Hello all. I currently have a 1994 h-26 that I just put up for sale and am currently looking at a 1987 hunter 31. I'm located at Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia and plan on weekend sailing / sleepovers. I looked at the boat briefly but am going back next weekend to take a closer look and wanted some insight on what to look for specific to this boat. I have gone through the forums and archives and read about the basic problems; leaky hatches, compression post rot, water trapped between the liner. One thing I noticed was two cracks in the gel coat about 1/16 of a inch wide running port to starboard on the cabin roof about 1 foot forward of the mast step. Is this indicative of stress from the mast on a failed compression post? I plan on bringing a moisture meter to see if the core seems to be saturated. Another issue is the engine. The boat sat for about 2 years and the motor will not start. I talked to the diesel mechanic that worked on it and he has checked the injectors out and they seem fine. His next action will be to check the fuel pumps to see if they are gummed up or to disconnect the exhaust to look for back pressure. The boat is pretty dirty and they are asking 15k which I will need to get lower if I buy the boat. Can anyone share what they paid for their 31 that needed work? I will post some pictures of the cracks and the rest of the boat when I go look on Sunday. Thanks again and I hope to permanently join the medium boat forum soon if the transaction goes through.
Dan
Dan