New to me Hunter 26 clean/refit

Dec 20, 2020
124
Prindle 16' Corrotoman River, VA
Are you trying to launch from a shallow ramp that is too short to boot?
Just trying to preserve the Factory designed trailer extension option. We plan to launch from many different ramps into many different waterways. No idea what the ramps will be like. Best to be prepared :)

I mod many owners made was drilling an upper hole in the compression post allowing the dining table to be re-pinned to the ceiling of the boat. It opens up the boat inside quite a bit. Just be cautious of the center board line inside when drilling. Try propping it up with a boat hook to see if it makes sense for you.
Got out to the boat today and gave this a try. Look at that it can go to the celling. Thanks for the tip.

After 2 days of rain, then snow and now the snow melting we got into the boat to see if we had a bunch of water get inside. Checked in all the compartments and happily the boat is totally dry inside. That's a relief. After I finish the trailer repairs it might be time to take it to the local lake to see if it floats :)
 

BrianJ

.
Dec 29, 2020
8
Hunter 26 Lewis and Clark Lake
Hey Thaniel - I too just purchased a 1997 Hunter 26. This pictures is from 2014. She's sat dry for two seasons so I have my work cut out. I've learned a lot through this forum and will be watching your progress so keep up the posts. I'll try to contribute as I make my own progress but I'm in the heart of South Dakota and the dead of winter so you'll have a few months on me. Happy cleaning.
 

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Dec 20, 2020
124
Prindle 16' Corrotoman River, VA
Hey Thaniel - I too just purchased a 1997 Hunter 26. This pictures is from 2014. She's sat dry for two seasons so I have my work cut out. I've learned a lot through this forum and will be watching your progress so keep up the posts. I'll try to contribute as I make my own progress but I'm in the heart of South Dakota and the dead of winter so you'll have a few months on me. Happy cleaning.
Hi Brian. Looks like a great boat. Thanks for the comment. I wonder if people read the thread.

Update:
Trailer brakes are finally done. Cut one line to fit and flared it and bled the brakes. Not 100% happy with the location of the rubber line at the tongue and how it wraps with the tongue compressed but it will definitely function. Any adjustments to that can wait. So I'm calling this one done.

We put the Dinette cushions in their covers. That was pretty satisfying. Looking forward to seeing them back in the boat.
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Still trying to dry the rear bed cushions (already out of their covers). We washed them in the bathtub and fully soaked them. The dinette cushions were small enough we could spin them in the wash machine to get most of the water out. The rear bed cushions are so big we could only squeeze it and let it drip dry. I've had them warming by the fire for 2 days, rotating it from time to time and they still aren't 100% dry. Note to self: Once these things get wet it's a bear to dry them completely. Ensure they don't get wet.

Finally took the Outboard motor off and brought in into the garage and pulled off the engine covers
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Should have done this the day we got it. But thought it didn't need a bunch of work and it's a 4 stroke so it is heavy. I hurt my back earlier this year so I'm hesitant to lift heavy things. However with both of us lifting it is wasn't too bad. In the garage it's much more comfy to work on. Gave it a compression test. I Don't want to buy a bunch of parts if it's no good. Compression test came out 130 and 135 psi. Looks like a keeper to me. After the test I went in and ordered a new stator, carb kit, water pump kit, thermostat and some misc. Will take awhile for that to get here. In the mean time I glued the tiller handle back together. Looks like the tiller handle had been broken along time ago and was taped together and still used. Hopefully the epoxy will hold it together and make it easier to use.

Not sure I mentioned it but the RH winch on the boat had stopped working when we hoisted the main sail. So took them both off and brought them in the house for cleaning. The grease in them had turned into sticky goo. A little cleaning and they were good to go. Put them back on the boat today.

Here they are being cleaned.
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I also pulled the winch off the trailer and brought it in. It was rusted solid. It's missing the handle and the strap was weathered to the point I wouldn't trust it. I managed to get the winch working again but after buying a handle and a new strap it might be worth just getting a new winch. Actually I bought an inexpensive single speed, but higher load capacity, winch locally. Thinking the two ratios might be a good idea. So undecided what we will do at this point.

