Thoughts on 1976 Hunter '30

[cardiacpaul]

I'm not for or agin either boat. The 30ft hunter is a much larger boat than the 27 catalina.
(former owner of a C27 here)

that being said...
Don't discount the "crappy" (dirty) boat. a couple of cans of clabber girl and some soft scrub and a nylon stiff floor brush does wonders. quickly.

Don't shy away for the A4 either. It has about double the HP of a yanmar, and I've been on both, and the A4 pushes the hell a heck of a lot easier than the diesel in a 30ft boat does.

[AjariBonten]

Ok. I've pretty much eliminated the Catalina '27. It's just too small inside.

I'm focused on the Hunter '30. Spoke with the current owner today; took a closer look, and after some extensive online research; have a few more questions.

What I found out: I spoke with the widow of the PO. She knew very little; but I found out there is a possible family connection, so there may be a little wiggle room making it easier for me to get into this boat.

The year is not known exactly, she thinks it's a 1976. From my research it is no earlier than 1976, no later than 1978.

Ran my hand along the shrouds, no fishhooks, etc. they feel solid. Deck hardware is firmly set, no apparent looseness; but they do not look to have been re-bedded. (no ooze, etc.) If they were, it was an A+ job.

All of the instruments look to be original and in need of replacement.

There are two things that I question. The first is the keel joint. See the two pictures below:






I have seen a LOT of boats in my area marinas with this same apparent issue. Any insights?

The other is a less common issue from my observations; but I've read about it in a number of reviews of Hunters of this era. Apparently the hull "works" around where the shroud chainplates reside; and it "dimples" the hull a little bit.

On either side of the hull, right where the chainplate would be for the lower shroud; ther eis a slight deformation of the hull.

It is approximately round, about 12" across, and dimples in about 3/8" at the deepest.

Take a look:









When I was there the other day I only noticed it on the starboard side, and I thought it was the result of a crappy docking job. After seeing the issue on a couple of owner reviews I went back and found it at the same place on the port side.

It feels solid. I have not been able to get below to look it over yet. I got to "look" down below; man what a mess.

One review I read suggested possibly moving the chainplates to the outside of the hull; with proper backing plates; any opinions?


I know, there are a LOT of '30 boats out there; but I'm pretty sure I can get this one for 1/2 to 1/3 the $ of comparables. I'm sorely tempted to get it and make the best of it in any case, we'll see.

Thanks again for all of your help,
Fred

[SVSnap]

I just rebedded and reinforced the keel joint on my Catalina 30. It wasn't too bad really, West Systems helped a lot and made it pretty straight forward. But the quantity of water that oozed out of that one in the pic... it's gotta be coming from somewhere. There's either a huge cavity in there or free communication with the bilge or something. Looks worse than the 5 or so blown out but recoverable keel joints I've seen. I think if you started digging into it you'd find something terrible. Can't help on the dimple.... mystery to me.

[sailingfool]

There are a lot of nice 30's around from that area: Tartan, Pearson, Cal, C&C, Ranger, even O'Day. The best you can hope for in buying a boat is to get what you pay for, in this case hopefully you would pay very little and get at least that, very little. The dimples come from the hull being distorted by the rig tension. either the rig is too tight, or the hull is not adequately constructed, I would bet on the second for this boat.


Decide to spend $10-12k and buy yourself a boat you might be able to take some pride in, rather than thinking, "well it was cheap...".

Just my opnion.

[AjariBonten]

Originally Posted by sailingfool

Decide to spend $10-12k and buy yourself a boat you might be able to take some pride in, rather than thinking, "well it was cheap...".

Just my opnion.

Well, that cuts right to the bone, doesn't it? I tend to think the same way myself; but I sometimes have a problem with patience, to my detriment.

Thinking about it, this boat will probably need to sit on the hard for at least one season while I work on it. In the same amount of time, I can probably save up an amount of money to make the difference between this boat and a well found one.

Ok, so let's take this conversation away from "Should I buy THIS boat?" and change it to; "What can I learn about this boat to help me evaluate boats I look at in the future?"

The keel question. Am I interpreting what I am looking at correctly? The line I see is where the keel attaches to the hull? So, the rust could be either from the unpainted top of the keel; or potentially from the keelbolts?

The hull question. I am pretty sure I know what is going on there. The question is; what would be a reasonable fix?

Thanks again,
Fred

[Valiente]

Those two pictures threw up more red flags for me than the parade on "Stalin Day".

If the keel is iron, then it's partially dissolved inside the fibreglass encapsulation. If the keel is lead, then the SS keel bolts are partially dissolved. Something has rusted and rusted badly, and is carrying that rust from inside the keel, or from holes in the bilge to the crack in the keel stub.

The joint has not only failed, I would suspect that if the boat didn't take on water when launched, that the keel might fall off.

If that dimple isn't moving, then it might indicate rot in the knees or the frames, which in that era might have been encapsulated wood...once water gets it and stays in, eventually you have to cut out the mush to good wood, scarf in new wood and re-glass, a job that in some boats involves partial dissembly of the interior furniture, which may be glassed into the frames.

Run away. Run away now. This boat looks finished to me. Plenty of fish in the sea.

[Mando]

I bought a 1976 Hunter 27 from the original owner in 1998. The sails were "serviceable" as the owner described them and the boat had been re powered with a Yanmar diesel. All in all the boat was a great place for me to live for 8 months in the water, and on the hard while I had the bottom sand blasted, triggering the needed blister repairs and refinishing which I did myself.
As it happened another boat of the same vintage and model showed up in the marina and talking to the owner revealed his had the original engine which was a Renault.
I didn't sail my boat much but when I did I found everything to work well, and had no complaints about the way the boat handled. My experience level under sail is low but I have spent a lot of time on power boats.
Anyway as I think about some kind of "escape hatch" such as a cabin or boat for weekend getaways these days fond memories of the Hunter 27 return. Of course each individual boat must be considered on it's own merits but in general these boats are a very good value in my opinion.