1988 Hunter 26.5 project

[spikecarter]

Greetings,

We picked up a 1988 Hunter 26.5 from a fella on craigslist and it will need some love and attention before we float her here in Colorado and hope to trailer to salt water options. The boat has a broken mast that supposedly happened during a microburst on a high mountain lake. So the owner had acquired a mast from a J24 and I think we can make that work, at least for the short term. More importantly, and more concerning is that one of the previous 2 owners did some sort of Rube Goldberg repair of the 2 aft keel bolts. It appears they used some kind of foam, epoxy or polyester filler to fill the aft part of the sump, then painted it with marinetex or something similar, then extended the keel bolts and added a couple stainless plates to bridge the upper floor insert to carry the keel weight. I'm trying to wrap my head around what was going on down there before we commit to the water, and potentially commit the keel to the deep. Has anyone seen a repair of this nature? What happened? Hard grounding? Sump fiberglass failure? Keel bolt or nut corrosion or failure? Hopefully, folks here can zoom in on the attached picture.

There is also some external evidence that the keel has moved, me thinks. The normal smooth fairing of the hull to keel is somewhat rough. Or, the filler used in the fairing has cracked and flaked off. Any thoughts would be helpful, especially from those who have dropped and re-bedded keels.

Thanks,

Spike

 

[rgranger]

If you are lucky, it may be simply that the P.O. tried to paint the bilge to cover up some tannin stains. The aluminum cross plates don't seem that odd to me. What happens if you hit it with a pressure washer? Or put some citrus strip on it and then pressure wash.

???

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

If you are going to get insurance, you will probably be required to get a survey done. Best advice would be someone who knows what they are looking at in person

 

[Bill19233]

Greetings,

We picked up a 1988 Hunter 26.5 from a fella on craigslist and it will need some love and attention before we float her here in Colorado and hope to trailer to salt water options. The boat has a broken mast that supposedly happened during a microburst on a high mountain lake. So the owner had acquired a mast from a J24 and I think we can make that work, at least for the short term. More importantly, and more concerning is that one of the previous 2 owners did some sort of Rube Goldberg repair of the 2 aft keel bolts. It appears they used some kind of foam, epoxy or polyester filler to fill the aft part of the sump, then painted it with marinetex or something similar, then extended the keel bolts and added a couple stainless plates to bridge the upper floor insert to carry the keel weight. I'm trying to wrap my head around what was going on down there before we commit to the water, and potentially commit the keel to the deep. Has anyone seen a repair of this nature? What happened? Hard grounding? Sump fiberglass failure? Keel bolt or nut corrosion or failure?

I am the original owner of 87 26.5 hull #51, that I still have stored on a trailer. That is not a PO repair, mine looks almost exactly the same. It is a factory modification, probably inferior engineering of the liner or keel bolts and they did a pretty crappy fix. I’m a thousand miles from my boat right now, so can’t snap a photo, but it is just like that at the aft sump. Same exposed matt, same filler, same straps under the keel nuts.
Good luck with your 26.5. PM me if I can ever help with photos of how things are on my boat.
Check the cockpit floor plywood core around the rudder post.

 

[spikecarter]

Bill, thanks for the reply, and the peace of mind. I’m at least a little more at rest knowing the factory did this, and not some ski bum/boat mechanic in the mountains. We would love any pics of your boat you can share. Crazy Dave, I was hoping you’d chime in. I could tell in previous posts that you knew these boats pretty well. We picked this boat, trailer and outboard up for the value of the trailer and outboard, so the boat is a bonus. Therefore, I doubt we’ll put hull coverage on it, at least until it’s proven to be worthy. There is one addtitional concern beyond the repair in the sump and that is: As the boat sits on the trailer for what is now a week and a half, water keeps seeping into the bilge from somewhere. It was covered in snow when we bought it, and there was a block of ice in the bilge. We’ve had a space heater inside since we got it home, and it’s been pretty warm inside. I sponge the water out everyday, and it still keeps coming. We believe there must still be some ice somewhere that is slowly melting and seeping into the bilge, but from where? We aren’t in the mountains, but the high plains on the front range and it’s still been pretty cool, warm days, freezing nights, and we collectively think there may be a gap between the sump and the keel that may have filled with water and frozen. Since the 1800 lbs of lead is going to be cold a long time, that may be where the water is coming from. That prospect brings up a whole new concern, lack of bonding between the keel and hull. As I understand it the keel bolts are really the suspenders, and the bonding agent, epoxy putty, 5200, whatever, is the belt.
Bill, I’d really love to see the exterior of the keel to hull connection. Is there a visible seam? Does it look like ours?

 

[spikecarter]

Sorry I should’ve rotated those before posting. I wouldn’t want anyone to crick their neck! My previous boats were a Pac Seacraft 25 and and Irwin 38, both with encapsulated keels. But still, it seems that other vessels I’m observed had the connection faired in better than this. Makes me wonder if it moved.

Spike

 

[Bill19233]

Check the anchor locker. The small drain hole clogs and rain fills the locker, overflows into the v berth area at the back of the locker that isn’t sealed under the deck. The first compartment under the berth fills to the top of a short bulkhead, that overflows into the bilge from between the liner and hull.

 

[Bill19233]

Sorry I should’ve rotated those before posting. I wouldn’t want anyone to crick their neck! My previous boats were a Pac Seacraft 25 and and Irwin 38, both with encapsulated keels. But still, it seems that other vessels I’m observed had the connection faired in better than this. Makes me wonder if it moved.

Spike

The keel joint on my boat is solid. It has a noticeable offset that a photo would explain better than I can type into my phone, keel doesn’t line up on the sump just right. Holes were drilled wrong or something.

 

[spikecarter]

Colorado sailing in February. And so, She floats!! And she sails. Kind of a jury rig for the tack attachment, the harbor freight winch, gin pole, mast hoisting was exciting, the beer and water were cold. Actually, the water was colder than the beer, but what a great day in the sun on Courtuna.

 

[vidalia]

We also had a problem with water in the bilge after the shrink wrap was removed from a late season heavy snow and again after a heavy rain. In our case water was coming in the holes in the transom where the gasoline line and electrical cables and transmission cable to the outboard run. We had a little water in the lazarette as well. The rubber shrouds had loosened and deteriorated. The transom also read a moderately wet on the moisture meter because the holes were cut right trough the transom exposing the plywood core. We fixed the rubber shrouds, and plan to epoxy a PVC pipe into the hole (after the transom has a chance to dry out as much as possible) to seal the core. I found this post because I had the same questions about whether someone had repaired the keel or tried to somehow reinforce the keel bolts in the past. Happily, our keel bolts look the same as yours, with the same rough finish, visible mat, and what looks like roughly applied epoxy over the smooth liner where some of it has flaked off. There is even some epoxy build up over the edge of the foremost washer and nut. Thanks for posting the pictures.