I have written before about soot around my exhaust hose in my 1981 H27. I have since relocated the hose to a proper thru-hull. Here I have a cautionary note for those with similar exhaust set-up. The original exhaust port was a fiberglass tube that was glassed to the liner and hull, except the tube did not go through to the hull. A crack developed all around the tube seperating it from the hull. This port was also below the waterline, so there was often back pressure and cold water going up this pipe. It appears that exhaust gases and soot were leaking back into the boat through this seperation between the hull and the liner where the exhaust pipe was glassed. If you have aHunter with an inboard and no proper thru-hull for your exhaust and evidence of soot around the pipe inside the boat, I would carefully examine the exterior of the boat where the pipe is glassed and look for a crack between the end of that glass tube and the hull. Water and diesel fumes can enter if crack is present or expands. Unfortunately I did not take pictures before I glassed over this opening. GOOD LUCK!