I attended the lectures sponsored in part by the H&S Yacht Sales staff at Catalina Island’s Hunter Rendezvous. I have attended maybe ten of these, so these reflect my version of some highlights: Hunter’s rep: Indicated that they are switching from teak to cherry for interiors. He said that quality teak is increasingly difficult to obtain. Said Hunter is sticking with lead keels despite a 250% material cost increase. Will show a new 45 at Annapolis featuring a deck salon styling and twin wheels. Selden’s rep: Provider to Hunter 30 + boats since 1998. Home is Sweden and there are five plants worldwide including the US. Introducing an electric Furlex. There will be a conversion kit for models 200 and 300, that represent most of Hunter’s line. Recommend checking rigging tension annually and after six months of a new launch. Suggests use of a LOOS gauge, but also checking mast column in fresh winds (15 knots +). Yanmar’s rep: Recommend coolant change every two years. Use a ‘permanent’ anti-freeze and not the green stuff. However, don’t panic if you have the green stuff. The permanent formulas provide superior anti-corrosion, cooling and anti-scaling. Recommends a spare parts kit and rotating maintenance parts from the kit and fresh replacements into it. Change impeller every two years. Thermostat is a maintenance item and should be replaced ‘periodically’ (not two years but certainly ten, etc). Inspect motor mounts. Failures can begin at five years. They are unique and you must replace each with the correct one. Recommend propping so that the engine will turn 100 RPM over recommended max RPM on a new boat since it will put on weight right away and that compensates somewhat for it. Recommends WOT (wide-open throttle) use about 10% of operating time to avoid carbon build up. Suggest the use of a fuel preservative and conditioner (no specific brands). Get in the habit of inspecting the engine before each trip and take enough motoring time to bring the engine up to operating temperature at minimum. Bio-fuel not recommended due to lack of universal standards, so no baseline to establish. Will void warranty if damage related to it. Chandlery rep (helps owners with outfitting new boats): Danger with Simple Green: will etch aluminum in less than a minute if used full strength and may damage paint. Leaves a residue. Suggests TC-1 as a better choice for hard-surface cleaner. Endorses McLube for general boat use. Racor came out with a fuel additive product that he believes is superior to the competition. Anyhow, hope this is of interest to some of you. Perhaps others that were there can add to the mix. Rick D.
