

In 2007 I repowered from gas to diesel, 454's to Cat 3126TA's 420hp. I've not played with the props to get the max out of her yet, but with help from some others I got decent numbers the first time out. I went with 21x26 cupped and turn over 2900 on the top end; cruise 22kts @ 2100 or 26 @ 2600 topping out at just over 30kts wot. I'm sure I could do some prop work to get better numbers but I'm happy with what I've got for now and don't like wasting thousands chasing a few kts.

So, with any of these older boats, I'd look for a good solid diesel boat to start with, either original or conversion(done right). With the market today, repowered boats are being sold for pennies on the dollar.

From my own experience these older boats are pleasant at a 25-27kt cruise some seem to nose over past 30kts so some shaft angle work may be necessary?? As for power, cummins 6bt's or yanmars is a good option for the B35. The CAT's 3126/3116 up to 350hp are also ok as you can go with the ZF201A's (10degree down is the ticket), go over 350hp and that’s above the 201A's rating for mine I had to use 280A's and had to raise my salon floor about 1.5 inches. If your goal is to cruise at 35kts and top of 40kts in this class of boat maybe an older Bert isn't your ticket. If you can live at 25kt cruise then you're on the right track.

The one wart in most older berts is the genset under the cockpit which requires a little more tlc to keep it from turning into a ball of rust.

As for B35's from 1971 to 1980 they had the smaller bridge and only one state room and the salon was mostly open with a half counter to port and optional lower steering to stb and a center door in the aft bulkhead. from 1980 on, the bridge had seating in front and a day-birth along with single stateroom also the salon has a full length counter on the port side and the door in the aft bulkhead is on the port side. Mine's a '73 and I like the open layout of the cabin and having the lower helm.

These boats will handle more than you can for sure. Though I don't go off shore a lot, in 2006 I was on my way to the Atlantic City rendezvous and caught the tail end of TS David. I came out of the Atlantic side of Cape May attempting to head north to AC and was greeted by 6-10 footers (in the trough I was at or below the crest of the next.) I didn't go far before turning around, this was a pleasure trip and I opted to lay over another day. The trip left me with a new appreciation of the capabilities of my boat, the next year I repowered.

Check out www.bertramrendezvous.com for some picks of all different models.

br,
JohnD

JohnD,
my old dock partner had the 38 and it was all original as you stated above. I opted to strip mine down for a charter boat interior, ease of maint. etc. His 38 would burn exactly twice the amount of fuel that I would burn when we ran the same trips together. Lots of weight and a bigger hull to push I know but the ride I get is exceptional for the size and I can make money running it.

As I had mentioned in my other post about sea conditions, today it was blowing an easy 30 to 35 knots when we left the dock and we were making ice it was so cold. The boat does remarkably well and running head to coming home there was very little spray on my curtains. I can't say enough about the hull, the thing I like about buying an older one is you have lots of options on what you can do with them depending on your budget and what your trying to get out of it.

Good luck and thanks for your input,

Troy

[Questsportfishing]

get your happy lil self down to a Cummins shop and get the re-built diesels that are converted to cables and non electronic stuff and they come with 2 years.. prop it right and you will smile...do not over hp the boat though and remember you need to clean up and replace some stuff while the engines are out.