I am considering the purchase of a 1986 Hunter 34. The boat is immaculate, one owner, and has had very light use. It has furling, recent sails, a/c, refrigeration, autohelm, recent dodger, bimini, sailcovers, cockpit cushions, new bottom paint and recent new thruhulls and seacocks. Asking price is $39k. I have three concerns: (1) these boats have bad reputation for mast step/post problems. (2) Mid- 80's Hunters have a reputation for severe blistering and (3) mid- 80's Hunters have a reputation for waterlogged rudders and rudder structure failures. My question is were these problems resolved by 1986 and does anyone have any experience with these problems? I love the boat and how it sails, but hate the idea of buying a maintenance time bomb just waiting to go off. Thanks for yur help.
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A survey should give you the answer.
Peter: 1. If the boat has blisters, it will be found during the survey. If it has not had blisters, it probably will not have them anytime soon. The Swan, I/P and all the other boats have had blister problems too. 2. If you do not have a problems with the mast step/compress post now, you can take preventative measures to seal it and it should not present any problems in the future. 3. As far as the rudder is concerned, once again if it checks out OK on the survey and you are still concerned, deduct $1k from you offer and put it in the bank incase it happens in the future. These model years are very good and solid boats. I have had mine since new and have only had the problem with the compression post. Any boat that is 15 years old is bound to have some problems (no matter how good they may look). If you like the boat and think the price is fair, go for it. I think you will hear a lot more positive things about these boats than negative.
Peter: 1. If the boat has blisters, it will be found during the survey. If it has not had blisters, it probably will not have them anytime soon. The Swan, I/P and all the other boats have had blister problems too. 2. If you do not have a problems with the mast step/compress post now, you can take preventative measures to seal it and it should not present any problems in the future. 3. As far as the rudder is concerned, once again if it checks out OK on the survey and you are still concerned, deduct $1k from you offer and put it in the bank incase it happens in the future. These model years are very good and solid boats. I have had mine since new and have only had the problem with the compression post. Any boat that is 15 years old is bound to have some problems (no matter how good they may look). If you like the boat and think the price is fair, go for it. I think you will hear a lot more positive things about these boats than negative.
A Great Boat
I have a 1984 Hunter 34. I read the various posts, but I haven't had compression problems, rudder problems, or blistering. I do have a trailer and haul my boat each winter, that helps the bottom and rudder to dry out. I see no evidence of the compression problem talked about here. But I think "bad" news travels faster than good news. It is a fine boat and with a good survey you should be fine.
I have a 1984 Hunter 34. I read the various posts, but I haven't had compression problems, rudder problems, or blistering. I do have a trailer and haul my boat each winter, that helps the bottom and rudder to dry out. I see no evidence of the compression problem talked about here. But I think "bad" news travels faster than good news. It is a fine boat and with a good survey you should be fine.
Good Advice
34 is a very good boat. The advice you have been given about surveys is sound. Specifically tell the surveyor about your areas of concern. Seems a bit pricey at $39, but no one offers the asking orice. Check BUC for prices and adjust for A/C and Refrigeration based on age of units. You can replace them at a parts cost of about $1800 and $600 respectively. Suggest you start about $35k (that is the 90% approach) naturally offer is contingent on survey. You can always go up but harder to go down except to adjust price based on survey findings (major item discovery only). Anything disclosed up front or obvious to the buyer is not a candidate for price adjustment. By the way, this about the age the hot water heater goes$150 item, (surveyor has to remove dinette seat top to get to unit). Good Luck! George
34 is a very good boat. The advice you have been given about surveys is sound. Specifically tell the surveyor about your areas of concern. Seems a bit pricey at $39, but no one offers the asking orice. Check BUC for prices and adjust for A/C and Refrigeration based on age of units. You can replace them at a parts cost of about $1800 and $600 respectively. Suggest you start about $35k (that is the 90% approach) naturally offer is contingent on survey. You can always go up but harder to go down except to adjust price based on survey findings (major item discovery only). Anything disclosed up front or obvious to the buyer is not a candidate for price adjustment. By the way, this about the age the hot water heater goes$150 item, (surveyor has to remove dinette seat top to get to unit). Good Luck! George
Blisters
Blisters are a big concern. As someone else said, if none by now it won't have any ever most likely. Blisters are a result of bad lay-up and or resin problems. Make sure to ask the "single owner" if it ever had blister repair. Also, have surveyer check keel to hull point of attachment and keel bolts well. doug
Blisters are a big concern. As someone else said, if none by now it won't have any ever most likely. Blisters are a result of bad lay-up and or resin problems. Make sure to ask the "single owner" if it ever had blister repair. Also, have surveyer check keel to hull point of attachment and keel bolts well. doug
Some Problems vs Reputation
While there have been some boats with blisters or water in the rudder I wouldn't necessarily construe this to mean that there is a "reputation" for this, and especially for "mid 80s" boats. Our boat is an '88 H-35, closely related to the 34, which has been kept in salt water all it's life and it's never had a single blister. It did have some epoxy barrier coats put on when it was new that may have helped. By the mid '80s it was fairly well determined what the mechanics of osmossis was and manufacturers were revising their lay-up procedures accordingly and new boats were getting barrier coats applied. Any boat you look at will have some things that need work, even a brand new one, and further more, the list never goes away. As the previous post said, if it doesn't have blisters by now it probably never will. That's an awful lot of very nice boat for the money and I don't think one could find a better value anywhere. The 34s are fast, very good sailing boats, and very comfortable and pratical. A lot of fun for the buck.
While there have been some boats with blisters or water in the rudder I wouldn't necessarily construe this to mean that there is a "reputation" for this, and especially for "mid 80s" boats. Our boat is an '88 H-35, closely related to the 34, which has been kept in salt water all it's life and it's never had a single blister. It did have some epoxy barrier coats put on when it was new that may have helped. By the mid '80s it was fairly well determined what the mechanics of osmossis was and manufacturers were revising their lay-up procedures accordingly and new boats were getting barrier coats applied. Any boat you look at will have some things that need work, even a brand new one, and further more, the list never goes away. As the previous post said, if it doesn't have blisters by now it probably never will. That's an awful lot of very nice boat for the money and I don't think one could find a better value anywhere. The 34s are fast, very good sailing boats, and very comfortable and pratical. A lot of fun for the buck.
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