Ballpark Total Restoration Estimate

[Freestyle]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=001&item=280019576940

This is a link to a 46 bertram on eBay that had an engine room fire. For discussion purposes we will pretend this Bertram, like all Bertram's, is an illegitimate child of a proud Hatteras and worth our concern.

This thing looks like it will sell for $5k. The boat in good condition would sell for $150k (illegitimate Hatteras price).

How much money do you think it would take to hire a yard and bring a Hatteras in this state all the way back?

 

[67hat34c]

about 250k.. or more, that is without cost of replacing engines. would not touch it.

you have to cut out and section the hull, cant patch it, heat kills resin. inside total loss. engine room total loss.

 

[SeaEric]

First of all, this boat is not going to be worth $150K when finished. Its old, and Bertram interiors are mica and very dated in this vintage (unlike Hatts which are teak and timeless). This is an $85,000. boat in its pre-fire condition. To fix it would require fixing not only the new damage, but also all of the deferred maintenance and upgrades that she is likely lacking. The answer is- you would not buy this boat and hire a yard to fix it. If that was feasable, the insurance company would be doing just that for their customer. Most salvage is just that. Salvage. Now if one was a cracker jack mechanic, hopefully a young age, one could take on a project like this and perhaps have a nice old boat to retire on, with only a few hundred thousand dollars invested in time, parts and divorce settlement.

 

[jim rosenthal]

This boat is worthless. Literally. There is no way to repair it without spending enormous amounts of money to create just another old Bertram MY on which one would have spent eight or ten times what it would be worth. My guess? there might, with luck, be a few bucks worth of salvageable parts on it, that could be resold. Might. And after that, you would have to dispose of a large amount of scrap fiberglass etc. Definitely one to stay away from. Sad.

 

[Genesis]

Yep.

I wouldn't take it for free.

 

[egaito]

All things considered, I expected more damage.....the fire looks like it was contained in the engine space. I wonder if the automatic system put that fire out or if it just ran out of oxygen.

That said, you can see the bubbling in the hull from the outside where the burned engine was. She's toast, litterally!

 

[Boss Lady]

You probably couldn't get it done for the $250k, more like $400k if a yard does it. I spent $250k on the redo of Boss Lady, and the hull only required cosmetics. I scrounged new parts for half the normal cost so you can add about $100k if you pay regular prices, plus labor will probably be more depending on the yard.

With hull damage it is toast, part it out and get the sawsall ready.

 

[CARL GUZMAN]

Sawsall is right ..In realestate they call it highest and best use...
and for that boat it would be a craber or fisherman in the keys or other fisheries that will snap it up and sawsall it and customize there commercial boat from...

 

[spartonboat1]

Yes, indeed, I did have a survey done of a similar boat and the "survey said", "salvage value". I.e. that the various parts are worth, e.g. struts, props, shafts, unburned stainless metal hardware. I think after the salzall they can use a chopper/grinder for the hull...

A bad fire (burned to the deck) of a Hatt and Bert in Cheboygan, MI back in 1996-7, resulted in a flurry of bids for the windlass on one of the boats. I would kind of like to bid on the bow pulpit on the posted Bert myself. P.s. maybe the "swim latter" didn't get singed (see eBay post)!

 

[Freebird]

I think Karl was being too kind. I would ask the seller what he would pay me to take it off his hands.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

What a shame.

I met a guy in Pentwater, MI this year with a 46 Bert. It was a 1986 and it looked spectacular. I got to talking to him about the boat and asked when it had been painted. Turns out it was all original and his dad had bought the boat new and then sold it to him just a couple of years ago. It was always a freshwater boat and meticulously maintained.

I just brought this up because I love the lines of those old boats. Classic. I love my Hatt and I would never think about trading her for one of those new Clorox bottles with the fisheye windows (unfortunately that includes the new Hatteras' as well).

 

[Liquid Asset]

I am in Palmetto, I will see if I can take a look at it.

I will call them tomorrow. Snead Island is about 2 min from my house and office. It would be interesting to actually see the boat.