I have a 1994 Hunter 23.5 that I have had for over six years. As I get it ready for the 2002 sailing season I started wondering how 23.5s were holding up in general and in particular,what kind of problems I should be looking to find and fix. My boat is in pretty good shape with the most annoying problem that I know of being cracks in the gel coat and the fact that I need to replace the line that pulls down the rudder. What I worry about is the problems I have not found. The drop boards for the companion way hatch bit the dust about four years ago. I replaced the orginal three boards with a single board I cut out of marine plywood. All I have had to do to the trailer is repack the wheel bearings. The brake system that came standard on the trailer never worked, but I pull the boat with an old Suburban and have never had any trouble stopping. Would anyone like to share how their boat is holding up and what they have had to do with it? Thanks, Al Beattie ElseWhere
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Dave Royce
My 1994 23.5
Al, I have a 1994 23.5 that I just hauled. I found stress cracks forward of the centerboard well and inside the centerboard. These have been repaired. I had to make some modifications to the centerboard mounting bracket, to fixed this issue. (photos posted in photo forum). I also found that the aft transom is gelcoat over closed cell foam (no fiberglass), the motor hit it and cracked it. I now have fiberglass re-enforcement. The uphaul line for the centerboard was excessivelly worn, I replaced it. That is about the major issues. Since I am Olympia and my boat is out of the water you are more than welcome to come over this weekend a take a look, I re launch on Monday. I am at SWANTOWN Boatworks. Let me know. I can most likely answer some of questions and show where I had my problems.
Al, I have a 1994 23.5 that I just hauled. I found stress cracks forward of the centerboard well and inside the centerboard. These have been repaired. I had to make some modifications to the centerboard mounting bracket, to fixed this issue. (photos posted in photo forum). I also found that the aft transom is gelcoat over closed cell foam (no fiberglass), the motor hit it and cracked it. I now have fiberglass re-enforcement. The uphaul line for the centerboard was excessivelly worn, I replaced it. That is about the major issues. Since I am Olympia and my boat is out of the water you are more than welcome to come over this weekend a take a look, I re launch on Monday. I am at SWANTOWN Boatworks. Let me know. I can most likely answer some of questions and show where I had my problems.
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Ray
Al, We have a 95 H26 that has held up great.
The original sails will go 2 more years and the rest of the boat is almost flawless. The water ballast system works perfect. Sails wear out as do lines and wood. Keep the boat waxed and the mechanicals lubed and serviced and your boat should go 20 to 30 or more years no problem. Let the standard maintance items slide, skip waxing a couple of years and they rapidly die. Take a new car or boat, set it in a covered shed, without sides and return in 5 years. Your investment is history. I think it's called entropy. Everything will seek it lowest state of energy. Including us humans. Ray
The original sails will go 2 more years and the rest of the boat is almost flawless. The water ballast system works perfect. Sails wear out as do lines and wood. Keep the boat waxed and the mechanicals lubed and serviced and your boat should go 20 to 30 or more years no problem. Let the standard maintance items slide, skip waxing a couple of years and they rapidly die. Take a new car or boat, set it in a covered shed, without sides and return in 5 years. Your investment is history. I think it's called entropy. Everything will seek it lowest state of energy. Including us humans. Ray
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Al
No Glass in the transom?
