The 27 and Chesapeake Bay
I think I said this once before... maybe once... somewhere. In the 1970s there was a BIG Hunter dealer in Havre de Grace where the controlling depth was said to be 4 ft-- you did not read that wrong!!! I don't know if this guy is still there and I don't remember his name. But in fact the shoal-draught Hunter 27 was designed expressly for this region, and the reason they sold so many 27s with the 3'3" keel and not the 4'0" keel was because of this dealer and where he was. Remember in 1972-1978 the production was coming out of Marlboro, NJ, and the Chesapeake and the Jersey shore were the MAJOR markets for Hunter Marine. Neither sailing area will accommodate anything over 4 ft very well. To this day finding a Mk 1 Hunter 27 with a deep keel is a feat of Diogenean proportions. Good luck. (Advice-- turn the alarm beeper on the depth-sounder off. You'll be sick of it.) JC 2
