First the "thank-yous." You all have been a tremendous help! Even though I have owned, sailed and raced small boats for almost thirty years, there was (and still is) much that I do not know about "cruising" sailboats. After a clean survey by a reputable professional, three weeks ago I bought a '85 Hunter 25.5. Like I said in previous posts, she cleanup up real nice and eight days ago she was launched-after missing the last sailing season due to her previous owner's health issues. Anyway, "delivering" her to her new home port was quite an experience (I single-handed her on a 23-26 +/-mile sail/motor down the "broad lake" on Lake Champlain with a touch of near heavy weather thrown in to keep me on my toes). I have her berthed about a mile and a half up the Otter Creek where it empties into Fields Bay, an eight minute drive from my front door 
Well, when I was bringing her home and made the turn into the creek entrance I ran aground on some rocks. And thanks to the advice give in a reply to a previous post, a friend and I took a dive to inspect the keel-he is a recreational diver and had a big hand-held light. The water was murky and cold cold!!! Anyway, visibilit was good enough such that i could see that there were no visible "cracks" behind the keel (but at end of the season haul-out I will power-wash the paint--as instructed, and re-examine things. Thanks to the help given me, my mind is at ease regarding possible damage from running aground. The scrapes I saw on the keel confirmed what I heard when I went aground, a scrape along the bottom of the keel. It wasn't case of a hard and abrupt impact, but more of a "slowing down." But boy did that scapping noise sound terrible when it happened!!! I was only going 2 knots max, but it sounding like the Titanic hitting an iceberg--that cast iron keel really "sings" when you scrape a hard bottom Well, the keel is scraped, and it appears as if there is some type of covering over the cast iron other than bottom paint. It was thicker than paint and almost looks like gelcoat?! Did Hunter lay gelcoat over the cast iron keels in '85!? I guess I would like to know how to repair this when I haul her out at the end of the season... Another question I have relates to the stuffing box. I am quite certain that I do not have a "dripless" stuffing box, because it drips When it was launched and I motored and sailed over to my slip (mostly motored) there was about a cup of water in the bilge afterwards (the bilge was dry before I set out). But after being in the water for eight days, it seems like the stuffing box is leaking less-after the mechanic tightened/checked the stuffing box after her launch she leaked some even when the motor wasn't running. Not much, just a few drops a minute, but that is slowing down now. Is that because the boat has been in the water?? It seems like the boat really is "re-gaining" its shape like they say. For example, the door for the V-Berth didn't close properly on dry land, but since she is in the water, it almost works perfectly now. My final question deals with diesel fuel consumption. Before I set sail to "deliver" the boat I topped-off the tank (I filled the tank up until it just ran out the overflow vent, and I washed the hull off afterwards. By the way, is it okay to fill it that far? I have a 10 HP Yanmar diesel. Anyway, after running the engine allot, it only seems to have used a very small amount of fuel, maybe a gallon and a half to two gallons or so after twenty plus miles. I had read posts here about sticking fuel gauges, so when the tank still read full, after running the motor for five hours at an average RPM of 2400, I didn't believe it. So, I put more fuel in it today, and guess what? It only took a gallon and a half. Is this normal? What kind of fuel mileage should I expect from this engine? It seems amazing. Lastly, while under power, At an RPM of about 2800-3000 RPM, at one poin the engine seemed to want to settle down to about 2300-2400 RPMs (this only happened once). But when I reduced the throttle, performance seemed to pick up. And then I was able to increase throttle and she responded. Is this condition normal? It really didn't "bog down" or anything, and by that point the motor had been running for two to three hours in big swells). I have heard about "coke deposits." What is that, and is it related? Also, what type of maintenance should be done each year to the engine? I replaced the fuel filter, aligned the shaft after being in the water three days, and had the stuffing box attended to. Again, thank you all very much! I have learned so much from you guys, even stuff like, when appropriate making sure the sea-cocks are closed. Not to mention you guys helping me to get the sink faucet in the head working perfectly and the helping to put my mind at ease when I thought I had done serious harm when running aground. This forum is great! Will baker S/V Elan '85 Hunter 25.5
Well, when I was bringing her home and made the turn into the creek entrance I ran aground on some rocks. And thanks to the advice give in a reply to a previous post, a friend and I took a dive to inspect the keel-he is a recreational diver and had a big hand-held light. The water was murky and cold cold!!! Anyway, visibilit was good enough such that i could see that there were no visible "cracks" behind the keel (but at end of the season haul-out I will power-wash the paint--as instructed, and re-examine things. Thanks to the help given me, my mind is at ease regarding possible damage from running aground. The scrapes I saw on the keel confirmed what I heard when I went aground, a scrape along the bottom of the keel. It wasn't case of a hard and abrupt impact, but more of a "slowing down." But boy did that scapping noise sound terrible when it happened!!! I was only going 2 knots max, but it sounding like the Titanic hitting an iceberg--that cast iron keel really "sings" when you scrape a hard bottom Well, the keel is scraped, and it appears as if there is some type of covering over the cast iron other than bottom paint. It was thicker than paint and almost looks like gelcoat?! Did Hunter lay gelcoat over the cast iron keels in '85!? I guess I would like to know how to repair this when I haul her out at the end of the season... Another question I have relates to the stuffing box. I am quite certain that I do not have a "dripless" stuffing box, because it drips When it was launched and I motored and sailed over to my slip (mostly motored) there was about a cup of water in the bilge afterwards (the bilge was dry before I set out). But after being in the water for eight days, it seems like the stuffing box is leaking less-after the mechanic tightened/checked the stuffing box after her launch she leaked some even when the motor wasn't running. Not much, just a few drops a minute, but that is slowing down now. Is that because the boat has been in the water?? It seems like the boat really is "re-gaining" its shape like they say. For example, the door for the V-Berth didn't close properly on dry land, but since she is in the water, it almost works perfectly now. My final question deals with diesel fuel consumption. Before I set sail to "deliver" the boat I topped-off the tank (I filled the tank up until it just ran out the overflow vent, and I washed the hull off afterwards. By the way, is it okay to fill it that far? I have a 10 HP Yanmar diesel. Anyway, after running the engine allot, it only seems to have used a very small amount of fuel, maybe a gallon and a half to two gallons or so after twenty plus miles. I had read posts here about sticking fuel gauges, so when the tank still read full, after running the motor for five hours at an average RPM of 2400, I didn't believe it. So, I put more fuel in it today, and guess what? It only took a gallon and a half. Is this normal? What kind of fuel mileage should I expect from this engine? It seems amazing. Lastly, while under power, At an RPM of about 2800-3000 RPM, at one poin the engine seemed to want to settle down to about 2300-2400 RPMs (this only happened once). But when I reduced the throttle, performance seemed to pick up. And then I was able to increase throttle and she responded. Is this condition normal? It really didn't "bog down" or anything, and by that point the motor had been running for two to three hours in big swells). I have heard about "coke deposits." What is that, and is it related? Also, what type of maintenance should be done each year to the engine? I replaced the fuel filter, aligned the shaft after being in the water three days, and had the stuffing box attended to. Again, thank you all very much! I have learned so much from you guys, even stuff like, when appropriate making sure the sea-cocks are closed. Not to mention you guys helping me to get the sink faucet in the head working perfectly and the helping to put my mind at ease when I thought I had done serious harm when running aground. This forum is great! Will baker S/V Elan '85 Hunter 25.5