The front bed cushions and one of the jib and it's bag are getting some washing (spot washing on the sail). Think that's about all we've done since last time. The to-do list is getting shorter but it's still plenty long.
 
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Dec 20, 2020
124
Prindle 16' Corrotoman River, VA
Wow where has the time gone. Been busy. Thursday I had the day off and it was reasonably warm so we spent it in the boat. I've been mostly working on the trailer, motor and rigging. I and haven't spent much time inside the boat though Katherine has been cleaning the inside. So it was fun to be inside and check it out. We setup the popup tent/canvas thing (what's it called?) that we have over the top of the companionway.
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It was looking like it could rain and it's a nice way to keep out the rain while maintaining the extra headroom. Oddly though I couldn't close the companion way slider all the way with it on. Is that right? Anyway we decided we like it and want to bring it on trips. However it's a bit bulky and won't fit in the storage compartments. May have to modify the frame so it will come apart into smaller pieces so it can be stored more easily.

Checked the interior of the boat over and did some nice boat yoga, Including climbing entirely into the bow storage compartment. Wanted to see if I would fit. Once done with that I removed the portapoty from the boat. Katherine couldn't figure how to get it lose to remove it. When removing it I couldn't help but notice it wasn't empty. Not even close to empty. Seriously? This boat hasn't been used it quite awhile so that's been in there far too long. Neither of us were amused and ended up searching the net for possible new replacements. After reading the ads and looking at different options we somehow found it all hilarious and began making jokes and laughing. I guess even at our age poop jokes can be funny.

We also removed the faucets for cleaning. The bathroom faucet was still attached to a water tank under the sink. The inside of the line was black with mold except where it was grey with mold. The tubing was cut off and the tube and tank discarded. The kitchen faucet didn't have a tube attached to it. Perhaps it was because the electrical outlet they installed is kind of in the way? Maybe. Both the faucets were removed from the boat and brought in to be cleaned thoroughly.
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This is before cleaning.

We looked at the stove with the idea of testing it out. It was dirty from bugs and dirt and I decided it'd just be easier to remove the whole thing from the boat and take it inside to clean it (also warmer inside). We later cleaned in and then filed tested out a burner. Had not used that kind of stove before. It seems to work.
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Stove after cleaning and testing inside the house.

Friday was colder. So we finished our Coastal navigation knowledge test. That was a long one and happy to have passed it. We also worked on cleaning the bow bed vinyl covers (the foam has already been washed). I read in a post on this forum that a person cleaned badly stained dinette cushions with grill cleaner. Yup sounds weird to me too but hey the bow cushion covers were pretty gross and honestly if it hurt them I wasn't worried as I don't need a bed up there anyway. We didn't have any grill cleaner but oven cleaner is about the same. What do ya know it did a pretty good job. They aren't perfect but much nicer looking.

Saturday, today, it was in the 50's. So a great day to be outside working in the boat. I removed the bulkhead/partition aft of the aft bed. We wanted to clean back there and the two access holes weren''t enough room. Oh while I"m typing what do the early, non hinged covers, for those holes look like? Or did the early ones not have covers (find that hard to believe)? But they seem to be one of the few parts we don't have. Anyway. I also want to install a battery charger back there so when plugged into shore power it will charge the battery. Still scratching my head on how to attach things to surfaces where I don't want to drill holes.

I also removed one of the center trailer bunks. The boat is loaded slightly to the right so the center left bunk has nothing on it. The center bunks are very rotten at the aft end. Later when cleaning the cockpit area I could see why. Water would run around the boat and drip off the hull right onto the center bunks. Humm. Have to cover them to keep the water off when i store it. It rains a lot and it is often very humid here. Will start collecting the bits I need to make both replacement bunks. In the pic below there is a pressure treated 1x1 screwed to the back. I don't think this is was there in the original design. Someone let me know if it's supposed to be. I'm thinking it's not supposed to be there.
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Katherine washed the rain channels around the companion way and forward hatch. There were leaves, pine needles and dirt in them. opening and closing things caused specks of dirt to get into the freshly cleaned insides. Took the Christmas lights down from the mast, put on a new licence plate bracket and it's new license plate. Also removed the remaining registration stickers from the boat and put on it's new ones.

