Palm Beach 37

[Longo]

Good day all - just looking to connect with another Palm Beach 37 owner. Palm Beach was a “fast trawler” model they built in the 80’s - not a lot of them out there. So - just looking to connect with another owner if out there just to share notes.

BTW - don’t let “fast trawler” fool you - by fast they mean about 12 to 14 knots with the tide and hurricane force winds pushing you...LOL.

Stay safe out there all!

[Longo]

24161336-9C8C-4BB2-BCD9-F5F2D6CE0EA1.jpeg

. Just attaching a pic of the boat!

[Jhill]

Owned a 1984 for about 10 years 2000 - 2011, kept it in Mystic and Westerly. It was certainly a love hate relationship!

[Longo]

Was it named lands end by chance?? I hope it was more love than hate - i am going into my third year with it and so far all love - would be happier if it was a little faster but i knew what was getting into. Seems to be a very solid boat with normal 35 year old boat issues...can you provide some mor detail or some issue that you had that may pop up on my boat?? Thanks for replying and happy new year!

[Jhill]

Yes, Landsend. Well I bought it out of Ohio and came down the canal system. My parents and friends had a blast. I did a lot of work to the boat. Starting from the bottom ,around 2009 soda blasted and 4 coats of interprotect. 4 or 5 soft area’s at the keel repaired . Starboard side hull crack repaired above the water line. It looked to be from flexing which this boat did a lot of. I installed a couple of big stringers but didn’t seem to help much. New props around 2007. Glassed the swim platform and added a rubrail. Added rails from a wrecked 37 and bow anchor windless. Reglassed the forward bilge. All new fuel line, sanitation lines and a lot of wiring both 110 and 12 volt. Added inverter and refurbished the generator it was always temperamental. Relocated the batteries because they sat under the aft cabin seat. Rebuilt the entire aft head from bare glass. It was pretty well rotted. The thru hull broke of in my hand so they were all replaced and a few were removed permanently. Added a drain to the bridge but screwed that up good and wound up replacing the balsa core, digging the rot out and repairing the inside rear window which was replaced. Removed all the glass in salon and resealed the frames. Put in new plywood on starboard side. Added draw fridge . Repaired the rot in the forward cabin area and resealed the port holes. Added the teak and holy floor due to number of soft spots at the doors. Yes I screwed up the hatch it doesn’t line up with the rest of the floor ha! The boat never had the bilge vents open for some reason they were sealed with plywood so I had to cut that out.
That’s what I can remember.

Now the bad stuff. 2002 the fuel tank was punctured while setting it down for the winter. So along with dumping about 150 gallons of diesel on the ground I had to fix it. After some discussion with an engineer friend the top was cut off, the inside ground and glassed with 12 layers of mat and woven roving, regelcoated and baffled then the top was put back on and pressure tested. All fuel lines replaced, all fuel filters upgraded. The Ms3c trannies are weak. They basically the upper part of an out drive. Both were rebuilt, starboard by Depitro-Kay in Manchester Ct and port by French Creek in new York. Port engine, new alternator, rebuilt injector pump, thermostats,fuel lift pump, raw water pump assembly. Starboard engine new heat exchanger which failed in a year. That is why there is a hockey puck or was behind the boot. To keep the separator in place inside the exchanger., new raw water pump assembly. It also did not like to shut down unless it was warm. The solenoid was sticking. Added steel angle to both engine beds because of the flexing. All oils and filters were changed every 100 hrs or less.
If you have any specific questions I will be glad to answer them.
Have a good 2021! I now have a 35 albin command bridge. Feel free to email jsearles@charter.net

[jleonard]

I used to see Lands End anchored up at Napatree fairly often.

[RobS]

2002 the fuel tank was punctured while setting it down for the winter.

That's a new one - can you elaborate on that?

[Longo]

Oh my - that’s quite a list. Maybe they made my hull on a different day/factory as thankfully no signs of flexing to the point where there is structure failure and the hull seems solid - no major issues thus far but we all know how that goes, just a matter of time in boating...I will reach out to you vial email so a big THANK YOU. And for the love part, the boat has one summer left in Milford and then up to Westerly - we are members of the Westerly YC so you can take her out any time for old time sake...be well and talk off line.

Thanks again - John.

[Jhill]

Napatree was always a great Friday night cook out spot.
The fuel tank. My theory was the yard sat the boat down hard on the keel. The surveyor for the insurance company said it was just bad design and stress. When I opened the tank up you could see a fracture which was pushed up. There was no hole in the hull but you could see the bottom deflect slightly on each block it was sitting on. The location where the boat was sitting was not level so I am guessing when the boat was lowered it caught the middle block first with the bow and stern not supported and CRACK. What a winter season that was.
Oh boy, I’m getting deja vu. Landsend was there for 15 years on F dock I believe. Let’s hope for a good 2021!

[RobS]

Yup, sounds like the yard screwed up by point loading the weight on that one block and the boat was not up to the challenge. Thanks for the follow-up info.

[rebuckley]

Used to have one docked next to us at Westerly Yacht Club. It was a beauty and the owner was a huge help to me with some of my projects - especially as he had Lehman's too! so it helped me slide into my diesel world! (oh and that guy s was John, the owner of Lands End)

[HPH]

I have a 1988 Palm Beach ‘37 with 6BT5.9s. Located in the Great Lakes. Run at 8 to 9 knot at about 1600 rpm. Have had boat for over 20 years. Redid bottom couple of years ago. Little other work done on boat. Regards, Paul