Bertram33 User Forum

Recently purchased a 1984 33' SF and absolutely love it. When drifting on a wavy day the boat pitches quite a bit because of its deep V design. One of the lobster boats on my dock had added a keel for a more stable float. Has anyone tried to add a keel to this hull? Or any suggestions to tame the pitch down. We've tried sea anchors and they help a little but not enough. Thanks for any ideas

Hey Hugh, Welcome aboard. I don't know of any added keels, you would be the first. I have no idea what would happen other than possible maneuvering & docking problems along with sacrificing some speed. Rick Ticket 85 SF Merc 454 MPI's Falmouth, MA

Try one of those Rocker Stopper things from West - I laughed when it was suggested to me but I am surprised how good it works. I have used it offshore a few times and while it still rolls, stops that snapping.

Never actually seen those before. Pretty cool little product when you just want to set up a drift for the evening as well. To answer the original question though, adding a keel sounds like to would be beneficial but definitely a very labor intensive project. I wouldn't make it any deeper than the 35's keel. And after reading the first thing I thought of was possibly the "smart" or "fast" rails. I know those things got a ton of negative reviews but there are some owners that love em.

Welcome to the Bertram 33 sandbox. Here you will find a group of great guys who will probably be able to answer almost any questions you might have about our boats. I would be careful adding a keel to one of our boats. Before I bought my B33 here in North Carolina I was looking at downeast type boats, all of which have keels. I lived in New England for many years and have a lot of respect for the downeast style.. just about any fishing/lobster boat you can find there is the traditional downeast style, and I like the looks of them. When I moved south and spoke to brokers about wanting a downeast style boat I was surprised that that style boat was not in favor here. I finally asked an old redneck why .. his answer was "Boy, y'all gonna kill yo'self in a downeast boat 'roun heah". Naturally I asked him why. His answer made perfect sense.. he had spent some time in New England and told me that In New England, with it's rocky coast the inlets presented different angled openings to the sea, but here in the south, with our sandy soil almost all the inlets faced straight out to sea, with usually a shallow area before the entrance, which meant there were a lot of inlets with steep following seas when you return. The downeast boats, with their deep keels are known to become unstable when entering. The following sea lifts the flat stern, and drives the bow downward.. the forward part of the keel then becomes sort of a pivot point while at the same time with the stern lifted the rudder effect is reduced, and the stern of the boat tends to wander off course one way or another. The helmsman corrects the helm only to have the boat head off the opposite way, so the boat is constantly tending to want to "round up" to one side or the other. This dangerous zig zag effect is affectionately known locally as the "Downeast shuffle".

Try checking with a company called SEAKEEPER they now have a gyro in a 32 center console. A bit pricie but maybe no more than all that would be involved in adding a keel ( which I personally don't think would be a good idea) I have fished on larger boats with SEAKEEPER and it does work well

Hugh, Back when I did my refit, I moved the engines back about a foot (8 degree down-angle transmissions allowed this) I had previously swapped the generator for 70 gallons of water in the stern as well. This lowered the waterline aft about an inch & a half or so. I found that when I'm drifting live baits this helped the roll tremendously. It also helps getting around the front of the engines to work on anything.

thanks for that insight. quote:Originally posted by h2ojst Hugh, Back when I did my refit, I moved the engines back about a foot (8 degree down-angle transmissions allowed this) I had previously swapped the generator for 70 gallons of water in the stern as well. This lowered the waterline aft about an inch & a half or so. I found that when I'm drifting live baits this helped the roll tremendously. It also helps getting around the front of the engines to work on anything. Joe Tomaini 1988 Sportfish Attitude Adjustment II Bath, NC

Thank you for your knowledge. Good lessonquote:Originally posted by IRGuy Welcome to the Bertram 33 sandbox. Here you will find a group of great guys who will probably be able to answer almost any questions you might have about our boats. I would be careful adding a keel to one of our boats. Before I bought my B33 here in North Carolina I was looking at downeast type boats, all of which have keels. I lived in New England for many years and have a lot of respect for the downeast style.. just about any fishing/lobster boat you can find there is the traditional downeast style, and I like the looks of them. When I moved south and spoke to brokers about wanting a downeast style boat I was surprised that that style boat was not in favor here. I finally asked an old redneck why .. his answer was "Boy, y'all gonna kill yo'self in a downeast boat 'roun heah". Naturally I asked him why. His answer made perfect sense.. he had spent some time in New England and told me that In New England, with it's rocky coast the inlets presented different angled openings to the sea, but here in the south, with our sandy soil almost all the inlets faced straight out to sea, with usually a shallow area before the entrance, which meant there were a lot of inlets with steep following seas when you return. The downeast boats, with their deep keels are known to become unstable when entering. The following sea lifts the flat stern, and drives the bow downward.. the forward part of the keel then becomes sort of a pivot point while at the same time with the stern lifted the rudder effect is reduced, and the stern of the boat tends to wander off course one way or another. The helmsman corrects the helm only to have the boat head off the opposite way, so the boat is constantly tending to want to "round up" to one side or the other. This dangerous zig zag effect is affectionately known locally as the "Downeast shuffle". Frank B - IRGuy@aol.com "Phoenix" 1983 FBC Cummins 6Bs - 315HP Wilmington, NC