What boat checks all these boxes

That chris craft is a beautiful old boat, cheap too
wonder what the gallons per mile are ;)
 
El Capitan,

Yup that's my old Bertram, Cod Father Charters in Port Hardy bought her. Had her for 6 years ! Great boat EXCEPT for the 50-55 GPH burn at 25 MPH. Wasn't that bad to fish around Victoria, but when I moved her out to Sooke it was $225 round trip from Sunny Shores Marina to Muir. Plus i trolled on the yammie 9.9. That's when gas was much cheaper! Lol!! But I still miss the boat, it was my favourite boat, made stepping down really hard
 
El Capitan,
You got a real nice boat. IMO, it's right up there in the elite of blue water boats. Built without compromise. Gotta admit I do have a thing for the pursuit 31 with twin diesels!
 
barrie said:
El Capitan,

Yup that's my old Bertram, Cod Father Charters in Port Hardy bought her. Had her for 6 years ! Great boat EXCEPT for the 50-55 GPH burn at 25 MPH. Wasn't that bad to fish around Victoria, but when I moved her out to Sooke it was $225 round trip from Sunny Shores Marina to Muir. Plus i trolled on the yammie 9.9. That's when gas was much cheaper! Lol!! But I still miss the boat, it was my favourite boat, made stepping down really hard
Click to expand...

The Bertram is a real sweetheart, you obviously took good care of her and Ken has also cared for her (he is very meticulous). The fuel economy with the Volvo diesels is phenomenal, and it has been on several long distance tuna trips in the last few years. Also, Mike Holmes (tv star)fished on her last year and was in disbelief when he was told how old the boat is.
 
Great looking boat. Lots of value for the money. Some nice upgrades too. Lots of room for the fam.
How's it going to be fishing with the hard top and dinghy?

One thing I learned purchasing my boat is to try everything and turn everything on. I did not try the macerator pump on mine and tuned out it was seized. $200 for a new one and a ***** to replace. Could have deducted that from my offer.
Good luck with the sea trial and survey. Are you doing a mechanical survey too? I would on the engines
 
I likely won't fish with the dinghy attached. The supports for the hard top are going to be in the way for sure. Will probably have to figure out a technique for moving the rods around them. Either that, or figure out a different way of supporting the hard top. Right now its nice in that you can stand on the hard top and it will take lots of weight.

Yes, getting a full survey done along with a mechanical. Those diesels initially had a quality issue with the injector nozzles but they appear to have been replaced under warranty by Cummins. But still, want to be certain nothing is broken. We're using a local surveyor with the nickname of Dr.Death - he is extremely detailed and as I understand things, has deep-6'd many boat sales.

I will need to figure out the best method for steering the boat while fishing. I am leaning towards an Autopilot assuming the boat will troll slowly enough on one engine.

Yeah, tons of boat for the money. Have to admit, I love the Commanders but the compromise of the single sleeping area at almost double the price was the deciding factor. I spoke to Mr. Bayliner at BananaBelt over in Anacortes the other day. He gave me the full rundown on the 3388 and I am happy with what we are getting.
 
Beauty boat Terry, hope it checks out great for you.
yes better be careful with those big hook sets, or keep an ample supply of backup rods on hand:p
Tim
 
Well, this was a hard day, but looks like we're going to walk away from this one after the mechanical survey. Couple of major things. First, at idle (not even in gear) this boat shakes like hell. The Cummins mechanic noted that these engines do rattle, however he'd never experienced one like this! He attributes it to the "upgraded" engine mounts -- and he recommends going back to the stock Cummins mounts. The rattle is so bad, that it has broken the mounting bracket for the mani-cooler and loosened the air intake. We also found that top speed barely hit 18kts with 1/4 tank of fuel, no water and no gear onboard and the boat couldn't hit the rated 3000RPMs.

Fishing wise, I simply can't see working even with just one of the engines in gear. Boat would only slow down to 3kts, and the vibration was so bad, my fillings would be falling out by the end of the day. Means I'd have to stick a kicker on it, which I'm not convinced would be great on this boat.

Let the owners know I'm willing to come back and sea trial again if they want to address these things, but I'm not willing to go to further expense. At least it was a nice day for a boat ride. I think I'm back to looking again. :(
 
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