Cutter 37 Refit

[PhilaSailor]

Hello,

I've just completed a refit of an '83 Cutter 37. There was endless research and trials to find the right parts. Anyone doing this, I can dig up links to the various parts.

The refit started with an Awlgrip of the hull, mast, hatches, toe rail and deck. Though I had this professionally done with spray application, I've seen several roll and tip jobs that look just as good. With an amazing looking deck, I replaced all of the deck teak and cleats. This made the old water fills, overflow vents, throttle/shift levers, traveler and Lewmar winches look old. Sooo . . .

The new Garhauer traveler was a quick install and a big upgrade. All of the stainless is available from Ali Express and similar at shockingly low prices, though you need to confirm they really are using 316 stainless. The Lewmar winches look new after a black powder coat to bronze drums. The powder coat looks perfect after a season. Extreme Powder Coat of Pennsauken, NJ had an amazing price and good workmanship.

If there is interest and I get inspired, I'll properly document with pics the upgrade.

Michael (Alpha)

 

[ggrizzard]

I googled 'Ali Express' and all I see is a reference to a
Chinese co in the UK for all things.
Do you have a link?

 

[PhilaSailor]

I used these.

Polished Stainless Cleats

The holes do not match the holes of sad, faded aluminum anodized original cleats. I had the old holes fiberglassed and awlgriped. The old cleats are mounted into aluminum plates fiberglassed into the deck and easily seen from the inside. It is easy to drill and tap for the new bolts.

My initial concern in going with all polished stainless was the deck would look like a Harley motorcycle with too much chrome. This turned out to not be true.

I also replaced the anchor Samson Post, water and waste cap fills and tank vent through hulls with polished stainless. Fun that the gas dock boys treat the boat with huge respect now.

Michael (Alpha).

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

I've just completed a refit of an '83 Cutter 37. There was endless research and trials to find the right parts.

How can you post this verbal description without pictures to accompany ? ? ? ?

If there is interest and I get inspired, I'll properly document with pics the upgrade.

Even if you only have unlabelled pictures at this time, please post them now as your description so far sounds like the definition of "eye candy".

Thanks.

 

[PhilaSailor]

Sorry for the tease guys. I'll post a load of pics with notes when I'm at the boat tomorrow in Newport, RI.

 

[PhilaSailor]

The refit extended into the cabin. The Corian galley came out great. It is amazing how much storage is available on the boat that is not accessible on the stock new boat. I'll include pics of this too.

 

[Allan12210]

The refit extended into the cabin. The Corian galley came out great. It is amazing how much storage is available on the boat that is not accessible on the stock new boat. I'll include pics of this too.

 

[Jim Legere]

The best place to post something like this is under this link
"Hunter 37-cutter Modifications and Upgrades Page"

 

[PhilaSailor]

Refit pics:

Awlgrip deck - This was professionally sprayed, but I've since seen roll and tip Awlgrip and AlexSeal paint jobs that look just as good. The paint crew did several days of prep. I selected medium rough non skid. The paint is tough stuff and very easily cleaned to a shine. All new teak. Much of the teak can be had for 1/10 the price out of China. With the deck looking great all of the fittings looked sad. All cleats ($11 each), water/waste fills ($35 each) where holes matched the originals, throttle/shift levers($65 each), front sansom post ($100?) were replaced. Chocks added ($35). Winches were black powder coated to look new ($100 each). Remote switches for nav lights, deck lights, deck washdown and diving Houkah installed under the motor panel. New Garhauer traveler ($800?) with custom holes from the original Lewmar done by Gauhauer. New winch turning blocks Gaarhauer($60?) with holes that matched the original.

 

[PhilaSailor]

Deck work continued:

Cockpit cushions with backs. The pour through foam from SailRite is amazing. Sunbrella just works. Glue on snaps keep these attached. Losing the 2" of back is well worth the extra comfort. Flip out cockpit table is worth the $500. The table leg falls out automatically and stows automatically. A real dinner at anchor in the cockpit is great.

What I would do differently: black awlgrip worked great no the hatches. It is coming off the toe rail with the running backstay connections.

