Cutwater 28 -2015

[Sundance57]

Hello, I am new to this forum... I have been sharing a 2015 28' Cutwater since March of this year. We had the vessel customized somewhat for fishing with a 25 hp yamaha kicker, bait tank and a catch storage bin in the aft stbd lazarette.
While some of this was additional weight, it appeared to be minimal. But after a while we observed a serious 250 lb list to the port side. I assumed this was mostly because the batteries, all 4 (150 lb each) were in the port aft lazerette along with the inverter. To compensate we placed 200 lbs of lead ballast on the stbd side. Now the fun was beginning after a few outings we noticed a strong foul smell when using the head, only to discover that the holding tank vent was not connected the macerator bi-valve had no handle and was closed. This was the smell problem as the content fluids in the holding tank had no exit other than the vent which was not connected, all this matter and liquid leached down the side into the bilge and into the storage/sleeping area under the table. It was nasty to say the least.. Next problem was the inverter relay forward of the 4 batteries became corroded from deck water ingress and was dead. This lazerette holding batteries and inverter will need a watertight protection layer as the drainage system going to the scuppers was continuing to overflow down onto these electronics. The anchor windlass had to be tightened as it was continuing to slip and not bite when hauling in the anchor. Another issue was a damage piece of teak panelling above the sink.. All these problems and headaches in the first 4 months of ownership leaves me wondering about the reliability of our new vessel. While some of this is being addressed under warranty, it begs the question.. Are other new owners of the Cutwaters and Ranger Tugs having similar issues?
I hope not and will continue to have faith in this vessel, trusting these issues are related to ineffective Q&A release from the factory. thanks.
Peter

 

[Barry Cohen]

Peter:

I should be sending you a Private Message, but I am sending it publically for a reason.

I had the first Ranger 27 on the East Coast. I believe it was #9 off the line. It was built July 2010 and shown at the 2010 Newport (RI) Boat show. We took possession in April of 2011.

During the summer of 2011, we blew the engine oil line. The air conditioning had no refrigerant. Eventually the hydraulic fluid leaked out of the power steering system. There was a leak behind one of the LED lights along the side of the cabin top.

On Memorial Day Weekend 2012, the engine oil line blew again. A capacitor on the generator went bad and knocked out the generator. I broke a shear pin and lost some teeth in the bow thruster gear leg.

So why am I telling you all this in such a public forum? Although we thought we were cursed, the fact is "****" happens. Working with my dealer (Peter Haywood at Winter Island Yacht Yard, Salem, MA) and Andrew Custis at the factory, every single item was repaired in a timely fashion with no questions asked.

You have a great product, backed by a superior team. Have patience and be diligent. They will take care of you.

And BTW, YOLO runs like a dream.

 

[Andrew Custis]

First of all, I want to apologize for the problems you are experiencing. These types of things are problems that should not have been delivered to you out of our factory. We water test every boat we build and we really take the best approach on trying to find every deficiency but we have the history and knowledge to know that this doesn't always happen. The other big thing we have in place is our dealer network who runs through the same commissioning list we do and for some reason, the vent connection was missed on both ends.

Regarding the scuppers, I instruct all of our owners to remove the screen inserts for better flow. The inserts are easily clogged and overflow into the compartments will happen. With the screens removed, I would do a water test frequently to ensure proper flow and drainage but this should solve that problem.

There are some things that will certainly need adjustment and the windlass is one of them.

Today, I am going to make a call to our dealer and make sure everyone is aware of the issues and also make sure our warranty manager has relayed the problems with the vent connection back to the factory to ensure this doesn't happen again.

Sorry you had these things happen but please know that we will stick behind you and the reason you purchased a new boat.

Thanks again for posting,

Andrew Custis

 

[pleeson]

While I am disappointed to see the factory repeating past errors - our solar panel and four battery power system was also all placed on the same side creating huge trim issues at rest, and worse problems with trim tab capabilities at speed. However, I will say with conviction that the willingness and commitment to correct these oversights and problems is second to none with this company and its dealers! Hang in there - a new boat like this is complicated and they will get it right! Meanwhile, I do hope the factory soon polls the tugnut/owner network and asks for their top ten list of irritants and improvements. There are some recurring themes with the various owners I am in touch with here and privately. They would escalate their products to the untouchable level if they used our field experience a little more in their re-designs and improvements.

 

[Andrew Custis]

Paul,

The listing issue on his boat is not a factory error. I talked to Port Boat House about this and there were quite a few additions added that attributed to the extra weight.

We've moved batteries depending generator options and extras as well on the 28. We also document every single warranty claim submitted and have a full time warranty manager that works directly with us and our dealers as well as the factories to ensure repeat issues are resolved quickly and entirely.

