i haved been looking for MY 37 cutter for about a year now and think i have found the boat. have followed all the infor i could get here so i know all the + -'s but the boat i am looking at has a problem that i find no refence to....the base of the mast in the bildge has some severe corosion as is seems to always be sitting in water...is there a casting that it sits on and is that giving out? the corosion seems to be on the mast itself as the paint is bubbling off and there is pitting on the extrusion itself....is there a common fix and has anyone done this? any idea about cost? the rest of the mast has some corosion also where ever there was a stainless fitting or screw but i know that is common and i will deal with that as necessay but the base of the mast worries me....thanks in advance chet p keladi@sunet.net
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Tom Hadoulias
Mast Step Fix
Chet, I have been through the mast step repair and a few others have as well. Mine was pretty bad and the fix was as follows; I removed the mast and had to cut a couple of inches off the bottom. The mast is 6061-T6 aluminum alloy and the mast step is a 356 alluminum casting. The mast was corroded more then the step but as a result of cutting 2" off the bottom I made a new mast step that was 2" thicker to make up the difference. This also got the bottom of the mast out of the bilge water so I don't expect a repeat of this problem. Yours may not be as bad so unsteping, cleaning and painting may be all that is required. Pay particular attention to where the mast step plate bolts to the keel. The bolts to the keel may have caused galvanic corossion to the mast step but I was pleased to see that all the keel bolts on my boat where in great shape. You'll just have to assess the damage but don't worry, it's all repairable and the mast is pretty thick wall extrusion so if you clean and repaint she'll last a long time. I sandblasted, primed and repainted with Awl-Grip two part epoxy and I was quite pleased with the results. The mast looks like new and considering my boat has been in salt water all her life, the mast really wasn't hurt too bad. If you have any other questions, feel free to email me at hadoult@aol.com. Good Luck! Tom Hadoulias
Chet, I have been through the mast step repair and a few others have as well. Mine was pretty bad and the fix was as follows; I removed the mast and had to cut a couple of inches off the bottom. The mast is 6061-T6 aluminum alloy and the mast step is a 356 alluminum casting. The mast was corroded more then the step but as a result of cutting 2" off the bottom I made a new mast step that was 2" thicker to make up the difference. This also got the bottom of the mast out of the bilge water so I don't expect a repeat of this problem. Yours may not be as bad so unsteping, cleaning and painting may be all that is required. Pay particular attention to where the mast step plate bolts to the keel. The bolts to the keel may have caused galvanic corossion to the mast step but I was pleased to see that all the keel bolts on my boat where in great shape. You'll just have to assess the damage but don't worry, it's all repairable and the mast is pretty thick wall extrusion so if you clean and repaint she'll last a long time. I sandblasted, primed and repainted with Awl-Grip two part epoxy and I was quite pleased with the results. The mast looks like new and considering my boat has been in salt water all her life, the mast really wasn't hurt too bad. If you have any other questions, feel free to email me at hadoult@aol.com. Good Luck! Tom Hadoulias
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Ed Schenck
Yep, that's right.
Tom's definitely the authority on mast step repair. But if there was just some way to keep the water out in the first place. When stepped to the keel and with all those sheave openings you will always get water. And the bilge pump leaves at least one inch in there. Probably more because it comes back down that long hose. I have a small Atwood pump with an integral switch that should keep it lower if I plumb it more directly overboard. I'll raise the float switch on the big Rule as a secondary. Any other ideas?
Tom's definitely the authority on mast step repair. But if there was just some way to keep the water out in the first place. When stepped to the keel and with all those sheave openings you will always get water. And the bilge pump leaves at least one inch in there. Probably more because it comes back down that long hose. I have a small Atwood pump with an integral switch that should keep it lower if I plumb it more directly overboard. I'll raise the float switch on the big Rule as a secondary. Any other ideas?
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Jerry
Ed use small diameter
pipe from the Attwood pump. That way there is less water in the pipe to drain back into the bilge. Jerry s/v Makai
pipe from the Attwood pump. That way there is less water in the pipe to drain back into the bilge. Jerry s/v Makai
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Ed Schenck
Thanks Jerry.
Good idea. I'll keep it as small as the outlet will allow. You are not recommending a reducer are you?
Good idea. I'll keep it as small as the outlet will allow. You are not recommending a reducer are you?
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Don bodemann
check valve?
How about a check valve for getting the bilge level lower? Another thought is to get a drip-less packing gland and then fix all the other leaks...wouldn't a dry bilge be nice?
How about a check valve for getting the bilge level lower? Another thought is to get a drip-less packing gland and then fix all the other leaks...wouldn't a dry bilge be nice?
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Ed Schenck
Don, not possible to be dry.
The H37C has a keel stepped mast. Short of building a sump around the base the bilge will always have some water. Which, now that I wrote that, is not a bad idea! I do use dripless packing and have no water in the aft sections. The idea of check valves was explored somewhere here on HOW. As I recall it was voted down because it restricts the flow and can clog.
The H37C has a keel stepped mast. Short of building a sump around the base the bilge will always have some water. Which, now that I wrote that, is not a bad idea! I do use dripless packing and have no water in the aft sections. The idea of check valves was explored somewhere here on HOW. As I recall it was voted down because it restricts the flow and can clog.
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Blaise Pierson
H37 Mast step
About ten years ago I had the bottom two feet cut off of my mast and a new section welded in. If you have a deep draft boat and a float switch, the bottom of the mast and the mast step should rarely get wet.
About ten years ago I had the bottom two feet cut off of my mast and a new section welded in. If you have a deep draft boat and a float switch, the bottom of the mast and the mast step should rarely get wet.
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Tom
The leaking is just part of having a Hunter 37 Cutter. This year I put a foam block wrapped with tape and then a plastic outer boot wrapped with tape at the base. A bead of 101 has kept most of the water out so far.
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Gene Gruender
stopping water entering through the mast
Next time I pull the mast I have a plan that I hope will stop that water than enters the bilge through the mast. Basically, I plan to put a block just below the bolt at the deck level. I think I can cut a plug just the right shape and size that just fits inside the mast. I plan to push it up to the bolt with a ram of some sort. Then I should be able to take a second plug, goop it up with something (silicon, 5200 or??) then ram it into the first plug. The compound that squeezes out should bond both together and in place, and make a waterproof seal. There are no lines or wires at that point, so I don't see why it won't work. There is another leak point, and that would be in the wire chase. I should be able to assemble that with just a bit of silicon added right at the deck joint. Anyone have any thoughts on this plan? See any major drawbacks? Gene Gruender Rainbow Chaser
Next time I pull the mast I have a plan that I hope will stop that water than enters the bilge through the mast. Basically, I plan to put a block just below the bolt at the deck level. I think I can cut a plug just the right shape and size that just fits inside the mast. I plan to push it up to the bolt with a ram of some sort. Then I should be able to take a second plug, goop it up with something (silicon, 5200 or??) then ram it into the first plug. The compound that squeezes out should bond both together and in place, and make a waterproof seal. There are no lines or wires at that point, so I don't see why it won't work. There is another leak point, and that would be in the wire chase. I should be able to assemble that with just a bit of silicon added right at the deck joint. Anyone have any thoughts on this plan? See any major drawbacks? Gene Gruender Rainbow Chaser
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