New owner of a 1989 Hunter 26.5 with parts questions.

Apr 25, 2015
3
Hunter 26.5 Lake Lanier Sailing Club
First sailboat and the boat I just bought has been sitting mast down for a while so i'm sure some of the parts to make it sail are MIA. Its about 2.5 hours from me right now so visits are difficult but I plan to go get it 30, Apr 2015 and bring it back to Lake Lanier (in north Ga). I went out last weekend and took an inventory the best I knew how but I got bit by "you don't know what you don't know" and I missed a few things in my inspection, probably because I was focused on the running rigging. Was told I has a US SPARS Z-170 mast, if that helps any.

Standing rigging
- All parts are present except for a few pins to attach rigging to the deck but i'm confident that West Marine will have some replacements.

Mast
- I believe i'm missing the pin that holds the mast to the deck. Not sure that it even has one, some of the posts say it does not. Anyone?
- Pin that attaches the boom to the mast. Again, for some reason i was focused on running rigging and didn't even check but i'm assuming its missing too. Is it a pretty standard pin/connector?
- is there a plate that normally goes between the mast and the deck that has the holes for the pulleys to attach to, or is that part of the plate mounted on the boat deck?
- Anchor light is broken but i'm sure I can replace it with one from WM.
- Wind direction indicator is also broken but WH has those too.

Running rigging
- I believe the Jib and Main halyard are there but is there one that attaches to the top of the mast to the end of the boom or is that a fixed rope?
- Are those the only two (or three) that I need to make sure are present before I raise the mast? I understand installing those after its up is extremely difficult or near impossible.
- I plan on replacing the rigging in the very near future and using the old existing line to pull the new ones in.

Im having to rent a trailer to get it from Alabama to Here and only have it for a limited time. The sailing club i'm at has a mast hoist but its at the repair area so the boat has to be on the trailer to lift and once the boat is in the water and the trailer is gone i'm left working with what i've got so i'm trying to make sure i don't leave anything out that I cant do at the slip.

Any help would be enormously appreciated.

jake
 
Jun 8, 2004
10,024
-na -NA Anywhere USA
Suggest you hire someone who knows sailboats. As for the trailer, are you pulling the boat yourself. Is the trailer hydraulic or one with adjustable stands. From your description of things, how much do you know about sailboats. As for the pins you are asking they are clevis pins.
 
Jun 9, 2014
22
hunter 27 Palm beach
Hi jake.
I have an 83 h27. The boom is held by a cable. My first thought is hire a professional rigger to step the mast and tune your rigging. If timing really is an issue then hiring a pro makes even more sense. You will also benefit from having a pro examine your rigging.
Good luck my friend
Peter
For Elise
 
Apr 15, 2019
39
S2 11 A Toledo Beach, Lake Erie
The most common answer you will get on this forum is: Hire a professional. Not very helpful, and takes away from the joy of learning how to repair and maintain your boat yourself. Do it yourself. It is the only way to learn, and provides a sense of mastery and competence that hiring a professional will never get you.
 
Jun 8, 2004
10,024
-na -NA Anywhere USA
@vidalia
Once I was hired to take a boat up the coast as the owner had very little experience. He directed trying to outrun a hurricane to include plowing into the waves head on. At the helm as he went down to get his laptop, I changed course to go in with him telling me coming up from the cabin, he was barking bad orders. I took his laptop and threw it into the Atlantic. I told him to go back into the cabin and pray. After passing by while staying in a hurricane hole, I advised it was experience and knowledge that saved us advising you learn alot from the wise old salty sea dog sailors. I became one of the leading dealers in the country
Anyone looking at sailboats without knowledge and experience should have help and that includes surveyors looking at boats. I disagree with your advice as this is a safety issue
 
Apr 15, 2019
39
S2 11 A Toledo Beach, Lake Erie
@vidalia
Once I was hired to take a boat up the coast as the owner had very little experience. He directed trying to outrun a hurricane to include plowing into the waves head on. At the helm as he went down to get his laptop, I changed course to go in with him telling me coming up from the cabin, he was barking bad orders. I took his laptop and threw it into the Atlantic. I told him to go back into the cabin and pray. After passing by while staying in a hurricane hole, I advised it was experience and knowledge that saved us advising you learn alot from the wise old salty sea dog sailors. I became one of the leading dealers in the country
Anyone looking at sailboats without knowledge and experience should have help and that includes surveyors looking at boats. I disagree with your advice as this is a safety issue
This story does tell us about you Crazy Dave Condon.
 
