Chapter 1 - - - Miss-Be-Haven II

[rchanner]

Gus- are there any particular brands that top your list or are expressly excluded from your list?

[auguste]

Topaz 39 Royale

first one I found, just to give you an example

http://www.yachtauthority.com/viewer_boat_...hp?boat_id=7006

Thank you . . . I have not ridden on that boat

Has someone been fishing on one of these?

What are your likes and dislikes?

[auguste]

Topaz 39 Royale

first one I found, just to give you an example

http://www.yachtauthority.com/viewer_boat_...hp?boat_id=7006

For Owners and Brokers . . . When I read this listing I found the following info

Engine Manufacturer Cummins Mercruiser

Engine Model 671 TI

Engine Type Inboard 8-cyl

Number of Engines 2

Engine Drive

Horsepower 900 hp

This type of contradictory information leads me to look elsewhere . . . it is a sign that either the broker does not know his stuff or the owner knows little about his vessel . . . my guess is a major foul up when they posted but if that is the case why have they not fixed the posting

schoolsout

Thanks for the info . . . will look at it and hope someone gives us some first hand information

[auguste]

Gus- are there any particular brands that top your list or are expressly excluded from your list?

Yup . . . here are three so far

Rampage 38 . . . pounded too much but great layout for fishing

Viking 43 . . . too wide for the slip and burns too much fuel

Luhrs . . . just too many very negative comments about poor quality and lack of support from Luhrs

I have come across some very poor quality boats that showed neglect and abuse . . . in those instances it is one specific boat and not the brand that I am avoiding

Thanks

[Southern Salvage]

Gus

The 37 and the 39 Topaz are good riding boats especiaaly at the speed your looking for. At higher speeds 25 to 28 kts they have a tendency to pound somewhat. They are very flat at the transom which makes them a good trolling and bottom fishing platform.

One boat that you might take a look at would be the 35 to 38 ft Henriques. They are made in New Jersey and I'm sure you can find one in your price range. They are not a Cabo, Albe, Viking but overall they are a very good boat and economical. Jack Henriques makes one hell of a boat for the money, afterall he's Portugese like me and Pork Chops known boats.

Good luck

Fernando

What is the biggest beam your slip can handle?

There's also a couple local built boats here in Mississippi, and Alabama and I'll let you know.

[Fubar512]

Here's one to start with:

1973 Bertram Widebody 38

This fits of the description pretty well, especially that part about "Classic Sportfisher".

That boat had:

A:) 1 dead motor ("C" series Cummins), initially reported by broker as just needing a turbocharger.

B:) Generator was relocated to engine space under the salon. The supports it was set on were not properly finished, and rotted away. The genset is now hanging by two cables attached to a salon deck sole support beam.

B:) At least two rotten bulkheads under the lazerette.

C:) A teak over fiberglass cockpit sole. Sounds good, until you see that they did not replace and glass the deck supports, and they GLASSED the sole in place, instead of mechanically fastening it (as is the common practice). The deck supports and a bulkhead under them were so rotten that I was tempted to call them "wormy".

D:) An aft bilge pump was contantly running while we were inspecting the boat ( one hour)

E:) Improperly bedded rails and tower supports had allowed water to seep into the foredeck and topsides coring, which has resulted in delamination.

And that's the short list. The boat needs between 100 and 125K to make her usable, and possibly as much as 250K to make her "right". The broker admitted that he'd advised the owner to donate the boat as a tax write-off.

BTW Fishnutz, you're right on with your your advice, that model 38 Bert (38 series II) is a dream when everything's right.

[Fubar512]

Gus

The 37 and the 39 Topaz are good riding boats especiaaly at the speed your looking for. At higher speeds 25 to 28 kts they have a tendency to pound somewhat. They are very flat at the transom which makes them a good trolling and bottom fishing platform.

One boat that you might take a look at would be the 35 to 38 ft Henriques. They are made in New Jersey and I'm sure you can find one in your price range. They are not a Cabo, Albe, Viking but overall they are a very good boat and economical. Jack Henriques makes one hell of a boat for the money, afterall he's Portugese like me and Pork Chops known boats.

Good luck

Fernando

What is the biggest beam your slip can handle?

There's also a couple local built boats here in Mississippi, and Alabama and I'll let you know.

I've delivered both a 36 and a 37 Topaz from the NE to Florida. The originals were nicely crafted, but they rode hard and were wet. The problem is not nearly flat aft sections, but nearly flat CONCAVE aft sections. You cannot compress a fluid. The Tope 32 was a nice boat though...good ride, efficient, stable, and not as wet for its size as some other 32-33 footers I've been on.

The 43 Vike express was a nice boat (I delivered one of the first off the line), but it was even wetter than the aforementioned Topes, and that particular 43' was possesed by satan and therefore hated me...it puked diesel all over my pants leg.

The Henriques are nice, not the softest ride, but fairly free of any nasty handling traits, and they're built like tanks. I would buy a 38 'reeks in a heartbeat.

[WEAKFISH]

Those mid 80s Topaz 38 FBs are beautiful boats. Anyone have any experience on one of those?

[Fubar512]

Those mid 80s Topaz 38 FBs are beautiful boats. Anyone have any experience on one of those?

Well, the old TFH owned by Dr. Axelrod (yes, the same one who fled to Cuba and later turned himself into the feds), was a 38 "Tope express run by Chris DeStefano back in the early 80's. I was on it once, back when I barely knew the difference between bow and stern....it seemed OK to me back then.

Gus and I looked at one of that vintage out of the water recently, and I showed him those same concave stern sections that the 36 and 37 had. Now, a friend of a friend had a '38 'Tope FB back in the mid 80s (I believe the owner's name was Tom Schirmer). My friend seemed to think the world of it, though he had a Luhrs 340 at the time....you know what they say about perspective It was really nice looking, though.

BTW, there's a nice 44' Tope FB at the marina that we berth the Renegade at...though Gus would really have to apply the grease to get that puppy into his slip

[rchanner]

That boat had:

A:) 1 dead motor ("C" series Cummins), initially reported by broker as just needing a turbocharger.

B:) Generator was relocated to engine space under the salon. The supports it was set on were not properly finished, and rotted away. The genset is now hanging by two cables attached to a salon deck sole support beam.

B:) At least two rotten bulkheads under the lazerette.

C:) A teak over fiberglass cockpit sole. Sounds good, until you see that they did not replace and glass the deck supports, and they GLASSED the sole in place, instead of mechanically fastening it (as is the common practice). The deck supports and a bulkhead under them were so rotten that I was tempted to call them "wormy".

D:) An aft bilge pump was contantly running while we were inspecting the boat ( one hour)

E:) Improperly bedded rails and tower supports had allowed water to seep into the foredeck and topsides coring, which has resulted in delamination.

And that's the short list. The boat needs between 100 and 125K to make her usable, and possibly as much as 250K to make her "right". The broker admitted that he'd advised the owner to donate the boat as a tax write-off.

BTW Fishnutz, you're right on with your your advice, that model 38 Bert (38 series II) is a dream when everything's right.

Fubar- Wow! Well, I guess that's the kind of thing that gets someone to the point where they are assigning chapter numbers to their boat search! They kind of worded that ad so you were led to believe that she HAD a repower, not NEEDED one. In addition to the rest, I can see why anyone would run screaming!

BTW-Thanks, but I wouldn't call anything I say about these bigger boats "advice" I know just enough about them to ask semi-intelligent questions!