New 33 Owner with Questions

nautoncall · Post by **nautoncall** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 6:24 pm

Hey guys, I finally made a purchase and after spending about a week tinkering on the boat I have found some things I need help with. My boat is a 1989 33 SF. 1. The windows side windows leak (port greater than stbd). I have found the potential area where some of the aluminum has croded and water gets in. I tried Creeping Crack Cure, but still not sealed the one area. Any suggestions? Do I just smear some marine silicone or 4000, 4200, or 5200 that area I know is leaking? Just one area thats probably not more than 6 inches long. 2. Did they not make a fresh water hook up so when at the dock you could have fresh water if hooked up to the hose? Do you always have to run off the tank? 3. Did any have cable TV hookups? Has a place for telephone but couldn't find cable TV. I ran a cable from the TV space in the enclosed cabinets (oh..by the way..wow they sure sealed off everything well so running cables isn't the simplist thing in the world. 4. The pneumatic salon table that is "supposed" to go down to slide out the couch takes two people with all the effort in the world to raise or lower. Any suggestions? I have sprayed it with every "slick" subatance ( silicone spray, corosssion X, PB Blaster) and it still will hardly raise or lower. I don't know it its the Nylon sleeve or what that is making it so difficult. Sometimes I think I'm going to pull the floor up trying to raise it. 5. So much moisture accumulates, what does everyone use to keep the humidity down in the cabin? Thank you all so much. I look foward to being a part of the "33 Family".

franklyprice · Post by **franklyprice** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 7:31 pm

Congrats on finding a boat. Should be a nice one. The side window leaks are pretty prevalent , you have a few places where water gets in and you may never find them all. The biggest are the back corners where the house mates to the deck, at the rear of the windows. There is a sealed joint that is usually cracked and acts like a funnel to let water in. The next place to look is under the aluminum plates that the BERTRAM logo screws to. The seam under that plate is usually poorly sealed and again acts like a funnel to let the water in. The fresh water hookup is a double edged sword. Can sink a boat if left on and malfunctions. Most leave the tank setup as is. Not sure about the other issues.

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 6:42 am

Congrats on buying a boat.. now your fun begins! To echo what Frank P said above.. Re: I had the same leaks at the lower aft corners of the side windows.. I made small wedges out of PVC and bedded them in each corner in 5200. End of those leaks! Re: the fresh water connection.. My surveyor recommended that I remove the existing connection, which appeared to be original equipment. He says he knows of several cases where the boat's fresh water pressure regulator failed, let line pressure water into the boat's plumbing system, and when a hose connection broke loose the boat flooded with fresh water and sank at the slip. Re: Phone and TV connections. I removed both, which were in the starboard side of the cockpit in the wing that comes down from the flybridge, just aft of the cabin aft bulkhead. With today's cell phones I don't think a installed phone hookup is necessary any longer, and my TV connection was so corroded someone had cut and removed the wires to it a long time ago. A friend has researched mobile marine TV installations and he has found a way with his notebook computer, which has a TV receiver card, to connect to a flat screen TV. He can get local stations for free, which is all he wants. We used this a few weeks ago when we were in Tennessee and Kentucky on their Great Loop trip, and it worked fine. I plan to install the same system after my rebuild is completed.

fishingman69 · Post by **fishingman69** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 2:14 pm

congrats on becoming a bertram owner,had our 33 since 79,still love it, great ride easy to maintin, which engines do you have,

nautoncall · Post by **nautoncall** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 5:23 pm

After much discussion and even discouragement on this forum, I bought the boat that was repowered with 2002 Yanmar 240's.

dealerschoice · Post by **dealerschoice** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 5:19 pm

Congrats on the new purchase!!! As far as the moisture concern, I keep one of the long emergency pumps on board that I use to pump the foward bilge dry. I also use an Air Dry Dehumidifier. It's about 60 or 70 bucks from West Marine and seems to work OK. Scott 1987 B33 SF Dealer's Choice V Edisto Beach, SC

Post by **dougl33** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 5:49 pm

quote:Originally posted by nautoncall After much discussion and even discouragement on this forum, I bought the boat that was repowered with 2002 Yanmar 240's. Well, what's the answer to the $64K question? What'll she do?

nautoncall · Post by **nautoncall** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 4:58 pm

Well WOT after the props were polished was 23.2 and at cruise was 18.7. Not a speed demon but not bad also. Those engines sip the fuel too..which is a good thing. The bottom is not that clean so I might get another 1/2 knot or so with a new bottom.

nautoncall · Post by **nautoncall** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 5:07 pm

That was knots by the way.

buzzk · Post by **buzzk** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 6:18 am

During the winter I leave my block heaters on and they keep my boat warm and dry. During the summer I leave my A/C on 80 and it keeps things dry. Buzz

nautoncall · Post by **nautoncall** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 2:58 pm

When you say block heaters...what are you referring to? Thanks.

buzzk · Post by **buzzk** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 3:44 pm

Mine are screwed into the fresh water side of my cooling system. The heaters warm the cooling and keep the engines warm. You cut them off when running the boat. Because you have the SF they may not work as well keeping the cabin warm and dry. On my boat I leave the engine hatch cracked. They keep my engine room and the entire boat warm and dry. If I had a SF would still want them. They make starting the engines easier and they'll keep the engines dry. Buzz

nautoncall · Post by **nautoncall** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 3:57 pm

Well, we use to not have that cold of weather her in south AL,until this past week. WOW. I can't take it. Got a couple of small heaters going in bilge. Thanks.

buzzk · Post by **buzzk** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 4:10 am

Normally it doesn't get cold enough in NC to keep things from freezing. I like to turn them on to keep condensation down. Buzz

Aussie Syd · Post by **Aussie Syd** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 8:06 pm

Hey Nautoncall, I must say I always liked that boat you have just bought, I thought it looked pretty good the last time I saw it for sale was on E-bay, and considering the ask price would it not be worth while to trade the engines if you wanted a bit more horse power. As I also have the same model as yours I too had lots of problems with leaking windows and over came this by removing all the old silcone between the frames and the fiberglass with a putty knife, masking up and re sealing with new black silcone to match the frames. I then did the same between glass and the frames.The two front openning windows I replaced the rubber seals.The secret is to remove all all the old silcone so that the new silcone can get right down under neath the frames. I also removed the fresh water hook up. Not sure about the tv cable, mine was already connected and the airial was in the forward section of the flybridge. My table was also pretty hard to get up but found the more we used it the easier it got, also sraying a releasing agent from both the top and underneath did help. Don't have humidity in Western Australia very much, (40c degrees Cel today) keeping small windows open to get air flow thru helps. Hope the boat goes well for you, I love mine. Syd