New 32CB. Fixes and Upgrades

[Turn Me Loose]

New boat owner. 2026 Cutwater 32CB. Lithium House Power. Made the Inside Passage route from Anacortes to Sitka in June. I am thinking about a few upgrades / changes and would welcome input:

1. Anchoring. The Lewmar 1000 Windlass is sufficient for any cove anchoring, but falls short when fishing for halibut (in 300+ feet of water). Part of the challenge has to do with the need for so much rode; the anchor locker is too full and jams the windlass. Nerve-wracking to fix in heavy seas. Has anyone added an after-market drum-winch like the Lone Star GX5? Did you have to upgrade the wiring? Does it block your view?

2. Fish box. The fish box (port) has no fiberglass lip nor drainage channel so it fills whenever it rains. And it rains a lot here. Any cost-effective successes in fixing this design flaw?

3. Fusion radio. I am on my second Fusion radio unit. Dead. I stopped trying to troubleshoot and just use a bluetooth speaker. There's a Garmin repair service in Petersburg, AK I plan to use when I go in for the next 100-hour servicing . But is this a common challenge with newer Fusion units or 32CB wiring?

Thanks for any suggestions.
Peter

 

[Cutwater28GG]

RE fusion,

are they still wiring the fusion to power the NMEA network on the C32? if so perhaps its causing premature failure?
ive not heard of repeat failures- im going on 14 years on mine. but its an older model

 

[DC3]

2. Fish Box
I agree the fish box is a problem. I really wish Fluid Motion would offer a cockpit hatch to replace the fish box. We use out C32 for cruising not fishing and we could really use the dry space where the fish box is to store fenders, ropes and other stuff. I am constantly pumping it out. I did create a canvas cover that matches the window and seat cover to put over the fish box and posted the details on Tugnuts. Search fish box. The post is “Cutwater fish box flooding solution”

 

[Homer_R23]

Don’t know if you can see the hatch clearly but a fish box has been installed in the large compartment. It’s got a macerator pump out and is not permanently mounted, the smaller door is to drop your fish in without having to open the large hatch. I love it.

 

[Homer_R23]

I’m also curious about the drum winch. I have had the exact same issue as you with the windless. I added rode to it’s nothing but a mess past 150’