Dave, I had to work this weekend so I could not get up to Swantown. Did you have your boat in a West Bay slip last year? I crewed on a Santana 20 out of West Bay Marina last year and I recall seeing a Hunter 23.5 there. So were the stress cracks forward of the centerboard well in the outside or the inside? Also, could you elaborate a bit on there only being foam under gel coat in the transom. I have crawled around a bit in the back of the boat and seem to see glass. Has this just been wishfull thinking on my part? Al
Dave, I had to work this weekend so I could not get up to Swantown. Did you have your boat in a West Bay slip last year? I crewed on a Santana 20 out of West Bay Marina last year and I recall seeing a Hunter 23.5 there. So were the stress cracks forward of the centerboard well in the outside or the inside? Also, could you elaborate a bit on there only being foam under gel coat in the transom. I have crawled around a bit in the back of the boat and seem to see glass. Has this just been wishfull thinking on my part? Al
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Dave Royce
No Glass in Transom
Al, Sorry you had to work. Got lots of work done on Saturday and Sunday. I am re-launching this Morning. The stress crack were forward of the centerboard well. They started in the centerboard well and went out forward, to the port and starboard sides. I also had a crack in the centerboard well on the starboard side where the centerboard mounting bracket sits. As far as the transom goes. The very aft vertical part of the transom is where we found that it is only gelcoat over closed cell foam. If you tap it will sound different that tapping on the bottom. The guys I have doing the fibergalss work could not believe it. We put in alot of glass because it is below water line. Dave
Al, Sorry you had to work. Got lots of work done on Saturday and Sunday. I am re-launching this Morning. The stress crack were forward of the centerboard well. They started in the centerboard well and went out forward, to the port and starboard sides. I also had a crack in the centerboard well on the starboard side where the centerboard mounting bracket sits. As far as the transom goes. The very aft vertical part of the transom is where we found that it is only gelcoat over closed cell foam. If you tap it will sound different that tapping on the bottom. The guys I have doing the fibergalss work could not believe it. We put in alot of glass because it is below water line. Dave
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Ken Shubert
My 93 H23.5 is so-so
Cracks in the gel coat are forming many places: docking cleats, lifeline stantions, windhield corners, etc. The darkended plexiglass windwos have lots of 'sparkles' in them but seem sound. CB
Cracks in the gel coat are forming many places: docking cleats, lifeline stantions, windhield corners, etc. The darkended plexiglass windwos have lots of 'sparkles' in them but seem sound. CB
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Ghery Pettit
H23.5 in West Bay Marina
I guess I'd better enter the discussion. The Hunter 23.5 in West Bay Marina in Olympia is Cougar Pride. My wife and I have owned it since it was new in early 1994. We keep it in the water and have to have it hauled and painted every other year. It's easier than putting it on the trailer for the winter, and it seems to stay drier inside than when we had it in the storage lot on the trailer with a tarp over the top (loosely fit for air circulation). We were just down at the marina this afternoon sizing up the work needed before sailing starts again. Plenty of green stuff growing in a few places on the topsides, but down below didn't look to bad. A nice afternoon and all should be shipshape again. I am going to have to look at replacing or cleaning the halyards eventually. The lines do pick up an awful lot of crud sitting in the weather. Even kept off the deck they don't look so nice. I saw that someone had the companionway boards fail a while back on their boat. We still have the originals, but I keep threatening to replace the wood upper and lower sections with plexiglass. They are holding up, but are slightly warped, which makes removal and installation a pain. A minor inconvenience. All in all, a very good boat that has held up well with easy maintenance.
I guess I'd better enter the discussion. The Hunter 23.5 in West Bay Marina in Olympia is Cougar Pride. My wife and I have owned it since it was new in early 1994. We keep it in the water and have to have it hauled and painted every other year. It's easier than putting it on the trailer for the winter, and it seems to stay drier inside than when we had it in the storage lot on the trailer with a tarp over the top (loosely fit for air circulation). We were just down at the marina this afternoon sizing up the work needed before sailing starts again. Plenty of green stuff growing in a few places on the topsides, but down below didn't look to bad. A nice afternoon and all should be shipshape again. I am going to have to look at replacing or cleaning the halyards eventually. The lines do pick up an awful lot of crud sitting in the weather. Even kept off the deck they don't look so nice. I saw that someone had the companionway boards fail a while back on their boat. We still have the originals, but I keep threatening to replace the wood upper and lower sections with plexiglass. They are holding up, but are slightly warped, which makes removal and installation a pain. A minor inconvenience. All in all, a very good boat that has held up well with easy maintenance.
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