Oh while under the boat I noticed that the ballast valve was open about an 1". I thought it was closed for some reason. I pushed on it to see what it would look like in place and it didn't budge. Oh, that's not good. I put some penetrating oil on it from the bottom and the top. I could get it to wiggle a bit from the top but not much else. Will come back to that another day.
 
Jun 8, 2004
10,024
-na -NA Anywhere USA
Good job Jimmy. Holidays over. Finally. My wife tested positive for covid 19 but is fine. Had it back in February 2020. Refresh my memory and send a list. Old age I tend to get being forgetful. I look to your private message.

On the potty ask your wife if she prefers a new one. She will appreciate that you asked
 

BrianJ

.
Dec 29, 2020
8
Hunter 26 Lewis and Clark Lake
Here's an update since I promised to try to take over this thread. The snow stopped and the 30 degree days came out. This boat hasn't been sailed in two or three years so it's had a lot of time to sit. I opened the companion way hatch and found a snow drift inside. We had a nasty blizzard and I think the driving wind blew snow under the companion way cover. I scooped as much snow out as I could and wiped it all clean. I removed all of the cushions out of the boat to begin the cleaning process. Some are ripped so I'm going to have to decide if patching or replacing is in our future.

I have a slew of mold and mildew on the nonskid. I've read a standard mold and mildew remover works well. I'll wait until I can use my pressure washer in the spring. I'm open to any suggestions.

Desk Mold.jpg


I replaced all of the running rigging on my last boat and that doesn't make me nervous but replacing the centerboard line does. I'm thinking I'm going to have to bite the bullet and pay our marina to lift the boat for me so I can pull the pin and change it. Any other unique ways to change the line without raising the boat?

Has anyone tried to replace the front hatch with a flat piece of tinted acrylic or does it need to be curved?
Hunter 26 windshield / opening hatch

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I also removed the Mercury 9.9 so I can take it back to the garage and see if it runs. That should be fun.

The last big win for a January winter day is removing all four tires from the trailer and lifting the bow so the snow melt drains off the boat. All four tires were weather checked and flat so I'll take them in to get replaced. I would like to bring it home next week so I can work on everything in my driveway.

Goals for the next 30 degree day would be replacing the battery and testing out all of electronics onboard. In South Dakota, that could be January or it could be April!
 
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Jimmy

.
Jan 28, 2018
176
Hunter 26 lake Powell lake mead
Here's an update since I promised to try to take over this thread. The snow stopped and the 30 degree days came out. This boat hasn't been sailed in two or three years so it's had a lot of time to sit. I opened the companion way hatch and found a snow drift inside. We had a nasty blizzard and I think the driving wind blew snow under the companion way cover. I scooped as much snow out as I could and wiped it all clean. I removed all of the cushions out of the boat to begin the cleaning process. Some are ripped so I'm going to have to decide if patching or replacing is in our future.

I have a slew of mold and mildew on the nonskid. I've read a standard mold and mildew remover works well. I'll wait until I can use my pressure washer in the spring. I'm open to any suggestions.

View attachment 188821

I replaced all of the running rigging on my last boat and that doesn't make me nervous but replacing the centerboard line does. I'm thinking I'm going to have to bite the bullet and pay our marina to lift the boat for me so I can pull the pin and change it. Any other unique ways to change the line without raising the boat?

Has anyone tried to replace the front hatch with a flat piece of tinted acrylic or does it need to be curved?
Hunter 26 windshield / opening hatch

View attachment 188822

I also removed the Mercury 9.9 so I can take it back to the garage and see if it runs. That should be fun.

The last big win for a January winter day is removing all four tires from the trailer and lifting the bow so the snow melt drains off the boat. All four tires were weather checked and flat so I'll take them in to get replaced. I would like to bring it home next week so I can work on everything in my driveway.

Goals for the next 30 degree day would be replacing the battery and testing out all of electronics onboard. In South Dakota, that could be January or it could be April!
I have done a lot of work on my Nissan 9.8 4 stroke mostly preventive maintenance change the water impeller first. I get 2 years out of mine and motor a lot. It still looks good when I change it
 
Jun 8, 2004
10,024
-na -NA Anywhere USA
Engine. Did you fog the spark plug holes?

