Charlie and Diane Ford discovered boating in different ways. “We both love sailing, although I started earlier than Charlie,” says Diane. “My Dad was always on the water, and I grew up sailing with him on Star-class sloops.”
Charlie came to sailing a little later in life, after a stint in the Marine Corps and four years at the University of Maryland. “A colleague took me out on his Cal-25, and I was hooked. I purchased my first J/24 in 1983 and raced it hard for 35 to 40 years, including two J/24 World competitions.” His first powerboat was a Correct Craft ski boat, which featured a powerful engine and a fast planing hull shape designed to tow waterskiers. He used it on the large rivers of the Chesapeake Bay.
The couple’s introduction to the legendary Bertram 20 Moppie runabout was coincidental. It was owned by Bill Finagan, Charlie’s good friend and dentist. Finagan flew a stunt plane when he wasn’t boating. “He kept the Bertram in the slip next to ours in the 1990s, so we had admired its classic looks for quite a while,” says Charlie. “At one point, he put the boat on a trailer and stored it in his plane hangar, and wondered if I wanted to be its next owner.”
Like Finagan, the couple was enthusiastic about the design and its history. The 20 Moppie, like many of Bertram’s early boats, features a deep-V hull shape that maintains a constant deadrise from just behind the stem all the way to the transom. That shape provides a smoother ride when running into waves at speeds above 25 mph, conditions that would normally cause heavy pounding in a boat with a flatter running bottom. The 20 was a breakthrough design of sorts, because few boats in its size range could produce such a thrilling ride—at wide-open throttle, it ran 35-plus knots.
The 20 was launched in 1964, and the company produced 1,300 of them in just four years. The boat was offered as a center console, a cuddy cabin and an upscale dayboat with twin Baron engines.
The Fords appreciated the boat’s speed and seaworthiness, and purchased Finagan’s 1965 Bertram 20, called Spirit, in 2000. They’ve been restoring and updating the boat ever since.
The couple originally kept the boat at a marina near Annapolis. When Hurricane Isabel passed through the Chesapeake Bay in September 2003, it pushed a storm surge that peaked at 8 feet, swamping numerous boats including Spirit.
A trusted mechanic built a replacement 165-hp MerCruiser motor, using parts from two same-sized engines pulled out of an abandoned vessel. That Merc ran perfectly until about two years ago, when it was time for another rebuild. The motor was pulled and the block was blueprinted, then reinstalled with a new alternator and pumps, plus a rebuilt Holley carburetor.
Charlie says the boat cruises comfortably and still tops out at 35 knots. The Fords could have changed the motor to a higher horsepower gas or diesel sterndrive, or even an outboard on a bracket, but they wanted to keep Spirit as close to original as possible.
They found an Eastern Shore builder and craftsman to restore the hull and interiors. The builder soda-blasted several decades of bottom paint down to the original gelcoat, painted the topsides and deck, replaced the analog gauges and restored the instrument cluster, among other things. The stainless-steel wheel at the helm replaced the original thermoplastic wheel, which the couple will eventually restore.
“Canvas work, upholstery and cushions, there’s always something that needs upgrading—even for a 20-footer like Spirit,” Diane says.
With their 165-hp MerCruiser primed for its third season this summer, the Fords plan to cruise the local rivers with friends, explore Annapolis Harbor and visit their favorite waterside restaurants. And if the waters occasionally get choppy, they know that Spirit has the power and the proven deep-V hull to keep them safe and comfortable underway.
WALKTHROUGH
Due to its nearly full-length, flattish sheer, boarding the Bertram 20 Moppie is unusually easy, especially from floating docks. The cockpit is open, with plenty of room for coolers, waterskis and other water toys. The inner edge of the gunwale rises above the level of the side deck, affording attachment of snap-fit hardware for a cockpit tonneau. Stowage under the gunwales helps keep fishing rods, paddles, dock lines and throwable flotation cushions from cluttering up the cockpit sole, which has a drained centerline locker.
The vinyl-covered padded seats are placed to create open space in the center of the cockpit. Forward are twin back-to-back seats; at the stern, two removable seats flank the engine hatch.
The windshield doesn’t have an opening panel, so to get to the foredeck you have to step over it. Fortunately, the windshield is relatively low. Behind the windshield, the helm seat faces a panel with a small cluster of analog gauges. A single-binnacle is mounted to the right of the steering wheel, while the trim tabs are just ahead of it. Forward of the port-side seat, a glove box is in the dash. There’s legroom for both the driver and the copilot to port, thanks to a cutout beneath the foredeck. The area also provides stowage for fenders and other bulky items.
BACKGROUND
Bertram Yachts debuted its first production fiberglass boat, the legendary Bertram 31, at the 1961 New York Boat Show. It was based on Moppie, a custom wooden powerboat designed by naval architect C. Raymond Hunt that famously won the 1960 Miami-Nassau powerboat race. Bertram Yachts were known for their well-engineered, ruggedly-constructed boats. The company is still going strong, building six models from 28 to 61 feet in length.
This article was originally published in the July 2023 issue.
