Calling Hunter 26 Owners In The Uk

[Iain]

I would be interested in finding out how to get in touch with fellow owners of Hunter 26 Trailer Sailors over here in the United Kingdom - or to get in touch with owners of Hunter 26's who may be visiting the UK on holiday etc. I have a Hunter Legend 26 on Lake WIndermere in the lovely Lake District National Park and I am keen to find out things like how to get cockpit covers made, where to locate spares, and how to service the boat, etc.

iain ( Dr. Iain Jennings )

 

[Quoddy]

Hunter Legend UK

Check the” Legends Owners Association” web site. The site is in the UK and has lots of info you might be able to use.
Lots of info for the 26/260 right on this site, "search forums" or log in and ask your question.

 

[firewater]

Hunter (Legend) 26 in the UK

Hello Iain,

I sail a 1997 Hunter Legend 26 on Lough Erne in Northern Ireland. We've only had it a couple of months, so I'm still very much just getting to know the boat and finding out where to get bits and pieces from myself.

I have joined the Legend Owners Association in the UK, but from what I have seen so far, there is far more information here on this site about the H26 than there is on the UK LOA site - though it has yielded a source of replacement graphics in the UK, which is a good start.

Happy sailing,

Firewater

 

[Iain]

Hi Firewater,

Many thanks for your post. It is good to hear from another H26 owner. I was feeling a bit lonely having the only Hunter 26 in a marina with hundreds of much newer boats ! I seem to learn something new every time I get onto my boat which I bought last summer ! I have managed to master sailing her - it's a simply boat to operate but the next minor task is to see if I can work out what all the pipes and valves in the toilet are all about ! I have a very slim owners manual which is not exactly comprehensive ! I am also looking for someone to make me a new cockpit cover - and someone who can help me sort out anew UV cover for my headsail. If I can find a cheap furling Genoa I may also look at buying a frsh one.

I have had some interesting time reading all about the "love-hate" relationship people have had with their table inside the boat. When I bought mine I foolishly assumed it would drop low enough to fill the gaps between the seats and make into a bed...but that doesn't appear to be the case. I have seen other H26 owners have modified or changed their tables as a result - and some have even propped it up with special parts they've made so it lies against the ceiling when not required. Meanwhile I have added some wooden slats and some wooden supports to make a bed that lies across the boat and which seems to work well enough. My wife thinks I am am converting the boat into an aircraft carrier !

So far I have worked out for myself how to get her sailing. I have worked out she hates reversing in one direction but is quite OK in another. I have also managed to source meths for the Origo stove which doesn't smell vile when burned. The stuff I have acquired seems to smell like Peach Schnapps when it is burning - which is not unpleasant. I havel also managed to fix my Raymarine depth gauge which was working but had such a faint display that it was almost impossible to read it.

Apart from the mystery of what to do with the table inside I am quite pleased with my boat...especially the capability to enter really shallow water...and I am looking forward to having lots of fun sailing her. I still have loads of questions about things like what sort of replacement sails should I get when the current ones ( they are a bit sun faded and baggy ) are replaced....and whether or not I can fly a spinnaker on her ( and if so what size is best to buy ), etc. I bought the boat from a dealer - and on reflection I might have been better off having some sort of contact with the person who sailed her before I bought her - they would have known the answers to so many of my queries. I am very grateful to some of the guys in the USA who have Hunter 26's & 260's who have posted some great tips and hints on their blogs. There is one website in particular which is a fountain of knowledge and a true work of love and enthusiasm on Hunter 260's and 26's and that is the "Mistress of the Grand Traverse's" website to be found at :-
http://www.kobernus.com/hunter260.index.html If there is any other a more useful and enthusiastic website out there by another Hunter 26 or 260 owners I would like to know about it. Have a peek and like me you may learn quite am lot about your new boat which may help you get even more pleasure from owning her.
Wishing you fair winds and happy sailing !
IAIN JENNINGS

 

[Iain]

I am looking for a good sound, reliable four or six wheel trailer for my Hunter Legend 26 suitable for long distance tows involving hills and mountain descents behind my Defender 4x4. If anyone knows of a decent trailer for sale with good brakes, please e-mail me. Thank you. IAIN

 

[firewater]

Hi Iain,

For covers, you might want to contact C&J Marine - their website is at http://www.cjmarine.co.uk/ . We have have a main sail cover, pop-top and cockpit wind deflectors all made by these folk. They were on the boat when we bought it, so I have no experience of dealing with them. I have also seen that you can order the pop top, wind deflectors, main cover and sails through the online store on this site. I'm personally inclined to order replacements for ours from here - particularly as the Doyle sails can be ordered up very easily.