Suggest that you put two throwable cushions underneath the companionway top blue cover to deflect rain water
 
Dec 20, 2020
124
Prindle 16' Corrotoman River, VA
I have a slew of mold and mildew on the nonskid. I've read a standard mold and mildew remover works well.
Katherine tried this on the gas tank locker cover.
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She thought it worked very well
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Will try it on more of the boat later.
You are making me feel bad waiting until it is 30 degrees. It’s that here and I’m waiting for 50s (May have to accept 40s)

Oh were is the picture of the snow drift in the boat?
 
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Dec 20, 2020
124
Prindle 16' Corrotoman River, VA
Sorry for lots of frequent posts. But if I try to do a big summary I forget what I did and when and miss lots of things. Since last post....

I crawled under the boat to check on the ballast tank valve (some boat yoga to get in there). It was still stuck so I gave it a light bump with my hand and it move a little. Ohh :) Gave it some twisting and wiggling and:
CAA48A06-C09E-41A1-9FA1-6D5819DAAE46.jpeg


It dropped down (I'd removed the wing nut and washers, only thing holding it in is the clip/key ring through the top of the shaft). Now it moves nicely up and down.
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I could easily push it closed. One more thing off the list.

In talking with my brother, who sails, on what electronics were necessary (not just nice to have) he suggested a depth finder was pretty important. Katherine had been suggesting we put in a depth finder. So that tipped the scales and we bought a Depth finder/fishfinder with GPS. No maps but at least it would give us a depth reading and some speed and direction info for the price of just a depth finder only setup. Have that now and added that to the "need to install" list.

Another small thing off the list was to lubricate the winch handle. In the hand grip there were some bearings that felt rough and were squeaking. It now spins smoothly and quietly. Small yes but satisfying.

In looking at something else we could cross of the list we saw the rear bed cushions needing to go back in their covers. Seems easy enough. Well not so easy. The first one we started to install and if they hadn't come out of there I wouldn't have thought it could go back. But with enough squeezing and manipulating we got it in. Whew. Now just zip it up. Uh wait. What's this. The zipper doesn't move. Now on this bed cushion it was unzipped when we got it. Didn't think anything of it. But now trying to zip it up we find the zipper traveler is corroded making it clamp onto the fabric. Didn't seem like it should take much to free it up but it did. Then after getting it free it had been distorted enough that it wouldn't zip it properly. Since it is not something that needs open often and I wanted something done and not another thing added to the to do list I persevered with trying to get it to zip. Little by little with lots of help it was finally zipped. The amount of time it took is embarrassing but voilà. The bed cushions are done and ready to go back in the boat.
0A8234D7-B0B5-4CE2-BF66-1DDF9C15EEDE.jpeg
 
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Dec 20, 2020
124
Prindle 16' Corrotoman River, VA
Well it seems a bought a weather machine and not a boat. In the Month I've owned the boat it's snowed here 4 times. Which for this part of the south is quite a lot. We can go a whole winter with only one snow some years. Things have went a bit slow because of the snow and we are still waiting on engine parts. I very much hate waiting on parts and it has been about 3 weeks waiting on the stator :-( But here are some of the things we got done in the meantime:

Out of the 20 seat cushions the boat has 18 have been removed from the covers, washed, dried and put back together. The remaining 2 are the cockpit bench seat back cushions. These to be only vinyl covered with no additional covering. Ours were screwed to the boat but reviewing pictures of other boats there are no screws. Curious how they attach on those boats. Anyway we are undecided on if we will replace, just toss or reinstall them.

Finally ventured out into the scary world to get some supplies. I replaced one of the 120V outlet boxes with a shallow outlet box. The outlet was added directly below the faucet and interfered with the supply water piping. With that changed I was able to reinstall the faucet, and the bathroom faucet, this time with new tubing. Oh I bought a shore power to home outlet adapter so I can plug in the boat. That does make it nice to not have to run a chord in through the companion way.

Bought a new winch. It's the same brand as the winch that was on it but with 500 lb more capacity and not all rusted :) We got the last 2 old tires replaced I just need to put them on the trailer. Will probably take the time to repack the hubs while I have the trailer jacked up.

