well folks,
as some may know, I got me a Bertram 25
(yes I'm a sucker for old tubs..what can I say..)
This thread will follow her make over and progression for those interested.
She has a 415hp Mercuiser Horizon V8 in her driving a Bravo leg, +/- 2004 model.

She has had a Nova conversion done at some stage, that gives it a more cruiser wheel house look.
First thing was to tidy her up, toss out the crap.

And then I went buying toys...
First on the list was a sounder and ended up going bigger and more expensive than I wanted too.. but hey you only live once. So now there is a nice Furuno FCV295 going on the dash. ( with quick release cables and fittings, so to take away from thieving hands!) for now I'm going a wet-faced 1kw Furuno tranny, same as last time, the big commercial CA 200/50-1T, later it will be interfaced with a 3kw 38mhz single frequency fish-fryer....lol ( but need to save for that baby)

Plotter /GPS was a dilemma and ended up going back to a laptop PC based system. So bought the Mrs a new laptop and put her old Dell in as it still had RS232 coms ports etc. loaded up the Bluenav software I had and got a beta version of the Magellan Mapsend Lite Pro off their website. Now powering the GPS receiver side from an old B&W Magellan Sportstrack Pro. Total cost was a new laptop for the Mrs ( good brownie points for me... :-) ) and a nice little e-mail from Bluenav to allow me to use a back up CDRom as my original went up in smoke on the last tub. Seems the programs is linked to your GPS chip number and not the CD, so having the original GPS unit helped.

Next thing was to toss out the huge captains arm chair they stuck in the tub, .... why do people waste soooo much space with big arm chairs, all a skipper really needs is a bum-rest. That opened up the wheel house area nicely. Next was a new compass into the dash, as the old one was dodgy after many years of use right next to a sounder! couple of fans installed and some over head deck lights and we rocking! oh and a new set of speakers to keep the ears happy.

Then got a new Icom VHF radio ( I only recommend Icom, they the best by far) not cheap, but worth your life, that with a nice 2m aerial on the roof and we in business.

Biggest thing now to do is to replace the old steering wheel / helm. it is from the 1980s' and is badly chipped in places and hard on the hands. Biggest issue is the hydradrive system is the old square fit and may not be completable with newer helms.

Mechanic is doing the motor service and some new riser gaskets tomorrow plus new cranking batteries etc, then we going out on Saturday to see how she goes.

so now the tub is close to where I was with the last one, now to get some blood on the deck.

hi guys going with my mate to have a look at a 5.5 carrera cuddy cabin tomorrow. was just wondering if these were good boats and what to look for/out for in older glass boats?

cheers

any of yous guy run lowrance hsd5x thinkin of getting one in afew weeks  and like to know ur thoughts on them

Hi Guys,

I have a pinhead sized hole in the hull of my Razerline - first noticed 12 months ago, and had it bogged up. Now the bog has let go.

Can someone advise me of best place to take it for getting the hole welded?

I live Safety Bay.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,

Judy 

After a recent refit im hoping to get her on the water this week but cant figure out how all this wiring was arranged in the fwd control. If anyone has experience with these, any advice would be appreciated.

We are looking to install a bilge pump into out 5.4 m fibreglass runabout and just wondering what we to be aware of. Deck appears sealed so assume we will have to cut out a access port to allow access to install pump and plumbing hoses and for wiring. Does that sound about right and is there anything else to be aware of or to keep in mind? Any advise would be appreciated.

Cheers

I have a quintrex 480 Freedom Sport bowrider with a yamaha 4 stroke 60 hp motor. Basically we hit a few rocks on the weekend and the propellor is stuffed so I need a new one.   The boat was not damaged at all.

 Any recommendations on which prop to get and where from.  I live in Como, WA.

 I know there is Dinghy World on Canning Hwy but sometimes there prices are a bit keen.

ty

Mark

how you all going just wondering if any one has used this & what do you think about it   http://www.durafix.com.au/index.php

Hi All - I am looking to upgrade my GPS/Sounder transducer to a new 1kw one. Does anybody know if it will compatible with older model sounders? The new transducer and the old sounder are the some brand (Furuno) but my sounder is about 8 years old. It is a Furuno GP1650F, it has a 50/200kHz dual function and the existing transducer is 600W. Any tips or advice much appreciated.

I am wondering if any of the baron sportsman owners on here have replaced their portable fuel tanks with one tank ? If so I am looking for any info/ideas on size , positioning, mounting of the fuel filler & what you used the rest of the space for .

I am also wondering if anyone can post a pic of where they have successfuly mounted their transducer (transom mount) as I am having trouble holding bottom at speed . Any help greatly appreciated ...

                     Joel

Hey peoples.

Just wondering if anyone would like to give me some money so I can buy a boat?  I'm looking for about $40k.  I reckon that will get me something fairly decent.  Cheers!

Well, I'm doing my research on our next purchase. Unfortunately, the centre console idea has been kicked out the window by the missus  & likewise with the centre cab... they don't offer a comfortable place for a snooze.

This time, it's gotta be glass. We're looking at a Cruise Craft Outsider 625 & would like a few comments from people who have either owned 1, currently own 1 or have fished in 1.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Daz

Howdy all, well you all gave me some good feedback for a trailer so now I'm looking for some outboard motor feed back. I've been wanting to upgrade my motor for a while and I've been looking at the Honda BF60 at only 110kg's, it's very appealing. Anyone got something to say on this?

Cheers
Dale

Does anyone own, or knows somebody that does, a hydrofield. I am seriously looking at getting one built and would appreciate any feedback.

