Bertram 61 Equipped with Blue Water Desalination’s Legend Fully-Automatic Watermaker
Running low on freshwater while offshore can cause unnecessary anxiety for a vessel’s crew and guests. Thankfully, an adequate capacity watermaker can more than out-supply those concerns. Whether a refit or new build, equipping a boat with a watermaker has become more of a prerequisite than a luxury. Watermakers can now be found factory-installed in a soaring percentage of today’s yachts, and advanced watermakers from Blue Water Desalination (BWD) are at the leading edge of this trend.
Bertram Yachts understands this, boasting that their new 61′ is equipped with the most sophisticated mechanical and electrical systems. This new model line delivers luxury accommodations for long-distance adventures, and tournament-winning level sportfishing. To these ends, the first three Bertram 61 convertibles to splash from the company’s South Florida facility come equipped with Legend Series watermakers from Blue Water Desalination. The Legend fully-automatic watermaker that has been spec’d by Bertram can produce up to 1,500 gallons per day.
The first hull of this all-new luxury sportfish model from Bertram splashed in June of 2018 as the company’s factory demo boat captained by industry pro Danny Ford. Ford and his crew embarked on an aggressive tournament and sportfishing campaign stretching across the Eastern Seaboard, putting the new boat and her BWD Legend watermaker to the ultimate test. “The functionality of the Blue Water Desalination Legend is pretty simple,” Capt. Ford explained. “We put the unit through its paces over the summer without any issues.”
The Legend 1,500 GPD watermaker would reliably produce 63 gallons per hour – taking just 3 to 4 hours to top off the Bertram 61’s 300-gallon freshwater tank. With the full-color touchscreen remote installed at the helm, all functions and controls for the unit were at the Captain’s fingertips. Ford would run the unit on the way out to the fishing grounds, allowing for plenty of water for everyone on board including an endless supply of ice from the Eskimo machines. On the way back to the docks, the Legend would be run again to fill the water tank and allowing the crew to give the whole boat a freshwater washdown, while leaving at least 100 gallons for showers and head usage.
“The Legend’s user-friendly remote touchscreen provided easy and flawless operation on a daily basis during the Bertram 61’s East Coast summer fishing campaign,” Capt. Ford told us. As the fishing season was winding down, boat show season was ramping up and the Bertram 61 enjoyed debuts in Norwalk, Newport and Annapolis before making her way south for the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.
The BWD Legend watermaker proved herself during a summer of hard use and was then able to wow boat show attendees from her visible placement in the engine room. The compact installation of the Legend 1,500 GPD keeps the pressure pump inside the main casing with the pre-filters mounted to the exterior and the membranes nearby on the bulkhead for simplified inspection and service.
Time and time again, Blue Water Desalination’s cutting edge watermakers have proven themselves to elite fishing teams and charter operations along with the discerning owners of expedition, explorer and superyachts. The Blue Water Desalination team is thrilled to have been chosen as the exclusive watermaker for Bertram’s all-new 61’ luxury sportfish yacht and looks forward to many more new model installations to come.
