Looking at T37's

bmiller · **Joined:** 22 Dec 2010 18:51 **Posts:** 2

Hello everyone,

My wife and I are actively searching for a cruising boat. The T37 has our interest. Other boats we are considering are Islander Freeport 36, Wauquiez 35, Esprit 37, you probably get the idea. As we look at these boats are there any inherent issues we should consider and look for while we shop?

How do the Scheel Keels sail? Do they go to weather as well as the centerboards? What is the engine access like? I do all my own maintenance and that matters.

Anybody selling a T37?

Thanks,
Bill and Cindy Miller
Buena Vista Colorado

Orion · **Joined:** 29 Dec 2010 14:42 **Posts:** 3

Hi, My wife and I own a Tartan 37C. Orion is hull 205. Only recently have we decided to sell her. It is not listed with anyone as of yet. Orion is currently located in Grenada. It is set up well for live aboard and off shore work. The equipment list is extensive . I maintain her myself and everything is bristol. Varnish is all bright inside and out. Interior has lots of custom wood work including a brass soapstone fire place. If you would like photos or more information our email is sv_orion@hotmail.com Happy boat hunting. Mike and Joanne

bmiller · **Joined:** 22 Dec 2010 18:51 **Posts:** 2

Thanks for the offer. However Grenada is a bit far for us right now. Best of luck selling.

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

Bill,
If you are serious about the T-37, keep in mind that this model is getting on in years and you are likely to find examples in a wide degree of condition ranging from bristol to serious project boat. The asking price will vary accordingly. Of course this is still a great time to buy with people trying to off load their boats, so there are deals to be had. The T-37 can make a great cruising boat if it has been maintained and upgraded a bit. She sails very responsively and is pretty forgiving.
Good luck with your search and have fun with it! I look back on the days when my wife and I were looking at boats with fondness.....we must have looked at fifty of them before deciding on the T-37.

Cheers,
Tom

JPANEAVITT · **Joined:** 03 Nov 2010 12:23 **Posts:** 21

Bill-
We are the owners of the last T37C (Sparkman & Stephens design) built - Hull #486. We sail her principally in the Chesapeake but have thaken her to New England on three occasions and cruised extensively in the Block Island-Narragansett-Long Island sound areas.

Regarding the Scheel keel, we had our boat built with the scheel keel rather than with the centerboard option and have no regrets. We have done club racing and found that our boat points as well as the T37C centerboard boats we sail against. The only time we suffer with the scheel keel is "off the wind" since we cannot lift the scheel keel as do the centerboarders. We have found the boat to be stiffer than the centerboarders which means we don't have to shorten sail as soon and a comparison of the wetted surface of the centerboarder to our scheel keel version shows less wetted surface under the waterline. When cruising in the company of centerboarders we have kept up with the pace. On of the other nice features is that we don't have a centerboarad or centerboard trunkt o get fouled or malfunction.

Hope this is helpful.

Peirce

Orion · **Joined:** 29 Dec 2010 14:42 **Posts:** 3

Hi Peirce,My wife and I are owners of hull 205, 1979 T-37C and are currently sailing in Grenada. We love our Tartan centerboarder, in fact our centerboard has never fouled or malfunctioned in the 15 years we have owned her. Last year while hauled in Trinidad I pulled the board for inspection. After 30 years I thought it would be prudent to take a look. Removal was quite easy by removing 6 bolts. While I had it out I added some fiberglass to tighten the board in the well. Another interesting side note is, dispite the agressive marine growth in the tropics, nothing grows in the well. No light,no water moving, no growth! Most of our sailing is on the wind and with the board down, Orion really points. Fair winds. Mike

asathor · **Joined:** 17 Sep 2009 00:07 **Posts:** 8

This is the right boat! But they are not new so do your homework and ignore the hype.

The layout is awesome. Four people can coexist following their own agenda because you don't need to be in each others way to be comfortable.

The sea motion is the one aspect of performance that have received the most praise from my friends - sailors and power boaters alike. She sits in the water like that is where she belongs - like a swan (Sparkman and Stephens designed similar boats for Swan of Sweden).

She is fast, but in the manner of a mature "full blood" not a young buckaroo bronco - treat her right and she will sail well and comfortable at a good clip in any direction hour after hour in all kinds of weather.

We bought our '81 Solen 1 1/2 year ago and she is nice except for reality of owning a 1981 boat:

The engine hours meter went from 999 to 2000 - which was more realistic but annoying even if it runs great.

The engine runs great but it is over due for a cooling system cleanup/overhaul as it runs too hot under high load - it is being fixed.

There is a bit of moisture around the stays - the antique caulking had been ignored for years so water got in.

The water tanks were allowed to leak and wreak the floor - starboard side was rotted out under the teak and holly veneer - it is not structural but a pain to repair. Tartan has a nasty kink/elbow at the end of the tanks - it is not hard to repair if you care to, but you have to cut a slightly larger hole in the floor to do it right.

The interior had 30 coats of sticky teak oil almost everywhere.

Using the alcohol stove is like taming and old Lion - usually OK but it has mighty big teeth if it spills over.

Stink in the Diesel tank department - fixed with low power computer fans that run continuously and silently (out the back).

The hot water plastic hose from the water heater literally blew up - the engine cooling is inadequate and the plumbing had been changed to route the cooling water incorrectly.

The anchor roller fell off in the first storm due to bolt fatigue, the pretty SS anchor proceeded to batter the hull gelcoat.

The water hoses - intake and distribution - will all be replaced this summer and all hot water lines near the engine will be copper as nothing else is rated for 240 degree which is what "modern" cooling fluids can get up to w/o problems.

The "nylon like" waste tank is too small and has cracks that "burp" - glue didn't fix it for me but tar did - for now until I replace it with a larger transverse tank

I will be buying a new prop this year as the old two blade only goes straight in reverse when the going is easy, the T37 has a lot of free board/windage up front - try to counter that in a blow with a prop that has severe port propwalk.

Lake superior and future cruising grounds have rocks - big ones - so we will add a windlass and as much chain as she will carry comfortably.

The T37 is a headsail powered boat and roller furling only works to a point, I will add an inner forestay and a fully battened main (easy to reef) maybe next year, for the big stuff.

The list goes on... however since I can do a lot of work $30k should come in under $10k

P.S. Discount the value of all instruments unless they are under warranty. My "no longer supported" Garmin works but the Radar and the Autopilot may need more help than they are worth. Since the unit that works is antiquated I can't use it as the base for a new nav system. Add to that, that the North pole is moving and I may have to brush up on dead reckoning.

P.P.S. Get one, they feel good, and they take care of you!

Tartan37.com

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