"Have you seen my daddy"

[The Black Pearl]

Okay, where do I begin?

I guess thats how all boat stories begin. I recently bought a Hunter. I am in love with my vessel. She has the curves, the lines. She has everything I wanted when I was scouring craigslist a year ago for a worthy prize.

But a year ago I bought a Morgan. Tragedy.

Going on a month ago, I picked up a 1981 Hunter 30. Got rid of the morgan(which I will no longer capitalize due to the amount of hatred I have for it) and literally broke even. Magnificent, I mean magnificent. All the wood is more or less nice, the diesel is currently not running and my electrical was a pile of noodles.

I suppose I'm looking for the past owner, or someone that put work into it, or knows things about it I need to know etc etc.

The vin stamped on the stern is: HUN71040M81F It appears the name on the back was Mistral.

Any ideas or info let me know.

I have a thousand questions by the way

 

[Rich Stidger]

Here are some suggestion on how to find the previous owner-

If the vessel is documentated with the USCG, you can look up the data which includes all of the previous owners at:

http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/st1/CoastGuard/VesselByName.html

You can search by vessel name or by the documentation number. I looked and did not see a "Mistral" that was built in 1981 and was 30 feet long.

If there are state registration numbers, a query to that state may bring an answer.

I presume that you have asked the person that sold the boat to you and that they are not the previous owner, never used the boat, or just plain "Has no clue".

A query to Hunter in Florida as to who the original dealer was and following up with that dealer may yield results, but I think this idea is a long shot.

Sorry you hated your Morgan- I had a 1968 M30 and it was a nice boat but old. It was a good starter boat for me.

 

[The Black Pearl]

The morgan simply didn't like me for some reason, very fast boat, but still, not a fan.

I find the larger morgans much nicer, but again, happy with our hunter.

Mistral didnt show up with what I was looking for.Its just the only thing I can read faded off the back of the vessel. I got nothing :\

Frankly I just want to know whats wrong with the diesel, whats been done to it etc.

 

[bcollis]

If it's not documented, you may consider asking around the marina that it was in when you purchased it, or maybe ask the local marine surveyors if they are familiar with it. If it was registered in the same state, maybe you could ask the DNR or DMV if they could help.

Either way, since it was in that shape when you got if, your best bet might be to skip the previous owner, and find a good mechanic or electrician who can do the job that the former owner couldn't.