Motoring in the channel after a day of sailing, about a mile and a half from the marina, the bilge pump came on and stayed on. I was sailing alone; I jumped below and found the engine compartment full of water. Felt for the engine raw water intake value now under water and shut it. Returning to the deck I was thinking of beaching the boat so it would sink in shallow water. Then I saw the Coast Guard patrol. They put two men aboard and a large pump and saved the boat. On the way to the slip they said the leak was likely in the stern tube area as the majority of both sail and powerboats that are sinking do so from the stern area, where the prop shaft enters the boat. They stayed with me at the slip and stopped the leak. (BoatU.S. towing insurance said that the boat was now salvage and would charge $100 a foot to come out and stop the leak. This is a long story for another time.) Thanks to the Coast Guard, they saved the boat. My boat is a 1980 33’ with a bronze stern tube. I suspect many Hunters of this vintage have the same stern tube. J. Tesoriero warned of this problem found on his 1980 ’30 in this forum in 2003 and Ed Schenck is always saying to change out all bronze fittings. Just before my buying this boat the prior owner had the prop shaft replaced. He fouled a line and bent the shaft. The work was done at a St. Petersburg Marina and from outside appearances I thought this was the last place I had to worry about. You can see the problem with the tube in the attached photo. In addition to electrolysis, another member of this forum Terry Arnold when looking at the tube, found the thin sidewall to be a source of the problem. The point is when you have the boat pulled take off the rubber hose covering the stern tube and examine this bronze tube closely. In the water, you may be able to see if the drive shaft is centered and o.k. or is off-center and wearing on the side of the stern tube. Any doubts or an old tube you are unsure about, I would recommend replacing this part with a new one. Another outcome from this experience was that the engine’s flywheel kicked up salt water into the starter. Although I started the engine the next day, after two weeks of not running the starter’s internals were rusted and to be replaced. This happened three months ago, the engine and boat are running well, knock on wood.
