My husband and I grew up in families that bought new cars and new boats. The kept the boats longer than I would have. I saw long boat ownership as missed opportunities. For financial reasons and to be able to experience different rides I enjoyed exploring the used boat market and always read the used boat section of the newspaper before the news. Before computers the ads were sometimes more interesting than the boats. I was always looking for the boat that met all my needs and usually bought boats that needed work that could be refinished, used and sold at a profit. When my needs changed my boat had to change and what worked for a girl taking friends from work out waterskiing and clamming was no longer the right boat for staying overnight at the beach. Getting married and starting a family added to the boat history.
People who have had multiple boats often have favorites and looking back, the best boat was always the one that filled most of your needs. We as a family always needed a big enough galley to make beach plum jam in the fall. We took sugar, jars, pectin and labels along and came home with our winter supply plus some. When our son left for graduate school we downsized to a 28’ Bertram, which became my favorite boat. When Ben Minton, a Freeport boat broker, called and left the message, “I think I have your boat,” we were sure he was right – he knew us and knew our needs over the course of several boat deals. We always looked forward to having his cat come to our boat closings.
We hoped going from a 36-foot to a 28- foot wasn’t a mistake. We were busy enough at work to bring home reading and papers to grade and the dinette worked as our desk space with windows just above and good lighting for dark days at the marina. When the weather wasn’t good enough for the beach we’d bring the dog, reading, food and the Sunday papers and it didn’t feel like a wasted day. The marina in Bay Shore was on the edge of the bay and sometimes we got lucky and got a fish to take home. If we used the boat to entertain it would not have met our needs, but for the two of us it was checking every box. The pontoon boat is a good one for a bigger group and is increasingly being bought by women who want to entertain on the water without a big complicated boat.
Boat dealer Al Grover had reasons he thought people bought boats – primarily to get away, to get away from chores that needed doing at home, to fish, for adventure, to form closer bonds with family members and to have a good time. When he was selling boats people had less of their time structured by social events and a family could count on spending most weekends on the boat they just bought. The pandemic was a time of boat purchasing frenzy because people were released from the activities that steal summer days from boaters – weddings, concerts, baseball games, youth sports practice and events – all cancelled.
In looking through the selection of boats the new owner of the Bertram company was promoting, his short list included a line of outboard boats, center consoles, larger hulls that would follow the first one, the exquisite 35 foot version of the popular 31 foot Bertram. So far he has fulfilled the promise of a better 31, giving it just a little more room where it needed it and adding a few yachty teak details. The 35 is so popular here and in Europe the plans for building it in Florida have expanded to building it in Italy too. Wherever it is built, it will be the American Bertram. He got rid of the molds for the larger Bertrams that his predecessor thought were better than the original Bertrams. What is not in the plans for the future so far, is a smaller flybridge cabin cruiser like the old 28. He’s batting 1000 so far so maybe the smaller boat will come later.
The outboard line Gavio plans will not be a first for Bertram. During the period l967 to l969 Bertram offered a 20-foot Sportsman open boat with Mercury power. About 99 were built. A boat that was probably built during the time builders new to fiberglass were building them heavy and strong, some remain and can be seen online in the used boat market. I saw two at prices of $39,000 and $65,000. It was a simply designed good-looking boat, something you’d be proud to say, “That’s my boat.”
The new Bertram Center Console is nicely designed and will surely fit the needs of someone who wants to fish with it. The larger Center Console, the 39 foot, powered by three Mercury outboards, has available a bait preparation station, 60 gallon livewells, head with shower and extra rod holders. Eventually the line will expand to nine models. The new owner of Bertram, Beniaminio Gavio, bought his first boat in l996 and has personally owned Hatteras, Viking, Fairline, Bertram and Riva boats. He’s interested in sportfishing and loved his Bertram 54. When he looked at the Ferretti 67 he was disappointed and felt too much had been changed from the way the original Bertrams were made.
After going to the Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show and not seeing Bertram, he went home to Italy, spoke to the Ferretti CEO and arranged to buy Bertram. In Italy Gavio owns Baglietto, one of the world’s oldest boat builders. Gavio put a good working plan together and had in mind creating the perfect 31-footer by solving the few problems it had through adding another four feet. He saw the 35-footer coming first, followed by a 50-foot express cruiser, and a lineup of outboard boats starting with the 28 and the 39.
When Richard Bertram sold his company he went back to brokering boats. The company he sold went through a series of owners, shut down, went through bankruptcy and was bought by Ferretti, who announced they had plans for change in building and change in interiors that would make Bertram a better boat. Most boaters attribute the problems their hulls had with delamination to the building process that had changed. Two of the larger Ferretti Bertrams had pictures of their delamination that challenged the Bertram reputation and caused the Ferretti Group to close down their operation.
My favorite boat lasted until my husband’s retirement when he decided he could be happy with a boat to refinish. We had had an Egg Harbor earlier and started shopping for another one, a needy one. Not hard to find, we looked at four in one weekend and bought the last one we saw in less than an hour. This was his favorite boat. It gave him something to take care of starting with the refinishing of the living room like varnished teak cabinetry.
What I would look for now for myself and the dog, might be one of those 20 foot Sportsmen, big enough to go out and get a few clams, pull the bow up on the beach and let the dog have a run and I could even see where I’d put the teak storage box made by Karl Tank Shipyard as a step down and storage for my father’s boat. Once I inherited that box it had a place on every boat I had. All one of those Sportsman would need would be a little teak trim and the hull painted black or dark blue.
Whether your favorite boat is a Bertram or something else, I think we all hope Mr. Gavio will be the one who brings Bertram back. He’s done everything right so far – picked a good team to run the US operation, found a good place to build the prototypes after finding a good designer, Michael Peters, and has promised no Italian yachts, just the kind of Bertram we had – he wants it to be the best again and he seems to have the resources to manage any problems that arise.