Opinions on Refitting/Customizing a T37 Interior

jasn · **Posted:** 08 Aug 2013 21:53

Hello All,

I'm considering purchasing a Tartan 37 here in the Chesapeake where I live, that has had a lot of love lavished on her bones. By that I mean most of the things you don't normally see, like her engine, electrical, plumbing, portlights, chainplates, and bottom, are either new replacements, or serviced to a like new condition. The work that was done is impressive. However, what she needs, is work on the parts you do see.

Like a lot of her interior woodwork needs to be redone, or in the case of the sole in the galley and v-berth areas, replaced. The navigation table needs professional refinishing, and the dining table needs to be rebuilt stronger. The wood below all of the replaced portlights shows water damage, (I have no doubts that replacing the portlights fixed any leaking there). The headliner near her solid fuel heater exhaust was roughly cut and is hanging down a little, and the headliner in the galley is loosely hanging down as well. So the entire headliner may need to be redone.

In terms of customizations, I would like to have the pilot berth trimmed back and converted into a storage area, (or my cats' berth), and the sofa widened. I would also consider a much stronger, custom, dining table. If this becomes a bigger project, and it makes sense to do things all at once, then I would consider installing custom soles and headliners. Maybe the sole should be some material other than teak for wear and tear, and I like the glassed (no) headliner of the Wauquiez Hood 38 MK-II, and would consider that at the same time.

I also want to add things to the boat like a hot water heater/tank, a hot/cold cockpit shower, an electric windlass to replace the manual one, and some solar panels for the electrical system.

I would love to hear any opinions you'd care to offer, on what you think it may cost to have any of these projects performed by professionals, (and if you had any recommendations of some pros in the Chesapeake area who could do this for me). YachtWorld lists one woodworking business in Maryland; Campbell's Custom Boatbuilders in Oxford. Lastly, I noticed the following message at the Tartan Parts website;

Quote:

Welcome to Tartan Parts
THINKING ABOUT A FACTORY REFURBISHING OF YOUR TARTAN? GIVE US A CALL OR USE E-MAIL. SPACE IS LIMITED.

Perhaps that could be an option as well.

Thanks,

Jason

Tortuga's Lie · **Joined:** 27 Oct 2006 10:32 **Posts:** 827

Jason,
Welcome aboard and I think if you look at a lot of the postings here, you'll find a myriad of projects that have been tackled over the years including many that you listed. As far as the headliner is concerned, I would replace it with a product I used from Harbor Sales in Baltimore called "Komotex". Great stuff: it is a PVC sheet that comes in a variety of colors and thicknesses, but I used 1/8" white. It cleans up amazingly well and it is fairly easy to install using the old headliner as a template. It is also fairly reasonably priced. I paid somewhere around $25 for a 4 X 8 sheet, but that was many years ago. If you were to remove the headliner to expose the fiberglass, I think the look would be to rough and unfinished, ...IMHO.
When my wife and I first bought ours, the interior woodwork was very dirty and dingy looking. We removed as many trim pieces we could (quite a few), sanded everything down, careful not to sand through the veneer, and applied several coats of exterior polyurethane (Minwax Helmsman) and 18 years later, she still looks great. This could be your winter project Very Happy

Cheers,
Tom
P.S. Harbor Sales also has the teak and holy plywood for your soles....and they deliver almost anywhere in the mid Atlantic. (I have no affiliation with Harbor Sales other than a satisfied customer)
Link: http://www.harborsales.net/

jasn · **Posted:** 10 Aug 2013 11:54

Tom,

Thanks for your kind reply. In fact one of the reasons that I'm considering the T37 for my first sailboat, is because of the owners and the respective forum community, here. I've read numerous postings on the forum and as you stated, many of the projects I would want done to the T37 I'm looking at, have already been done and documented by owners here.

I also understand that one of the ways sailboat owners can control the spending done on their "hobby", is to do things themselves. I was just curious what the community here thought would be the approximate costs, if I wanted to have some of these projects done professionally, at the outset. (I do like the idea of redoing the woodwork and headliner myself, slowly over the winter though.. Would be a nice excuse to get out of the house too..) I just get a little nervous when I consider trying to do something bigger like the pilot berth conversion, and some of the other stuff, hot water, solar panels, windlass, etc.

Thanks again for the feedback. I'll look at the products from Harbor Sales, which will help me figure out how much I could do on my own. And if anyone else knows of good pros who could help on some of these projects, please feel free to add to the thread.

Jason

Mike · **Joined:** 09 Jul 2008 12:51 **Posts:** 251

I guess my one project wishes would be removing the very nice teak table and modifying the port settee to accommodate a drop down table that would make a double bed for that area much like some RVs do; nothing shoddy but done and trimmed in teak. I was thinking of a blow up mattress (w electric pump) to save space. Even though it's the largest sleeping area I hate the Vberth.

jasn · **Posted:** 10 Aug 2013 19:59

Mike,

That's a great idea. I wonder if it would be better to have a convertible bed option for the port settee that included a table that lowered, (kind of like a metal piston type of fixed table stand), or one where the table is removed completely, and there's a slide out platform section under the settee cushion that converts it to a double bed. Then like you said, all you need is the cushion, or cushion section to insert, and you have your double berth. I think that either would be an awesome addition to the T37.

I'm curious. Why don't you like sleeping on the v-berth?

Jason

Velera · **Joined:** 29 Dec 2006 09:38 **Posts:** 656

Some of the furniture provides structure to the hull if it has a tab to a bulkhead. I think it is probably overkill in the basic hull, so maybe it is not important. I don't think the things you mentioned are likely to have an effect, but the bulkhead behind the chart table and icebox are tabbed and my guess is they reduce the twisting of the hull a bit.