What size donk to push around 4.5 - 5 mtr

Guys ,

mounting a new arieal and radio (VHF to the boat)  can I mount the 2nd arial for the vhf beside the 27mg arial... Notice on most boats they are on eitherside of the cab.  My current arieal is mounted on a plate at rear of hard top roof in the centre.  Would only be about 200mm between the arieals.

Cheers

Craig.

when i get my boat (4 to 5m tinny) im looking at converting it to a center console but i dont know where to get 1 or how to make 1 i do have access to a mig welder but dont a have a design, could you help me

Hi all

I have a 97 johnson 40hp.  when i am running the motor under 2000rpm it starts to cough and conks out.  when cruising at higher revs no problem or if i keep the revs up in neutral.  after speaking to my boat mechanic he said it is either the fuel line kink or leak or the fuel pump needs replacing which is about $600 plus labour.  I have replaced the entire fuel line to no avail.  i was thinking it could be sediment etc blocking the carby or something. does anyone have any other ideas solutions

cheers

rig

hi, im wondering about a polycraft 450 centre console/open boat and wanted to hear from someone who's owned this boat about how it preforms, strength, uv damage ect. and whoever owns a polycraft how do you store it

Hey guys was just wondering if anyone could shed some light on when to replace ya steering cable on ya boat rather then waiting for it to break? My boats 5 years old and being my first I dont really have any experience with the matter so any advice would be appreciated.

Howdy all, I'm going to be looking for a new trailer to put under my UB in the next cuppla months and looking to see who you guys can recommend for the task.

Cheers
Dale

Hey Guys,

After a decent cover for my tinny. Want to be able to tow with it on for long distance trips (multiple points to tie from the cover to the trailer) and when its stored at home.

Potentially block out a majority of the UV rays and stop water/leaves etc entering the hull.

Live NOR so anywhere within reason would be good..

Thanks,

Sam

currently looking for a repower for a 5.9m cuddy cab and yam and honda (4 str) looks like the way to go, I've read all about them but looking for a opinion of someone who's owned a yam or honda between 50-150hp and recommend which one is better and why? also how are the etec, would loe to own one but still unsure of reliability, are optimaxes reliable

also just to put it out there, whats the thought on mercury engine, i've got one now and think they could be designed better

HI guys just after some advice and guidence.

Need to wire up to cigerrette lighter points in my boat.  One for the engel and one for spot light or kids dvd ipods etc..

can some one give me the basics or point me to a link to a good info site on the basics.

Some do's and don'ts etc

I am running duel batteries and also need to install a vhf radio as well...

Cheers

hey everyone just gonna tell how and why the new woodman point lauching ramp has p*&^^% me off.

i hate the new design of the woodman point boat ramp, first of the parking area, i absolutely hate how they have made "beautiful plants and gardens and a huge limstone wall just as you pull out of the ramp, and so many corners, it like a maze, this ramp was meant to improve traffic flow- YEAH right, everyone south of the river now coming to this ramp and its packed,

now what i am most angry about is these new rammps have on 2 ocassions caused me 2 flat tyres and each time a 3 hour delay. How, well coming out of the ramp has these concrete slabs that go right out to the end, and having a limestone wall there makes a tight turn and the boat trailer has clipped the slab and flat tyres, which caused stuffed wheel nuts, causing wheel to come off at 70km

question is why couldnt they just make a HUGE area of concrete, plenty of parking and cheap 

anyone else had trouble

Just looking for some experiences in regards to small motors up to 50hp for a mate that is looking at a repower. We have only used large horsepower so looking for feedback for him.

Boat is tiller handle on a 15 foot dinghy, what are people using, reliability and have you recently repowered and value for money.

Not trying to start a best motor debate, but rather a useful discussion so he can start looking.

Thanks

Would anybody like to recomend somewhere in the Rockingham area for me to take my Honda 4 to be serviced? I am fairly new to the area and a big beliver in that word of mouth is the best form of advertising. The last place I took it was very expencive and real poor customer service so hopefully you could sugest a friendly place that I could become a regular customer.

Cheers

Picked up a new (used) tinny for hitting up the barra this year.

Nice clean unit that's done very little work and doesn't have a plethora of holes drilled everywhere inside it. Gotta love the quokka, but you do have to be the early bird.;)

I have a 2008 175 Mercury Opti, and most times I use the boat I take the cowl off only to see salt build up on the powerhead. I have since bought a cover for my outboard which seems to improve the problem but doesn't entirely fix it. It would be great to hear from anybody that has experienced the same problem and how they have overcome it. I am not convinced whether the salt is coming from outside or internally. Any info would be most appreciated as it is a bit disheartening to see a newish outboard cop that sort of treatment.

i was wondering what all you think the 6.0M wild lizard longboat, not looking to buy yet, just curiois

also do longboats handle the rough weather well, thanks

hey all

having problems with my deckwash/livebait pump.

pump feeds to both , you just close tap on bait well and pressure then goes fully to deck wash

however , when using deck wash , it runs ok for a couple of minutes  before giving up and not working again for the rest of the day, no matter if you shut everything down and isolate battery's. it's shot for the day .

but next time you go out in the boat, hey presto , it's working again.

sick of it and just want to give it a drop kick into a bin and get something that works every time.

heard some bad things about johnson pumps so has anyone got any experiance with another pump they can recommend??? pref with a good warrantee.

(boat a 6 meter haines if that makes any diff and i'd rather something with plenty of pressure )

cheers