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58' Bertram sportfisher/convertible advice

Discussion in 'Bertram Yacht' started by Matt46post, Jan 8, 2017.

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  1. Matt46post

    Matt46post Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2015
    Messages:
    226
    Location:
    El dorado hills california
    Hi
    I have been looking at this 1978 58' Bertram sportfisher,I believe they made this boat from 76-82, it seems to be a well built solid fiberglass hull with aluminum fore deck and super structure, the boat hasnt been ran and has been sitting in salt water for about 3.5 years,it has a pair of old turbo charged after cooled 2 stroke 12v71 engines showing 9500 hours , no idea how many hours since overhaul , how do the fuel and water tanks tanks hold up in these boats?were they stainless or aluminum?it seems like a lot of metal tanks in this vintage are having problems and need replacing, how do the stainless mufflers hold up? also the aft deck and fish boxes need to be replaced do to dry rot and termite damage, do these boats tend to have blister problems ? the boat is 32volt , it has noerthern lights 4cly.a 7.5kw genset with 1000 hours on it and I believe the boat probaby was built with two generators originally the other being a 15-20 kW ? I am mostly going to use the boat as a vacation condo on the water ,but would like to cruise it occasionally, I have owned several 50-65'boats over the years and refit a few, just looking for some advice or knowledge on what you guys might know about these vintage big beautiful heavy vintage 58 Bertram's and how you tackled some of its problems , has anybody moved the engine room entrance from inside the forward companion way to the aft deck area? Or re-configured the forward staterooms and heads to create a larger master suite and a walk around queen forward? ...thanks in advance for any advice
    Kind regards
    Matt
  2. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2004
    Messages:
    12,726
    Location:
    Satsuma, FL
    Well
    Those are glass fuel tanks. Monel water tanks.
    DiAngelo replaced my mufflers 15 years ago.
    We have the 1978, 58' MY, Same hull and machinery.
    There have been some blisters thru the years, No big deal.
    Our black water tanks started looking ugly about 5 years ago and quickly started leaking. Replaced with Roto-Plastic and was easy.
    HAVE NO FEAR of the 32V system. Plan ahead and keep spares.

    Ole Berts like this are tanks. Not fast and do not ever think about MPG (to depressing) but dependable, forgiving and can go thru the newer boats.
  3. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2005
    Messages:
    14,434
    Location:
    Fort Lauderdale
    He's talking about a Sportfish, not a motoryacht.

    I think the Sportfish all have Aluminum fuel tanks. At least the 54's do that I know.....On the 54's the engine room fuel tanks held up very well as they were elevated and against the front bulkhead not hull sides like Ocean. The cockpit one didn't hold up well over the years usually and only lasted 20 years. But, the 54' runs like a total pig with the 200 gallon cockpit tank full and only some had it. The 54's usually had 2 generators, both 20kw port and stbd front of the engines. I find it odd this 58' only has a 7.5kw. I would expect/think the 58's to be very similar in construction principles to the 54'.
  4. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2004
    Messages:
    12,726
    Location:
    Satsuma, FL
    N.S.

    Our MY is on the same hull and machinery. In researching my response here, lots did have alloy tanks. The one early 58 I worked on here in Jax had a glass tank like our forward tank.
  5. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2004
    Messages:
    12,726
    Location:
    Satsuma, FL
    The only 58 on the Left Coast I can find listed is in S.D. Is there a listing on the 58 your looking at?
  6. RER

    RER Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2009
    Messages:
    1,542
    Location:
    Newport Beach CA
    Look farther west...
  7. Matt46post

    Matt46post Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2015
    Messages:
    226
    Location:
    El dorado hills california
    Hi
    Thanks for your input, the boat is listed in Honolulu, rough shape, it seems even if you got the boat for free, to make it nice for hardcore sport fishing you would really spend a lot more than what the boats worth,what would you expect to pay to rebuild the 175 sqft aft deck and fish boxes? The bulkhead between the generator and lazerete has some rot, where the rudder gear is attached needs to be replaced,the wall and entrance door between the aft deck and salon needs some work,the fore decks and super structure have been painted with a roller and there is signs of corrosion under the paint,the hulls sides will probably buff out, it does have four fuel tanks one in each corner of the engine room and they are raised up like Capt. J commented and actually look pretty good, but until they are full you don't know, the water tank is leaking up highand can probably be repaired? My experience with tanks if there leaking any where from corrosion they are probably need to be replaced,I believe it has an under sized generator 7.5 kW the boat runs 4 cruise air units ,is 7.5 kW enough to to run them ?the grounding system doesn't really seem to be doing its job the , thru hulls and equipment that's supposed to be grounded and a looks like it corroding away,the interior and teak is in great shape just dated and there is some newer appliances in the galley( home stuff not marine grade)the boat has had zincs changed and bottom cleaned twice a year, at about 40 years old it's probably time to change out a lot of the plumbing heads,fawcetts,light fixtures etc, clean up electrical ends, the engines are supposed to run well and be tight, but every thing on this boat really just looks worn out, even as a livaboard I am going to probably have to put a barrier coat and bottom paint ,service and replace thru-hulls repair the after deck ,water tanks ...I would probably change out holding tank and all the waste lines and couple of the heads, plumbing fixtures ,service A/c systems and address the corrosion on the super structure, the last boat I had painted was a 12 years ago and it was 60' riva and it $75k and this Bertram needs lot more prep, so painting the fore deck and super structure other than with a roller is not feasible ....I need to send the broker a check to talk me out of buying it lol..
    Matt