Hunter Purchase advice needed

May 20, 2018
9
Hunter 310 Gloucester
Hello! I'm considering a 1999 Hunter 301 that I've seen advertised for $29,500. Boat is used on the Hudson River in NY.. Fresh water boat.

Info I have so far is that the Yanmar 18HP Diesel has been serviced as far as regular oil changes, not sure what other items on the engine have been looked after. Not sure if the heat exchanger has been serviced.. Not sure how important this is on a fresh water operated boat?
Original sails, in mast furling, roller furling headsail. Boat appears to be in superior condition in the pictures/advertisement. Wood sole and furnishings are nice, as are decks, Bimini & running rigging. Pic's are from this past season. Have not been to see the boat as of yet. (I don't know if I can upload pic's.)
Owner says boat HAD Raymarine ST60 instruments, but they no longer work. Being that he mostly motors the boat on the Hudson River, he has not repaired them. There is no chart plotter. Boat does have a (KVH?) TV receiver and a flat screen in the cabin.

Current owner has had the boat for 4-5 years, and claims reason for selling is to get a bigger boat. If owner does not have much in the way of maintaining records, I will not bother with it.. Can't afford to survey many boats! My biggest concern after questioning current owner on the phone is engine maintenance and lack of electronics.

Of course I Will get a survey, but I am really wondering if the boat is worth the three hour trip to go see at that price with those details.. I suppose the only way to know is to go.

Thanks guys!
 
Oct 29, 2016
1,915
Hunter 41 DS Port Huron
Just a point to note, the tidal flows in the Hudson are far reaching inland of the NY Harbor, to say a boat in the Hudson is a FW boat might be a stretch as in the summer the salt line is all the way into Newburgh.
 
Feb 10, 2004
3,917
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
My take is that if this is the kind and model of sailboat that interests you, why not go and take a look? All it costs is a day and a tank of gas and a dinner out. If nothing else, you should be able to determine if this boat goes on your short list or not. And you will gain a frame of reference for condition and price.
 
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Likes: Rick D
Aug 22, 2017
1,609
Hunter 26.5 West Palm Beach
I lived in NYC for quite a few years. I have heard the water in the Hudson river called quite a few things, but “fresh” wasn’t one of them. A friend of mine used to keep an Egg Harbor in the 79th st, boat basin. The water there was certainly not fresh.

A lack of electronics would not deter me. Useable electronics are cheap these days. That is no big deal to me.

Motor condition does count. If his records are not to your liking, ask for a sea trial & run her hard for half an hour or so. If she has immediate issues, the selling price comes down immediately. If she runs good but may need some preventative maintenance, that is a reduced expense to consider.

Hull condition is the wild card in my book. If I can’t get the boat hauled to inspect the hull & check for soft spots, dull thuds, cracks, etc, then I bid low & expect the worst.

Once a boat gets past that point, then I call the surveyor, if the negotiated price is still above $10k. Below that price, I tend to wing it & figure that the price of a surveyor is too big of a percentage of the selling price & that money could be better spent on repairs.

I usually plan to look at 5-10 boats before buying one. You need to break a few eggs to make an omelet & you need to see a few scows to know where the market actually is, at a given point in time.

But that is just my way of doing things. My methods are not for everyone.
 
Last edited:
Apr 8, 2010
1,942
Ericson Yachts Olson 34 28400 Portland OR
The boat has more than enough years on it to need a new standing rig. If this is a B&R rig you really must first check into the cost of replacement. A friend of mine bought slightly newer H-37 and was astounded at the cost of re-rigging. While this is no way a 'deal killer' you do have to allow enough slack in your bid to reflect it.
While on the general subject, do have the in-mast furling very carefully inspected as a part of the survey.
Instruments, OTOH, once over about 5 years old, add zero value to any boat. If the boat really has the ST60 series, check into repairing them. Widely sold when new, there are parts on the 'net.
We have these instruments, from about 2004, and they all still work and integrate with no problems (knock wood!)
:)
Good luck with your purchase.
 
May 20, 2018
9
Hunter 310 Gloucester
Ah! Thanks guys for the reply.. VERY helpful.. Yes, I realize the Hudson River is many things, and poison/brackish/salt/PCBs in parts.. This boat is almost all the up in Albany, so, is probably about as un-salty as the Hudson gets in NY I think. And yes, thanks for the correction, I did mean Hunter 310! Sorry.

The boat is on the hard.. Not sure when he was planning to launch the boat, so I can see it out of the water. I was wondering how to negotiate the sea trial if he isn't planning to launch until he finds a buyer? Obviously I can't hand over cash with out a sea trial.

Jim, I think I am in agreement with your methods. So, how important is it that the heat exchanger is opened up and inspected/cleaned? And how often? And original 1999 sails, can they still be good? I am not sure what sort of quality Hunter used on their sail inventory delivering these boats.
 
Aug 22, 2017
1,609
Hunter 26.5 West Palm Beach
If those pictures are recent, something needs to be seriously wrong for that boat to not be worth $30k. If I were you, I would get down there & take a look as soon as possible. I wouldn't let the cost of a heat exchanger stop me from buying it.
 
Oct 27, 2016
0
Seattle
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dakno

.
Jun 22, 2009
209
Hunter 41DS new orleans
Those are great sailing boats, I have been on 2 different ones. Sails were supplied by Doyle. What are the engine hours? Go and see the boat. What does engine bay look like? Oil? Packing gland? Sails? Dock rash? Only by putting eyes on it can you answer these questions
 
May 20, 2018
9
Hunter 310 Gloucester
Thanks for the advice guys.. I will try to get up there ASAP.. The engine has 1300hrs as estimated by the seller.. Boat has no hour meter. When he bought it he was told it had 500 hrs, and he estimates putting on 800 hours.