Trailer-wise, I think you may need to see about having one specifically fitted up for the boat. It uses a contoured bunk arrangement to provide support for the hull and a central bunk for the keel. The trailer we have came with the boat, and it carries a Hunter Marine manufacturers plate on it - it's not a standard Snipe or Indespension item.

What did you do to fix your depth sounder? Ours is a bit spotty too, but so far I have been minded to just whip it out and put a new one in.

As far as the big table goes - I love it. The size of it was one of the things that most impressed me when we first looked at the boat.

Regards,

FW

 

[Iain]

Raymarine ST30 Depth Gauge problem.

Hi Fire Water,

Many thanks for your kind reply about covers and trailer supplier possibilities for my Hunter Legend 26....it's very helpful and much appreciated information. I shall have a good look at what C&J can offer, as you suggested.

After I bought my boat last summer it was fitted with a Raymarine "ST30" speed and depth echo sounder dual display. I don't need to know how fast I am going usually - I can only do about 6 knots max ) but the awareness of depth is important to me. Where I sail there are some v. rocky shallow bits you'd prefer not to head into ! This depth display started out being v. hard to read ( almost impossible to read) because it was full of damp condensation droplets - so the screen was very hard to see.... ...especially on sunny bright days. I managed to clear the condensation eventually after long time blowing hot air into it using a hair drier on a low heat setting - but even then the best way to clear it after the damp kept reappearing was to wait for a sunny day and some hot sunshine which seems to help clear the display. Nonetheless even with no condensation the display was VERY faint there were still parts of the digits missing from the display readout. On a sunny day you had a condensation free display but still couldn't read it because it was so bright and the numbers were there but almost invisibly faint ! The ST30 has various brightness levels and the manual I downloaded off the internet says you can help clear the condensation by turning up the brightness/contract level to "max", but thise didn't seem to do much for my unit. I think the polarising filter has faded / failed insidethe display unit and maybe some of the terminals on the edge of the VDU had failed. In the end I did a long search on e-bay and managed to get a replacement second hand display from another boat for around £90. This seems to be working fine now and only needed a few wires with blade connectors. It saved me having to drill all new shaped holes in my boat....the GRP is VERY thin on the RHS on the companionway where I have my ST30 dispolay located...so I didn't want to start adding more holes into that fragile looking part of the boat. I also noted later that you can swop in a new ST40 display into the same shaped holes that are needed for the ST30....so if your transducers also suit a ST40 ( which are more readily available online) then it might be an option to fit a new one of those instead. You'll need to check if the depth transducer you have fitted will also suit a newer ST40 display...some transducers use different frequencies.

If you want to fix an ST30 try the following
( whilst guarding against static build up & discharge ! ) :-

- Turn up your illumination / contrast level to max.
- Check your cable connections onto unit are OK.
- Check Polarising Filter
- Check LCD ribbon connection & resolder if you can.
- Check connections to LCD unit.
- Check driver chip solder.

Wanting a backup system to measure depth I have since bought a brand new transom mounted ST 40 depth gauge and depth display from a very helpful chandlers in Cardiff. I had some majorproblems getting it to work and then chandlers were very kind and refunded me what I'd paid for the unit, which was very fair of them. This is how I know the ST40 will fit into the same size hole as a ST30. They both use the Raymarine SEATALK cable system - so the pins are very similar and one can be used as a slave for another if you want a depth readout below as well as in your cockpit. I have found that Raymarine cables are VERY costly ( I think ) on e-bay and online elsewhere....almost £100 for a lengthy cable extension. If you can solder yourself and can fix small female spade blade connectors onto a suitable multi-core cables ( and carefully insulate them to avoid shorts ) then you can avoiud using Raymarine'scurved plugs and improvise your own cables. Of course the one cable you don't want to be cutting and shortening is your depth gauge cable coming up from your transducer. Shortening this cable will give your depth gauge wrong readings !

Hope something above may help you fix your problem. Frankly I found getting a good quality working second hand unit from a reliable e-bayer was by far the easiest & quickest way to sort my problem out - but a second hand spare seems to be rare and may cost you almost as nmuch as a compatible new unit.

Best wishes,
IAIN "Eisbar" H26

 

[Iain]

I AM LOOKING TO BUY EITHER A 9.5 FOOT <10 FOOT SPINNAKER POLE WITH PISTON END CLIPS/ATTACHMENTS or A SPINNIE POLE WITH TWO PISTON SPINNAKER POLE END FITTINGS WHICH COULD BE TAKEN OFF & USED AS SPARES TO MAKE UP A NEW SPINNIE POLE USING 2 x TWO INCH DIAMETER ALLOY TUBING. AS I CAN EASILY GET A 10FT LENGTH OF 2 inch diameter POLE - I AM REALLY AFTER THE TWO x 2 INCH ( outside diameter ) POLE END FITTINGS.

Thanks,

IAIN