World Cruising Thread...uh...Route?
Wow, took almost my whole day off to read this thread. (Well, two full beers anyway.) I have thoroughly enjoyed the wide variety of opinions and views and have a few of my own. This thread is almost long enough to represent ol' Joshua Slocum's trip.I am a fleet manager for a wide variety of new and used boats from the following manufacturers, some of which are in business and some that are not:Sail:Hunter (of course) 23, 25, 25.5, 31, 33, 34 (Coming Soon: Gregg's Boat????)O'Day 28, 31Catalina 25, 27, 310, 320CandC 24, 27, 35Ericson 32 X 2Ranger 23S2 7.2, 9.0Beneteau 305, 345Power:Bayliner 26, 30Searay 30, 33, 36Carver 350, 42Silverton (From Luhrs Marine Group) 352, 392Although I cannot believe that any production builder would allow Bernie's boat to leave the factory, I can tell you from experience that it happens to all manufacturers and in sometimes worse ways. Hatteras is a pretty solid name, right? We just put a 50-footer in the water and it almost sank before we could find the problem. Took three 1850 gas pumps to keep up with the leaks. Hans Christian is a pretty solid name, right? Just had a 43-footer pull out a chainplate while stepping/tuning a mast. Go figure.Anyway, I work on all kinds of boats every day and the Hunters are almost the best to work on and have the almost best construction for production boats. (O'Day still has the best access to all on-board systems.) I've found similar "workmanship" issues in all the boats; poor glass, poor gelcoat, socket left on a hull joint nut because it was in a bind, screwdriver in a water tank, 6 feet of toerail with NO sealant, anchor locker not attached to upper deck (it fell out when we put the anchor in it; shoulda seen my face on that one haha) and a wide variety of less-than-acceptable problems. The most solid boat in the fleet is the Ranger 23. It's a 1974 and is the absolute toughest (and oldest) boat we have. All the rest have some sort of issue that arose from shoddy workmanship. The Hunters and Catalinas have all been repaired easily. The rest, well, are a royal pain in the butt. My point is one already made: All manufacturing produces an occassional lemon. My concern here is the other owners that have the same problem. It sounds as though the mold was bent or set at the wrong temperature and all the boats will have the same problem. I think Hunter will fix that quickly or have a lot of sunken boats. I also have to sympathize with the "grunt" on the production line. Many times employees make recommendations to management identifying a problem. Sometimes the company is so big (Hunter's case), it takes forever for the problem to be rectified. Other times, the manager in charge is not knowledgable enough to adequately take the recommendation and actually do something with it. Still other times, the manager does not know HOW to fix a production problem without spending more money; they just don't have the training or business sense. I find that the usual problem comes not from the worker, not the immediate supervisor, and maybe not the line manager, but from the directors of departments or divisions; the workers want to do good work, the supervisors and managers want to see good work, but the directors (or the next level) never see the work and therefore are not concerned with the product but merely the cost. Ever heard your marina manager complain about not being able to get a dock/hose/line/head/whatever repaired? Same thing.All in all, the Hunters are good boats and even though I would love the "new boat" smell, I cannot see buying a new boat off a production line; I get too many goodies on used boats. Because of my experience with many manufacturers, I will have a custom boat built if I ever get a "new" boat. I will go to a special builder that will take two to three years to build MY boat. Of course, this is right after I win the lottery. In the meantime, I will continue to polish my maintenance skills on the production boats.I am certain that Hunter will fix Bernie's boat. I am certain that Hunter will fix anybody's boat that has this problem. I am not certain, however, that Hunter will recall all 240s, 260s, and other similar hull designs (or same mold) to repair this problem. I simply don't know how recalls on boats work out. If I owned Hunter (or a piece of it), I'd do it no matter the cost. Loss of even one life due to a safety defect caused by my company would be too much for me to live with. Suing is not good unless you're totally ignored (not typical of Hunter). Screaming is not good unless the listener is deaf. Complaining is not good unless your steak isn't cooked right. Moaning is not good unless....well...we all know when moaning is good. Calm, collected, reasonable negotiation is many times the ultimate solution. IN this case, it appears Bernie is getting the attention from dealer and builder that he deserves. Hope all goes well.As for Crazy Dave's input, I welcome it, although I don't always understand it. I've been afraid to ask; I still haven't figured out what a "buzzle" butt is. "Buzzle" is not in any of my dictionaries, english, nautical, or otherwise, but then again, I can't read anyway. From a previous post, I assume "buzzle" is the definition of that portion of one's buttcrack that appears above the beltline when one bends over. Personally, I think a properly adjusted and tuned belt usually fixes this problem for most and eliminates the "half moon" or "buzzle" effect entirely.But that's just my opinion...I could be wrong.