84 Hunter 34 Refit - First group of pics...

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Oct 1, 2011
188
Hunter 42 Passage Huron, OH
OK guys, I have finally went through some pics and have a small batch to post... I have a ton and am about 3/4 through the refit. There will be more photos of that later. Attached are the photos from the fall and winter, when I did the glass work. There are also a few attached of the new construction. Trust me there will be more... but here are a few highlights from over the winter.
1. Tear down of the interior
2. What I found under the sole
3. One of the cracks in the rear transverse stiffener
4. The cracks in the transverse stiffener cut out
5. Damage removed from forward transverse stiffener
6. The interior hull cleaning begins
7. Rear transverse stiffener glass work, filler finished..primer drying
8. Forward transverse stiffener glass work, filler finished..primer drying
9. Beginning to sand the sole for refinish.. Look how nasty it was.
10. The beginning of the new cabinet behind the stove
11. The beginning of the new captains table with radius
12 The new laminate, with a sample of the old Teak wood.
13. Starboard side wall where the table attaches.. new laminate applied.
14. New laminate installed behind port side settee on hull sides. The old black plex cabinets GONE!.

Again, just the highlights. There are a lot more construction pics to follow soon. Thanks everyone...
 

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Oct 1, 2011
188
Hunter 42 Passage Huron, OH
Benny, if I can keep my current pace, it should be done by May 1st. There is a lot more done than the pics above indicate, I just haven't had the time to sort through the new photos and post yet. It has been tough, I work from home and also look after our 2 kids, ages 2 and 5. The wife works outside the home, so I only work on the boat at night and on the weekends. To further complicate issues, my buddy who has the wood working shop is only available on weekends, so any custom cabinetry has to be built over a weekend. So I usually go there on Saturdays with my plans and measurements, and we kick butt building something, or multiple pieces, then I bring it home, dry fit, then take it back and we do the laminate at the shop. The upside is that the oiled cherry laminate really looks spectacular.. I mean like real wood. I am very pleased. I think the coolest, most eye pleasing things I have done are removing the plexiglass cabinets in the salon and doing the walls in cherry, resizing the galley and moving the stove, the cabinet behind the stove, the new chart table and the new electrical center. I will post more pics very soon.....I promise. Crossing my fingers that we can have her in the water by mid May......
 
Nov 6, 2006
10,104
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
WOW ! as Rick said ! Really doing some neat stuff, Brian.. Those pix you posted are priceless for underfloor detail ! THANKS !
 
Dec 30, 2010
36
Hunter Passage 42 Toronto
Wow thanks for sharing all the work you are doing with us. !!

Just one question, what caused all the cracks in the floor pan , did the boat suffer a hard grounding ??

Regards
 
Oct 1, 2011
188
Hunter 42 Passage Huron, OH
Tully.... The boat was set into her cradle REAL HARD when pulled out 7 years ago... Based on the damage, she wasn't set too hard, but enough that the impact pushed up on the keel to hard and ....well...cracks... Not sure if the crane operator was doing it on a friday afternoon at 4:30 or what... but basically set down real hard... with the jacks not adjusted properly. No evidence what so ever of grounding, other than needing paint, the bottom and keel are in great shape... This is why I stole this thing from the previous owner. They got estimates on the repair..as I am sure other potential buyers did... They were asking almost 30k for her until they found out how bad the damage was...then they decided to lower price.... we haggled for several weeks and I got her for 9k. Including all of the glass supplies, and materials used to do the interior refit and exterior refurb, I am still only at 12k or 13K TOTAL..... including the purchase price... and it will be virtually new from top to bottom, inside and out... Still have to paint deck and purchase material for cushions..so still a tad more cash flow before she is done... It has been a lot of work..and as you can see at the start, a VERY dirty job... She was very well cared for before the previous owners just got too old to deal with it... He was 87 when he sold it to me. Would I do it again, absolutely! We are having thoughts of selling this one in a couple years to move into a bigger one.... Don't mind a refit... BUT...I could do without the fiberglass work! More pics coming soon... thanks for your interest guys.....
 