One last thing for today. There was a crack in the gas tank locker cover. Noticed it when we first looked at it. Figured i'd glue the crack up and we'd be good to go. Had brought it in the house and well I'm sure you already guessed it. The crack appears to be from water entering at the hing bolts freezing and splitting it. Which of course means the wood core is all rotted. So we watched some videos of how to repair that which lead to Katherine saying "I want to try it" so we cut ours open to start the repair process. Oddly the wood is a bunch of small pieces like a quilt. Not a big piece of plywood.
IMG_5687.JPG

Ummm. Not so good. It's all got to go.

IMG_5690.JPG

Would removed. Need to do some more cleanup before we can start putting it back together.
 
Dec 20, 2020
124
Prindle 16' Corrotoman River, VA
Big news for Saturday is that the motor now has spark! The stator came in and once installed beautiful spark :) I tossed a bit of fuel in the intake and it ran for about 3 seconds and sounded good. With it looking like it was going to run it was time to replace the water pump impeller and housing. Also replaced the thermostat. They were definitely in need. Not many pics of that as I'm sure you have all seen those kind of parts before. It took quite a bit of time but was uneventful. Next up is to see if the engine will run on it's own. To do that I'll have to setup a water system. Something I'm not excited about with freezing temperatures everyday.
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New water pump installed. The shift and drive shaft cleaned up well. Old vs new thermostat.

Before the stator arrived I took on the Center board trailer bunk. And as projects go the bunk is NOT a 1" x 8" x 8ft board. It's a piece of plywood that is wider and thinner than the board I have. Ugh. Plywood doesn't seem like the best option to me but that's what it is. After the Fuel locker hatch, I'm thinking that perhaps these were the sizes of some scraps they had from something else? As if it was plywood why not make a 16" wide piece instead of two 8" pieces. Either way i'm going to try and make what I have work. At least for now. I drilled one hole and removed the fabric from the old bunk and stapled it to the wood (sorry yes, reusing the old fabric. Getting tired of spending money on this project and odds are this will be redone with plywood later). Took it out to the trailer and it looks like i can get it to bolt it. But was not in the mood to fight it at the moment as it was snowing....again.
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New board is 7 1/4 wide and old plywood board was 7 3/4 wide.
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What is that 11/16" thick? Whatever that is in nominal plywood thickness.

I also glued the cracking edge of the removable bulkhead that is behind the aft bed that was a bit water damaged. It wasn't bad and after the gluing it's pretty much good as new. Though none of it can be seen once it's installed again.

Overall a pretty successful Saturday.
 
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BrianJ

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Dec 29, 2020
8
Hunter 26 Lewis and Clark Lake
I'm getting jealous of your progress. It's been nice outside but work hasn't been cooperating leaving me no time to get anything done. I did make a detailed list of everything I want to get done in the next four months. One bit of progress was four tires were replaced so the trailer is sitting on air instead of flat tires and rims. Baby steps.
 

Fred

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Sep 27, 2008
493
Catalina 28 mkii 745 Ottawa, Ontario, CA
When I bought my H26 the gas tank cover was made of plywood so I suspect the same thing happened to mine at some point. I currentlyhave a project on the go to replace the plywood with HDPE. The stern rails seats were also plywood which I changed to HDPE as well some years ago and posted some pics. I was very happy with the results of that project.
 
Nov 18, 2016
150
Hunter 260 Lucky Peak, ID
Thaniel,

Thanks for the thread - great work on the H26. We find it very comfortable for two.

A few thoughts.

1. We use a futon vs the factory foam in the rear bunk. Have never used the weird V berth for anything except storage - it now has non skid rubber mat. Having the table up on the ceiling had been a game changer re access.

2. Navionics downloaded on a tablet is awesome on a small boat.

3. Be careful with the old stove. Not sure what the fuel type is but we almost burned our 260 down when an O ring disintegrated our first overnight on the Kenyon butane unit. Worth a look.

4. If you are messing with the trailer bunks - may consider a centerboard guide. This is my biggest issue when using our boat - getting it centered on the trailer especially if windy.

Good luck.

JT
 
Sep 21, 2020
124
Hunter 26 Lake Mead
My cockpit back rests consist of smallish pieces of a foamish material. They are held in place with about 6 pieces of velcro. I wouldn't think velcro would work very well but it seems to hold up nicely in 120 degree summers.
 
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