Folks seem to like to add bells and whistles to new boats, but i respectl your interest in taking care of business. After owning my boat for 22 years, here are some things that are not sexy but will pay dividends:

1. Rebed all the stanchions, pulpit and pushpit. a few of mine actually had cored material around the bolts and it would be important to drill a bigger hole, fill it with epoxy and redrill and reset. If this has not been done, you probably will have some leaks.
2. Rebed the genoa track. Same issues as above.
3. Remove and rebed the hatches. The Atkins and Hoyle hatches may look bad, but they are cast as opposed to extruded and, if the boat has been through anything, they may leak as the deck flexes in a blow and the hatches help stabilize it. You can have the hatches redone. The hatches are not through bolted, just self tapped and they can be the cause of significant water ingress if not fixed. Some folks have through bolted. I removed redrilled larger holes, filled with epoxy and a hard filler, and refastened it and have had no problems. Perhaps the new extruded hatches will flex with the deck.

These are some of the things that new owners probably are not thinking of doing, but would have saved me some headaches had I done them a deade ago.

Good Luck

Tortuga's Lie · **Joined:** 27 Oct 2006 10:32 **Posts:** 827

Jason,
One thing that I forgot to mention earlier: Do not rush into changing anything major until you have lived with the boat awhile and see what works for you and what doesn't. Certainly, I have made many, many alterations but I have had the boat since '95 and I will do a project after I mull it over a bit and then think about it some more. Taking your time makes you slow down and you can pay for these projects over a period of time instead of all at once. Of course, sometimes it makes sense to do multiple projects if they both require tearing apart things for access....."while I have this panel out for this project, I might as well do that one too"

As far as your question about having things done professionally, I would figure that labor charges could easily be around $70 hour at a respectable boat yard. Where are you located on the bay?

The V-berth can be a bit cumbersome to get in and out of when you get a little older and don't move around as nimble as you once did Shocked

One project that I am thinking about is a combination step/drawer/locker to fill in the area at the V. The step would project out a little onto the floor space a bit but would be much easier to get into the V-berth.

alpinista · **Posted:** 12 Aug 2013 12:29

Hey Jason,

Since finding Betty Lou several years ago we've tackled a lot of projects, including rewiring the AC system and adding in an Inverter/Charger, replumbing the fresh water system, installing a diesel forced air furnace, replacing the coachtop hatches, etc. We've saved some money, and learned alot about the boat's systems in the process. Next up for Betty Lou is a new set of portlights from NewFound Metals, and a complete mast refurb. There is ALWAYS another project in the queue!

You'll pay a lot for work in a yard; we've been paying $70 - $100 / hr here in Portland. But I've found Bernie the boat guy recently. He's worked in every boat yard in the region, and now works for hire on his own. He wants $15.00 / hour, but I make him take $20. I use him for brightwork, topsides buff/wax, and other general maintenance jobs. It leaves me free for the bigger projects. I bet you can find a Bernie out there on the left coast... I've also found independent riggers, mechanics, canvas guys, a stainless fabricator, and a local sail loft that have saved me $$ over the yard prices for the same services.

I second Tortuga's Lie, live with the boat awhile before committing to a big change. For example, I know a lot of folks convert the pilot berth to storage, but on Betty Lou it is the favorite berth on the boat (especially for kids and dogs). We've added lee cloths to the two salon settees and the pilot berth, yielding three great sea berths when off-shore (the v-berth and quarter berth become storage lockers). I spend a couple of nights aboard each week and normally the v-berth is occupied by the spinnaker and the inflatable. I just leave the pilot berth made up for sleeping and spend the night tucked in there.

With our mild winters here in the PNW, we can use our boats year round, so our routine is to do exterior projects in the summer (rebed deck gear, brightwork upkeep, etc.) and interior projects in the winter (although the furnace install, started in February, wash't completed until July). I think all of us owners take a lot of pride in these great old boats, and it's kind of a duty to keep them in top condition. Betty Lou's P.O. passed her on to us in bristol fashion, and I hope to do the same some day. It just takes some elbow grease and 8 - 10 boat bucks a year. =)

jasn · **Posted:** 13 Aug 2013 21:42

Like I said. This owners association and related online forum, really add to the already great value of owning a Tartan 37. All of the suggestions and feedback in this thread has been great.

Velera, I appreciate you taking the time to outline the "basics" that a new T37 owner should focus on first. No matter how many times I come across a valuable post like yours, I always seem to forget to look for these things when inspecting a potential boat. I was pleased to see that the T37 I looked at here in the Chesapeake Bay area had many of those items already done, (like new portlights, new chainplates, etc.)

Tom, I also appreciate you advising calm when approaching these kinds of projects. I should really live in her some, before I rush off on too many projects. As Alpinista mentioned in their post, I may end up liking the pilot berth if I live with it for a while. I read on one of the online boating forums somewhere, that some T37 owners find that the pilot berth is actually the warmest berth. BTW, the closest marina to me is Herrington Harbor, and it's where I will likely keep my boat.

Alpinista, I appreciate your advising the value in doing the updates myself. In the past, I've been guilty of hiring pros to take care of things that I don't have either the expertise, or patience to do, (like staining the house, etc.) I can definitely see that the beauty of taking the time to learn and then do the updates to your boat yourself is that you learn valuable skills that may come in handy when you need them most. (like rebuilding or rigging a critical system when offshore, etc.)

Thanks again all. I don't own a T37 yet, but you've given great advice and comfort, in that if I do, I know the place to come to ask for help in keeping her shipshape. (so that's where that word comes from..)

Jason

Solare · **Posted:** 14 Aug 2013 13:36

Jason,

SOLARE is berthed at Herrington Harbour South, feel free to contact me if you want to drop by and we can discuss projects and you can check out what we have done to ours.

Tartan37.com

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