Hunter 170 drain??

Jul 11, 2014
17
hunter 170 kerr lake
Ok...forgive me for my ignorance, but I just bought a 170 this summer. I keep my boat in the water at a dock all of the time (approximately two months, now), and every time I take it out (only a few times now), it drains for a LONG time. Am I supposed to leave the drain open or closed, while sailing???? Just read a few old posts from a 146, and they talk about the boat filling up, due to a clogged drain screen??

Do I need to make some major repair, or just leave the drain open while sailing????
 

mark2

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Dec 10, 2012
54
Hunter 18 Raleigh
The drain plug on the 170 should be installed when the boat is in the water. The water line is very close to the drain hole, the plug definitely needs to be in.

If you are finding water in the hull it is from a leak. It could be from small cracks in the topside deck (rainwater seeping in), or a leak below the waterline. There are many threads here about repairing cracks in the 170 plastic hull.

BTW, nice to see there are some other Hunter 170s in the Raleigh area! We mostly sail Falls Lake, but camp & sail at Kerr on occasion.

-Mark
 
Jul 11, 2014
17
hunter 170 kerr lake
Thanks, Mark. I knew, but started to get paranoid....I love this boat, but I didn't expect all of the problems. I am absolutely willing to fix/work with them, just helps to hear others not giving up on this model. Yes, I am close! Kerr Lake is full of boating, fishing, and sailing......I do some dreaming looking at these other boats. Do you know of any others?
 

mark2

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Dec 10, 2012
54
Hunter 18 Raleigh
I don't know of any others in the area. We have had our share of issues with the boat - in fact have not been on the water this year because of a rudder-mount problem, but every time we think about selling it... "but, but, but we love this boat"! I would gladly swap it for a Hunter 18 (same design, fiberglass hull) but we are sold on this design... as is our dog that loves to walk off the back and swim!
 
Oct 8, 2009
134
Hunter 170 Lake Sammamish WA
Ok...forgive me for my ignorance, but I just bought a 170 this summer. I keep my boat in the water at a dock all of the time (approximately two months, now), and every time I take it out (only a few times now), it drains for a LONG time. Am I supposed to leave the drain open or closed, while sailing???? Just read a few old posts from a 146, and they talk about the boat filling up, due to a clogged drain screen??

Do I need to make some major repair, or just leave the drain open while sailing????
I sold my 170 last year, but before that, it stayed on a buoy from April to the end of September. When I pulled it out, there was almost no water draining out hull after removing the plug with the boat on maybe 15 degree slope on my driveway.

I don't know what the previous owner did with this plug, but the first time I pulled the plug on my driveway, there was what seemed at the time, a lot of water coming out the drain. The next two years when I pulled out for the season, there was almost no water coming out of the drain. I never did anything to look for a hull leak during the 3 years I owned the boat.

While I'll never know, perhaps the previous owner let some water into the hull for ballast.
 

mark2

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Dec 10, 2012
54
Hunter 18 Raleigh
Dream came true... we just bought a used Hunter 18 to replace our 170! The 170 has been great and we got quite good at repairing the plastic hull. But final straw came when we needed to put a motor on it (we want to sail at the NC coast) and the motor mount was "soft" - e.g. needed to be torn out and rebuilt. Enough. It will still be a great boat for lake sailing, but no good where you need a motor to navigate narrow channels and tides. Anyone looking for a used 170? :)
 
Sep 5, 2018
214
Hunter 170 Northfield, NJ
That sounds like a good move. The 170 is nice and the price is good, but the 18 is a better boat over the long term. Up around where I live I think only one 18 ever was on craigslist, but several 170 show up a year. One was nasty looking.
 

mark2

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Dec 10, 2012
54
Hunter 18 Raleigh
Our new (used) 18 came from NY, found it in a yacht dealer's listings. Oddly it is outfitted with a 170's sails and the BIN on the title indicates a 170. I wonder if the original owner had a cracked 170 that Hunter swapped out the hull with an 18. Still trying to figure out what parts are correct for an 18 and what is from a 170...