Dec 30, 2010
36
Hunter Passage 42 Toronto
Hi Brian

I figured it would have been something like that. Just normal wear and tear shouldn't cause that kind of stress breakage. You will love the boat when you get her done, I sailed a 1986 Legend 35.5 from Puerto Rico to New York city, years ago . Great trip , nice sailing boat. .

Enjoy .. Regards
 
Oct 1, 2011
188
Hunter 42 Passage Huron, OH
Thanks Tully, we can't wait to get her in the water... we have been told it sails great and is very fast....All I know is I have been working on it since the first week of October.... can't wait for a launch..... Puerto Rico to New York sounds like an awesome trip... One day we hope to voyage like that... but little steps first right?
 
Oct 14, 2005
2,191
1983 Hunter H34 North East, MD
Hey Brian...

Awesome stuff! Can't wait to see the next pix and what the fiinal outfitting looks like!

And, as Claude said, many thanks for the interior floor pan pix to add to the file of H34 boat info...

Can you believe 70 degrees up here in PA! Going to the boat this week for the hull wash and wax to start the spring prep...
 
Dec 2, 1999
15,184
Hunter Vision-36 Rio Vista, CA.
Brian:

In your fourth photo, there are a couple of large rectangular cutouts on the structural cross member just forward of the companionway stairs. Do you know why this was done?

I am not an engineer, but I would suspect that may be an issue considering the grid is a structural part of the boat.
 
Oct 1, 2011
188
Hunter 42 Passage Huron, OH
Dan, thank you...the next group of pics are gonna be awesome... it really doesn't look anything like an 84 Hunter 34 now.... I know... 70 Degrees here too in Ohio..I am lovin it..especially after working all winter in the cold... I did have heaters in the boat though.

Steve, yes, they are structural. They are called "transverse stiffeners" according to Hunter.. After consulting directly with Hunter several times, and them seeing the actual photos, they assured me "No Big Deal"... They also used the words " Looks worse than it is" ... I felt the same way you probably do, but they said not a problem. The reason for the cracks were that it was set down very hard... but after I cut out all of the bad fiberglass, which had to be done in order to get back to good fiberglass, a deeper problem was revealed. In the sections cut out there was a thickness in one area of almost a 1/2 inch of glass and resin, in the area where it cracked, an 1/8 of an inch...INCLUDING gel coat. I was absolutely floored... After I made a post several months ago about shoddy workmanship, allot of people came back with " This is the way a production boat is" .... still, I thought, in a 10 inch wide span of glass, the thickness going from 1/2 to 1/8 and then up again was a little ridiculous. I used West System Epoxy as well as several different thicknesses of glass, laid in various directions in order to get the strength back. The ground bevel on the repair area was a minimum of 12 to 1 and clear up to 20 to 1 angle, based on glass thickness. They actually said, it would be a bit stronger in that area when done... They also said that the grid is made to flex, that it actually has to, in order to distribute load. Believe me, I am crossing my fingers too... but they said fix it, and don't worry about it.....
 
Oct 1, 2011
188
Hunter 42 Passage Huron, OH
Allan, funny you say that. I have often wondered why they did it too. I have come down and missed the step on more than one occasion. The only thing I can figure is that it puts it more in line with the area between the 2 settee's and a little more to the side of the galley. I may move it, but not sure yet.
 
Nov 6, 2006
10,104
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
Mine is off center..
Steve, Those cut-outs were done by Brian to get the cracks out.. that is normally closed..
Middle row, third shot shows it repaired and what it normally looks like
 
Oct 14, 2005
2,191
1983 Hunter H34 North East, MD
Allan...

Mine's off-center too and so has all the other H34's I've been on (at one point there were four at my Club).

If your's isn't, what year and hull # is your boat? Could a PO have moved it prior to your ownership? Just curious...
 
Oct 1, 2011
188
Hunter 42 Passage Huron, OH
There will be another batch of photos soon. Most of the interior installed....but lots of detail work and final fitting going on right now. Will post pics soon
 
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