Garhauer is a great product with great customer support. Their holes line up with the original holes on the traveler. Holes are custom from the original with no extra charge. Ball bearing blocks and car along with 5 to 1 allow precise easy setting even when heading up. This is really needed on a cockpit top traveler.

 

[PhilaSailor]

Cabin/Galley

Corian was $2700 and the same as any kitchen job. The old plywood top comes off easily. The installer had never seen slide away cabinets. Maybe this is patentable ? This solved the dilemma of what to do with the hold covers. These slide on stainless drawer slides and use a notching Corian catch to keep them closed. There is an amazing amount of unused space around the galley that is now used. Having flipper, knives etc next to the stove is convenient.

Considering that a gimballed stove was needed twice in 30+ years on the boat, a non gimballed stove and oven work fine. Comparing the RV stoves to the sailing stoves, the RV stoves seemed just as good and corrosion resistant. We need to get some pot fiddles to connect to the stove grate.

The oven is a convection, 1100 watt microwave, air frying, broiler model. This is driven by a 2000 watt Renogy pure sine wave inverter ($300?). Renogy is worth the extra $$ as the cheaper units failed in their first month. I tried 2 of them.

The faux brick backsplash is not exactly nautical. Thinking of replacing this.

The plumbing faucet separate drinking water faucet were 1/3 the price from AliExress and are identical to what cost 3x in my home. The pull out sprayer is standard in new homes and is a good feature aboard.

If this inspires anyone to redo their galley, be sure to look at the YouTube of the adventures of Good, Bad and Ugly. They went more modern.

At some point, I'll do a more proper posting documenting what I found in this refit. The Cutter 37 is a great off shore cruising boat that's really comfortable and fast at 18+ knots of breeze. Look for a future post on the rewire and modernizing of the electric.

I'd love to hear thoughts, questions and suggestions.

 

[jon hansen]

The Cutter 37 is a great off shore cruising boat that's really comfortable and fast at 18+ knots of breeze

have you ever sail the vessel offshore?

 

[Johnb]

Did you refit the vanity basin? Mine looks 40 years old.

 

[PhilaSailor]

For many years I sailed Block Island to Atlantic City or Cape May. Furthest Point offshore is about 40 miles. The prevailing wind is out of the southwest unless there is a storm, a Nor'Easter. A Nor'Easter makes the trip a run/broad reach, but often has swells of 30+ feet which the boat handles well. The yankee jib/cutter/cruising spinnaker gives a lot of options in strong weather. Rather than motoring/tacking on the trip, I picked a storm to do the sail with a run/broad reach.

I've had contact with 2 Cherubini cutter owners who are to depart for Europe. The solid hull adds 4-5 thousand pounds to the boat versus a more recent boat of the same size. That same weight along with a good hull design makes for a stable sail.

 

[PhilaSailor]

Re the 40 year old vanity.

The pic is a Corian countertop since I did a Corian galley too. The faucets need to be short to allow the cabinet behind to open. If I hadn't done the Corian I'd have bought a Lowes/Home Depot sink and cut it back to fit. Solid Surface counter tops cut with a circular saw. A bit of teak trim hides the edges. I opted to not have a front raised edge and have not regretted after a season.

 

[PhilaSailor]

Another thought on the vanity. If you are replacing teh 40 year old vanity faucets, do the shower too.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

Do you have a catch to keep the drawers from flying out when underway ?

Always a nasty greeting to see the cutlery drawer open and knives and forks all over the floor. And I DO have a catch, just can't always remember to engage it.

 

[PhilaSailor]

Never had the drawers come out even in very rough weather. To open the drawer, I have to lift the drawer 3/4". The wood swells a bit in the humidity requiring a firm pull. I've thought of replacing the original drawers with "Push Open" slides to modernize this. Stainless versions of these rails are on Amazon and at Home Depot.

Here is another galley pic: I like the spring stopper on the fridge with a hand wave led light above to look into the fridge. The Fridge lid needs some insulation.

Also, the slide out keyboard works well for working from the boat on extended weekends. I have used a pic of the teak wood bulkhead behind as a zoom background. When actually on the boat all look normal.

 

[jon hansen]

you do beautiful work