63 Bertram comes apart Very ugly

Gunny · Post by **Gunny** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 7:56 am

Doug, I have three choices: 1- Gamble 2- Buy a fuel truck and buy all the non ethanol remaining at the fuel dock(about 500 gallons) andmix it with AvGas which would give me about 3000 gallons 3- Swap out the tank The state Senate in Maine held hearings about ethanol in both boats and aircraft and is considering legislation halting its sale for these usages. We are having all kinds of trouble with snowmobile engines due to phase seperation destroying engines including 8 owned by the warden service! If ricks tank will fit I will most likely accept frank's offer and repair it.

lobsta1 · Post by **lobsta1** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 10:56 am

Gunny, Welcome back. I believe your boat is a 1978 like mine. In that case Rick's tank will not fit. Stringers are a different width apart & a different height. His tank is also 315 gal. & is 48" fore-n-aft. Ours is only 41". We also have cut outs at the fwd top corners to clear the exhaust. Do a search on my name & Ricks back to around Nov. 2006 & see our writeups. Al

Gunny · Post by **Gunny** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 12:43 pm

Hi Al, Good to be back! Thanks for the info,Back to the search.

Miss B · Post by **Miss B** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:11 pm

Mr. Pascoe wrote some interesting observations on this hull failure. http://www.yachtsurvey.com/bad_news_for_Bertram.htm What a mess for a formerly great company. It is too bad that is the way of the world these days.

CB35 · Post by **CB35** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 4:06 pm

Hay Pascoe, you got a mouse in your pocket with all those references to we? Pascoe, like so many other blah, blah experts can tell what really happened from a few pictures. Now if he gets to do a survey then I will listen. Otherwise he is another old women just rattling on.

Post by **dougl33** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 9:47 pm

What an a$$hole. When's the last time that guy had anything new on his website? I'm guessing 4+ years.

Rick · Post by **Rick** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 3:43 am

Gunny, Al is right, the tanks are too different. Give me a shout if you when you begin the swap, I can probably save you a lot of time doing the work. The big part as you know, is what to replace it with. Stainless steel is tough to come by and fiberglass is expensive. I'm starting to think that with the value of our boats dropping, Aluminum might be your best bang for buck. Rick Ticket 85 SF Merc 454 MPI's Falmouth, MA

Gunny · Post by **Gunny** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 4:00 am

Rick, Thanks for your generous offer of advice! I agree that when I change tanks it will be aluminium,But it would be nice to find the exact dimensions so I could build it beforehand. My boat had a second 100gal. aluminium tank in the generator compartment which I removed to install Brian's generator and it is in excellent shape after 15 years. I use it now to carry gas for my tractors so I have no concerns as far as that material goes. Thanks Again

Gunny · Post by **Gunny** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 4:06 am

2004? Pascoe can't even get the year right!

CB35 · Post by **CB35** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 6:25 am

I don't know about the year. It was documented in Oct. 2008;and the documentation info lists the boat as a 2008. Pascoe may have just looked up the name and stopped at the first one. Just goes to show he really is just an old rattling woman.

Miss B · Post by **Miss B** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 11:00 am

Don't know why you guys are so hard on Pascoe. If you would rather side with a boat manufacturer when things like this happen, so be it. The reality is this boat has major league hull failure, and all he did was comment on vac bagging, coring, spacing, running the glass in one direction as factors that make for a weak hull. Pascoe is probably up there in years now, but you can't dispute he is an expert at what he does, which is the to protect the consumer. I never met him, I don't know him, but I have read his books. He is about protecting boat owners, not boat manufacturers who advertise in the big three boating magazines. I would take his opinion any day over some of these "sea trials" you get in the glossy magazines.

otf · Post by **otf** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 11:58 am

I have a fiberglass tank out of my 83 Convertible. 49" wide. If anyone wants it, pictures or what not let me know. My plan is to cut it up and get rid of it soon. Scott (scott@mrfarm.com)

Post by **dougl33** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 2:10 pm

Scott, If possible, do me a favor and cut up a few small strips of your tank and imerse them in a couple of different solutions. Try one with just ethanol and several others that have varying amounts of water and ethanol.

otf · Post by **otf** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 4:22 pm

Email me with an address and I would be happy to send a few pieces.

CB35 · Post by **CB35** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 4:25 pm

Look Pascoe rambled on about the delamination from a few pictures he say on the internet. It was the same internet where he misread the year of the boat. If he can't get one item right what makes you think his explaination is correct. Now he did a survey in person then I will listen to what he has to say. Until then he is just another dummy drawing conclusions from what he thought he saw. By the way I sent him an email to get all his facts straight.