Apr 15, 2019
39
S2 11 A Toledo Beach, Lake Erie
This thread began back in '15. I'm guessing the OP is already sailing her ;)
I am sure hope he or she is. I was searching old posts for information and was struck how simple requests for information or technical advice were so often responded to with "hire a professional", rather than providing the information requested, or providing any type technical of advice. This person never posted another question to this group. Telling I think.
 
Jun 8, 2004
10,024
-na -NA Anywhere USA
the Point I am making when looking at sailboats, there is a lot to know and if you have an experienced person whether or not it is a surveyor, it sure helps. Too much can go wrong if looking at derelicts
 
Oct 19, 2017
7,733
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
I think vidalia is making a good point. Dave also has an excellent point. Often our answers are incomplete, in that, to tell someone new looking for help to 'hire a professional', and leave it at that, is unsatisfying, to say the least and patronizing. We have no idea what kind of background a new sailor has.

However, sailing is complex, expensive and has some inherent dangers. A suggestion of finding a professional would be more helpful if it came with an explanation as to why that would be the better alternative.

Vidalia is correct that doing the job yourself is going to be both more educational and satisfying. That is part of the appeal of sailing over motor boating, to begin with. A process of learning your new boat and sailing is all part of it. This includes hiring a professional. I would only ever hire a professional if I looked at it as also hiring a teacher. Vidalia also makes a great point about providing a sense of community support, that's the whole purpose of this forum.

Unfortunately for this thread, there was very little activity and the wonderfully full community of ideas did not manifest for the OP. They went elsewhere, found a professional or gave up on sailing as too much work for the uninitiated.

-Will (Dragonfly)
 
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Apr 15, 2019
39
S2 11 A Toledo Beach, Lake Erie
The point that came across to me is no one should ever ask Crazy Dave Condon to help them deliver a boat. You THREW A COMPUTER into the ocean, rather than discussing a plan well in advance of bad weather. In virtually every post I have read of yours, you never fail to mention how you were one of the foremost dealers in the country, which makes you sound unattractively full of yourself. My uncle sells cars, but he can't change his own oil. Notice that the poster never asked another single question here. His experience here is much like mine. Little helpful advice, and what advice I have gotten is questionable and from people who often seem to know even less than I do. Perhaps, the lesson we should learn from this forum is, "You get what you pay for". You advised that this "was a safety issue", yet the poster was asking nothing more than general questions about a boat that was sitting hours away, not even in the water, with the mast down. The poster was not proposing doing anything unsafe. I have also found that just because someone calls themselves a professional does not mean they know what they are doing. The poster makes it clear that he is part of a sailing club as well and I am sure has access to more experienced sailors, familiar with restoring and repairing old boats through his club. Goodby.
 

dLj

.
Mar 23, 2017
3,373
Belliure 41 Sailing back to the Chesapeake
There are a few things I've learned over the years of observing public forums. There tend to be a core group of folks that really know what they are talking about, some folk that sometimes do and sometimes don't but give opinions anyway, and there are folk that seem to think they know things when really, it does not seem to be supported by any hard evidence.

You can't just post to an open forum and know which type of person is answering your question. It takes time to get to know the folk that tend to post in the forum you are asking a question in. You also need to have thick skin, written text in these posts often are easily misinterpreted.

It's also easy for a reader of a post to miss something in the original post that sends their response down a tangent that may not have application to the question at hand.

Sure, it would be great to be able to give perfect answers to someone's question, but that's just not ever going to happen.

I participate in many forums. SBO is one of the best around. There are many really knowledgeable folk on here that freely share information. In fact, I've never seen it's equal.

Just my 2 cents worth.

I certainly hope the OP has been enjoying sailing for many years now.

dj