Brand New (to me) 1977 Hunter 27

[Greenman]

So, I have completed most of the work in the main Cabin. I still have to take the sink out of the head to make room for a hanging locker. I made new curtains, and such, which was fun to get the sewing machine dusted off.





New Name (lots of rum drunk and a little sacrificed to the sea  ;) )


My wife Lauras very first sail. Notice the bud light..............I guess she was comfortable enough to booze it up   :o

[Captain Smollett]

Nice looking work, there.  Grog to you.

[s/v Faith]

I hope Laura greatly enjoyed her first sail.  So very important to consider your crew before your self...  might be the difference in the dream coming off or causing life long strife.

 I am blessed with my First Mate.  I told her she would not get sea sick, and she believed her Capt.  She never has gotten sick.   She had never been aboard a boat when we met, and now she have steered through the big stuff, and can generally handle anything on the boat that needs doing.  Life is MUCH better this way.  ;D

;D

Congrats on the new boat.  She looks to be in pretty good shape, and Hunter does have a fair amount of nice gear from the factory (pressure water, good head, generous sleeping berths).

 Like any boat she has weaknesses that need to be considered.  The biggest thing that I would be mindful cursing in a Hunter 27 is that shallow inlets with a swell must always be avoided.  We had just such an inlet at the mouth of the new River, and while I ran it many times more then most, it was VERY easy to bottom out.  An unprotected rudder would get tweaked in a heart beat.  At one time we had 4 Hunters (IIRC) 27' 30' 33' and a 4400 (even more fuzzy on that one).  All had rudder damage done in the inlet or out on the river.  THe aluminum shafts simply give too easily and it does not take much.

 It would be terrible to predict this would happen to you and your new boat.  It need not happen, and will not happen as long as you are mindful of this issue.  There are literally tens of thousands of boats out there with this issue that have never had any problem.  You must be just a little more careful about your draft, and if and when you do touch bottom you need to be mindful of how you work to free the boat.  

 If the rudder is stuck, and you can put a couple anchors out to keep from going harder aground... do that.  If the sea-tow cowboy wants to drag you off the sand bar make sure you are SURE that is the only way to get off.... otherwise you are going to be dropping the rudder for repair or replacement soon.

 There are those for whom these issues have never appeared.  Unfortunately others are sailing a boat with compromised steering they do not plan to fix.

Like ALL sailboats, there are compromises and things to be careful of.  You should be mindful of this issue, which is why I mention it.  To combat it, things you can do are;

 1.  Pay close attention to your navigation.  I admittedly get a but sloppy at times, and an likely to find the bottom more because of it.  I would strongly not recommend you take this approach.  If you are at all unsure, slow down.

 2.  If you go aground, check the tiller to see if the rudder is touching.  plan your un-grounding so you do not drag the rudder.

 3.  On your next haul out, drop the rudder and check for signs the shaft has been bent and straightened.  The rudder shaft is hallow aluminum and easy to tweak.    You can get a new rudder and shaft built by 'Foss Foam' for a fairly reasonable price.  If I owned one, I might look into a stainless shaft, or at least a solid aluminum shaft.  Hunter's corporate line is that would add too much weight aft.... poppycock!  I might even see if I could drop an old stainless prop shaft down the center of the hollow rudder tube.  I would encapsulate it in epoxy to prevent corrosion between the SS and ALU.  

 Be careful, be mindful.  You have a boat that should take you where you want to go, with great interior space, and lots of nice goodies.  You should be able to sell it for at least what you bought it for when (if) you decide to move on.

Congratulations.

 

[jotruk]

Great to see that you have a hunter27 I also have a h27 and enjoy sailing it. I have several people here at the marina that keep telling me that a hunter can't go to the islands and that they would not trust it in a bay let alone the coast. I don't let them get to me and believe that the boat can go where I want to go given I am watchfull of the weather, and that is true of any boat any way good luck with the new boat and she is looking very good

[nowell]

Wow, looking at the before and after pics, you sure put in a good ammount of work to her! Congrats! You should be proud! Looks real nice.

[Greenman]

Thanks for the advice I hada good look at the rudder with the surveyor, but he missed a lot so I do not really trust his judgement. I will drop it in the fall andsee about a new shaft.

As for taking it to the islands, I don't know, I guess if you had a great weather window it would do fine, and once it was in the Bahamas it would be awesome with it's 3'3" draft. I know the previous owner sailed it a lot a fair distance off shore around Nova Scotia and in the Bay of Fundy, so I expect it handles alright, once again in the right weather.

I did just notice that the date/time stamp on my pictures is whacked. I wish it was nice enough to sail in January, but this is Canada after all.  :)

[SV Wind Dancer]

Hello from another '77 H27 owner, I have the deep draft model, sailing/la 3yrs, rebuilding it into a true poor man's globe girdler, one Andy Jackson at a time...Great design...Mazeltov!