Bertram33 User Forum

Frank, what's going on with Phoenix's restoration? I got my new auto pilot on the Buzz Off and I like it. I went with the Furuno AP. We just installed new carpet and I'm thinking about adding a second Furuno Navnet display or maybe a stand alone Garmin. I put a Garmin GPS combo FF on my skiff and really like it. But if I buy a second Furuno I can hook it up to my FF and radar. It is taking some time but I am getting the Buzz Off in good shape. Buzz Buzzk 1988 Bertram 33 FBC Buzz Off Morehead City, NC

Buzz... Good to hear from you! I am sorry to say I have not done much at all on "Phoenix", for several reasons.. I only was able to get her in my slip about 3 weeks ago, the bulkhead contractor finally finished the construction phase.. but we still don't have electricity, but it looks as if everything is done. The meter is in the socket but it is just flashing. I will check today to see what is happening with this. I am still working on my house trim.. am almost finished with the second floor.. probably need 2+ weeks of concentrated effort to get this done. I promised my wife I would not start anything major on the boat until I was done in the house, plus I need to get my shop in order so I can start the cabinetry and interior phase of the boat. I have removed almost all the self adhering glued down oak crappy frooring the previous owner installed.. I do that little by little when my wife has a hen party and I vacate the house for a couple of hours. Got quite a bit of that done last evening actually. BTW: We had the entrance to our canal and our complete basin dredged this spring.. we have 6' at MLW pretty much everywhere now.. between the entrance and the basin we probably have about 4 1/2' in the canal, maybe a tad less, so if you want to visit I think I can get you into one of my neighbor's empty slips. It sounds as if you are moving along nicely with "Buzz Off". "Phoenix" had an a Autohelm but we could not get it to work during the seatrials, I found the wires all cut after I bought her (the previous owner "forgot" to tell me it was disabled), but I did save all the components, so one day I might try to reinstall the system. I would probably send all the parts back to the mfg and ask them to see if everything was worth trying to save. It is not on my A list at this time. Hope you are still planning on being down this way during the summer! Let me know so we don't plan anything that might conflict with your visit. Frank B - IRGuy@aol.com "Phoenix" 1983 FBC Wilmington, NC

I'm still planning on coming down for a long weekend but just haven't had the time. Now that I have the Buzz Off ready to travel I don't have the time. But I have been using the boat every weekend. I'll let you know before I come down so that we can together for dinner. Have you been using Phoenix much this summer? Buzz Buzzk 1988 Bertram 33 FBC Buzz Off Morehead City, NC

No use at all.. the interior is a mess, and still full of tools and parts. We buttoned everything up for the 2 day ICW trip from Charleston to Wilmington, but it is still a shambles. Let me know about your plans to come here. As I said if you want I can very likely find you a slip. I also have a nice rigid bottom 10' dinghy to loan you if you want to play around locally. Frank B - IRGuy@aol.com "Phoenix" 1983 FBC Wilmington, NC