One thing we do differently than other manufacturers I've dealt with with is make immediate changes if they are needed. We don't wait until the same time every year to add improvements or change the boats if necessary. We have an engineering department that consists of 4 full time engineers that are the best in the industry. We have an engineering change process and we file every change made to the boats that i would love to show you one day so you can see how much we improve every single day.

All this in two years. Pretty big changes if you ask me and all due to the feedback of our owners. If you ask any one of the principals at our company, they will all tell you that our continued success is simply due to our sales force in the field (our customers) and the boats of course 😀 . This doesn't come easy though and why we subject ourselves to an owners group website, Factory events and sponsored rendezvous around the country.

We try our best.

Andrew

 

[Scooter1]

Just poking around here this Windy morning b4 heading down to tweek with some trivia onboard & feel quite inclined to chime in on this subject. We bought a '15 CW 28' with 115 hrs on it in July of '15. At purchase we were told no warranty applied except for the 5yr extended Volvo warranty. Upon delivery we went on a 2 1/2 week cruise & put 115 hrs on the boat with minimal issues that were not a result of ignorance. We had a list of items I intended to deal with & a list a good dealer/factory would certainly deal with. My initial error I suppose was not contacting the dealer, but 'no warranty' doesn't leave u feeling they intend to fix stuff. A perception error on my part. Anyhow, I contacted Cutwater as they were 1/3 the distance away & they wanted to do an initial meet & review of the troubles b4 putting a plan in action to fix stuff. Holy crap, these guys rock. Andrew sent Kenny for the first visit & we confirmed a blown port trim tab was buggering that operation & hatch lift. Shower sump had issues too, & we were concerned about house battery condition & remaining life. A haul out & appoinment to address stuff was set & the day came. Again, holy **** are these guys sharp, fun & all over the customer service end of new boat delivery. Only thing is, my boat was not new any longer (to me) & I felt they owed me nothing. I guess I had the right attitude for once because they blew us away with service & a spirit beyond compare. I made friends that day & got thousand$ in parts & service that totally restored to full function every system effected & took us out for 2 1/2 hrs & taught us stuff that will forever enhance our CW experience. Our batteries are strong, we just had bad habits that would shorten their life considerably. I'm a fairly quick study & have now dealt with several minor items which is called 'boat maintainence'. Give your dealer the opportunity to do their job! Ur prolly not 21 miles from the factory, so let the great training & diligence Andrew has imparted into the network work for you. First class vessel with great appointments and support. Thank God we found Bellingham Yacht Sales & the CW '28! Life is good.

 

[colinm]

I have to echo what others have said here - the Cutwater team are amazing - Andrew, Ronnie and Ivan all have gone above and beyond to make sure we are happy. I was just down in the Kent factory yesterday picking up an aft sun shade for our C26 and we bumped into Ivan who had done some warranty work for us last year - always great to see his smiling face and always so helpful - thanks Ivan!

To Scooter - I wondered a bit about this:

Our batteries are strong, we just had bad habits that would shorten their life considerably.

Care to share what your bad habits were just in case some of us are doing the same?

Colin

 

[Ticktock]

I have a 2016 C28 with the same listing issue. Solar and battery layout. What was the solution?

 

[pleeson]

The list issue is simple to figure out if you take a moment. The galley, it's equipment, and any support kitchenware and foodstuffs/beverages are all on the port side along with the supplemental picnic cooler. When equipped, the genset lives here too and otherwise this is the largest lazerette. The forward berth storage is on the port side. The cockpit entry is on the starboard side, so anyone adding an ancillary motor for trolling, emergencies, or the dinghy has to mount it to port also. All tankage is almost centered. That leaves just the hot water heater on the starboard side, and the wine cooler slightly offset to the same side. Not much mystery about where the list comes from when all four batteries come from the factory installed in the rear port side cockpit lazerette. First thing we did is move the house batteries to the starboard side, and remove the wine cooler so any heavy galley related items could be stored under the captains seat. Some people move all the battery's to starboard, we just added a third house battery over there because we cruise not fish. Problem solved. Now if the factory had also listened to us when we constantly told them the trim tabs are too small and ineffective without fins. These boats dig quite a hole for themselves with the shaft angle of the direct shaft drive. Here's hoping the replacement 28 when it shows up still offers a diesel powered option with duo prop stern drive so we can quit wasting horsepower getting onto step and staying there. Perhaps too, they will sift thru the customer feedback a little more thoroughly while they are sitting at the drafting table. However, I expect we are going to see another "flavour of the month" outboard to target fisherman rather than cruisers. With so many more cost effective outboard day fishers out there, I have no idea why.

 

[Robbren]

I had larger pads welded to my existing trim tabs on my 2014 C28, huge difference.