A funny story that also may help owners if they are “in the same boat“, so to speak…
We launched our 23.5 a few months ago for a weekend sail. Was very rough at the dock, had a hard time but made it out.
Could not seem to get the water ballast valve to close. It did not want to screw up to its normal location. I lowered the rear swim step (my favorite feature of this boat), put my diving mask on, and jumped into the 49 degree Puget Sound water to have a look. There was an OYSTER SHELL FRAGMENT jammed between the plate and hull. Got a screwdriver and pried it out, watched it float to the bottom and off we sailed with a sealed chamber….I was confused how a shell fragment could get there, but as it was rough at that dock I assumed a wave had washed it up off the bottom when the boat was at the dock.
Then it happened again, about a month later. Same thing. This time we were in shallow water, so I swam down to get the shell after I had pried it out. Brought it up on deck for a closer look. When we looked at it closer, we realized it was a chunk of white fiberglass filler paste with sharp edges.
So. What is happening, I am pretty sure, is that the filler paste Hunter used to glue the water ballast structure into the boat is coming loose in areas inside the tank, and when the tank it drained on the previous trip the chunks are being sucked into the valve and trapped.
It has not happened a third time. There is a finite amount of this paste and I am not worried about it, especially as I know how to fix it.
Maybe this post will help others with this mystery. Be safe on the water!
We launched our 23.5 a few months ago for a weekend sail. Was very rough at the dock, had a hard time but made it out.
Could not seem to get the water ballast valve to close. It did not want to screw up to its normal location. I lowered the rear swim step (my favorite feature of this boat), put my diving mask on, and jumped into the 49 degree Puget Sound water to have a look. There was an OYSTER SHELL FRAGMENT jammed between the plate and hull. Got a screwdriver and pried it out, watched it float to the bottom and off we sailed with a sealed chamber….I was confused how a shell fragment could get there, but as it was rough at that dock I assumed a wave had washed it up off the bottom when the boat was at the dock.
Then it happened again, about a month later. Same thing. This time we were in shallow water, so I swam down to get the shell after I had pried it out. Brought it up on deck for a closer look. When we looked at it closer, we realized it was a chunk of white fiberglass filler paste with sharp edges.
So. What is happening, I am pretty sure, is that the filler paste Hunter used to glue the water ballast structure into the boat is coming loose in areas inside the tank, and when the tank it drained on the previous trip the chunks are being sucked into the valve and trapped.
It has not happened a third time. There is a finite amount of this paste and I am not worried about it, especially as I know how to fix it.
Maybe this post will help others with this mystery. Be safe on the water!