martinc

From info collected - I too wish to upgrade my 1980's quintrex lazeabout into a bertram. Bertram 25 - american designed, sleeps 4 adults, classic deep v 22 deg. Later extended to 26 feet. Most popular flybridge cruiser built in oz. Bertram 25 - began production in 1964. 1n 1989 it evolved into a 26 footer to handle the new v6 sterndrives. BERTRAM 25 WITH MODERN TWIN LIGHT WEIGHT DESILS (LATE 80'S). PETROL ONES TOO HARD TO SELL. Bertram 28 - became the carribean 28 when the Ameicans started importing them. bertram -International Marine, Victoria. 25 deep v designed by Ray Hunt. 28 re-vamped in early 80's by International marine to cater for top end, Caribeen reef runner and crusader for bottom end of market. 1985 bertram 23, 1860kg, 34k, ( bertie 25 costs 50k) Bertram, Pride and Carribean were all made by Melb based International group through the 60's and 70's. caribbean, bertram & pride - all from the Vic Spooner family boatyard - international marine re-started it in 1992 international marine - Melb - scoresby Arch and son Barry Spooner payed around with fibregalss and created caribbean boats in late 50's. got licence to make Bertram boats from USA, designed by Raymond C. Hunt. Have made 40,000 boats. bertram - 2 schools of thought on big offshore boats (actually 4) 1) power to weight designers - big horsepower in light boats 2) heavy boats with yet more horsepower (Bertram) 3) deep v hulls and 4) variable deadrise or warped plane hull form. bertram 31 offered the 31 as a hardtop, and as an express cruiser, called Bahia Mar - www.bertram31.com One sank of Bermagui last year (I think one person died)- I have not heard a report on what happened to it. Martinc

Its horses for courses. Depends on your boat. A permatrim adds length to a boat - and it will not fit in my gararge! Took the stingray one of my mates haines 5.65m boat (which made it suddenly heavily list to one side when water sking - quite frightening!) and put it on my lazeabout 4.5m quinny after reading a article in fishing world. Have lost about 1-2 knots off the top end speed, but can plane in calm conditions down to 8-9 knots. Works for me and my q-tinny.

Has anyone spoken to international sailors - where do they get the best deal - We are talking about an global system here. This will probably put a cat among the Australian retailers -......you watch.

hohoho guru Bob McComb has the v16 slr and loves it to dive from.

good length - I had the 4m boat, and ventured offshore (on calm days) with a 50 on the back. I got scared in the harbour from the Ferry wake - would get some water over the transom while anchored up on sow and pigs (yes - used to catch kings there in 1994 too). Issue was too much weight in the bum - live bait tank, battery and fuel tank. Try to move some wei I ended up building a well around the outboard (as in the lazeabout) to give an extra 5 inches of freeboard. note all the new designs of bigger boats have large rear platforms, where the water can not collect and weigh down the back of the boat. in my tinny, as the first wave comes over the transom into the boat, the water can not esacpe the well fast enough for the second wave to sink you.

transom weight is everything to me. then that comes down to two strokes. This gets people offside - but anything more than 2 srtokes is a wank when it comes to boats, trailbikes and lawn mowers. It comes down to less moving internal parts. Find a brand you are happy with, a model with at 5 at least years track record of good service, and the best power for weight in that class of outboard.

Agree with principle of not having additional holes below the waterline in your boat. I needed a bar in front of the outlet (outlet looks a tad small - I use double overflows on a rule 360) as southern squid tend to to block the outlet for you. Circular water motion is a must, and a darker tank is better. thats my 2 bob worth after buiding about 5 versions over 3 tinnies. and have a spare pump available - nothing worse than being offshore and your live baits dying.

hi - I just bought the x126 from the states - same guts and menu as yours. I have no probs with mine - try taking it back to factory default- I did this with mine when I got it, as it was second hand. If no joy, talk to lowrance.

Call boat locker at Mona Vale - Talk to Bruce - he may have one there.

I used to fish in one with a 4 litre 4 cylinder volvo inboard. Bert from Narrabeen Butchery owned it. Man did it fly.

from my book of wisdom boat self draining - you cant put a self draining cockpit in anything under 22 or 23 feet and maintain stability. Imagine 3-4 big blokes out on the shelf with their bag limit of yellowfin. boat SELF-DRAINING - WATCH FOR 5-7M BOATS WITH A TOO HIGH CENTRE OF GRAVITY. consider self draining in boats only 5.5m and above - self draining cockpits add safety and seaworthyness.

Fished on Tuesday, had 3 live yakkas and one slimy. The yakkas were untouched, while the slimy caught a good taylor first, then a 61cm king (sons' first) on the remaining chopped up, half a slimy. I have got them inconsistently at Clifton Jetty, and the Balmoral drop over (eating purple jellyfish) on flashy bait jigs. Any other ideas?

Found the results on the food authority site- Basically the most toxic dioxion compound, 2,3,7,8-TCDD predominated all samples of bream and Prawns. All the bream tested were over the current European Union limits. DPI in the December Newscast puts bream on par with Tailor at eating 150 grams per month - Mullet were the real worry at only 50 grams per month.

That much corosion in a 94 is pretty bad - I have a 1981 lazeabout, still in pretty good shape. Quintrex had a run of boats around 1980's with some kind of spaces between the ribs and the sheet. Most got recalled and refitted as it caused a corosion problem. Is the boat moored or anti-fouled - need special antifoul on tinnies. Are your anodes on the motor as coroded - may be your boat is sacrifical to the motor anodes. Also do you use the frame of your boat as an negative connection, like a car does? - big no no in a boat. (Galvanic corosion) I annually remove the floor, and vaccum the crap out. As for a fix, welding holes over is expensive, as is sheet replacement. Best cheap fix is "weld it" - a 2 part epoxy, and you push it through the hole, and flatten the putty out on each side.

WHERE ARE THE JEWFISH AND FLATHEAD TESTS FROM THE HARBOUR???? I SEARCHED THE DPI AND FOOD AUTHORITY SITES A WEEK AGO FOR THE INFO - ZIPPO. IF THE BREAM CAUGHT AT BALMORAL WAS WAY OVER THE LIMIT (IN THE ORIGINAL TESTING), AND THE SQUID CAME FROM ROSE BAY. I SMELL ANOTHER RAT AT DPI. YOU GOTTA WONDER ABOUT THE FLATHEAD AND THE JEW? AND A 150 GRAM FILLET IS A PRETTY SMALL FISH....... ONE PER MONTH. DPI HAVE A BOAT CRUISING THE HARBOUR ADVISING ANGLERS ABOUT THE DANGERS.... BUT HAVE PULLED THE PROS FROM THE HARBOUR IN THE INTRESTS OF PUBLIC HEALTH (READ - NOT GET SUED). I ONLY EAT SURFACE FISH FROM THE HARBOUR NOW - THANK GOD FOR THE KINGIE RECOVERY. AND DONT EAT YOUR LEFT OVER BAITS.........