hunter 375 'survey'

[arjand]

Hello,
Today I went for about 10 hrs through a hunter 375. To narrow it down
There was a crack at the back of the keel hull joint. She was on the hard overnight and completely dry but still... Is this something typical? Thanks!

[JPA Cate]

To me, it means that there is an expensive repair to be done, while she is in the slings, in the shape she will assume in the water, and possibly, inner strengthening of the area, by adding a floor or stringers or both, which can be done in the water once she is watertight.

Jim accomplished such a repair on our first Insatiable, and if you choose to take on that job, you should get some estimates before you buy the boat.

In our case, we hired a professional to fix the keel leak, and his ultimate fix of it was making good on his waranty--the boat had been repaired on the hard, and when it was lifted, the first repair failed. It was really a 2 part job, not just something you throw epoxy sealant at. In that case, it was a manufacturing defect that took some time to develop, and some scary moments in the water with the angle grinder.

Ann

[boatpoker]

Can you be more specific as to exact location of fracture, better yet photos. The keel is faired into the hull with a fairing compound. It is not uncommon for the fairing compound to fracture and it has no structural value. Go inside the boat and lift the floorboards. See if there is any evidence of damage or repair around the transverse floor members near the aft end of the keel, if not it may be no big deal. Express your concerns to your surveyor.

[Tortuga's Lie]

Hunter used a lot of iron keels and if this model has iron, then it is not uncommon for a little rust to develop and expand out the fairing compound at the keel-hull joint creating a crack. This is not anything to be concerned over, it will just be a maintenance issue. Lead keels can develop cracks here as well, just not as pronounced as the iron keels.

[arjand]

Thank you! When you say a maintenance issue, what does that entail? Lowering keep it something less intrusive?

[Tortuga's Lie]

Without seeing a picture, I'm not 100% you're talking about the keel-hull joint, but If that's what it is, then the maintenance will be keeping the rust at bay and dealing with the fairing compound. Typically, it is does not involve the keel bolts, but it could............

[sailorboy1]

It's pretty common to have that "cracked" spot where the keel is bolted to the hull and LOTS of boats have it. I used to walk around the yard during the winter looking at the boats and saw it a lot on lots of keels that are thinner there because it uses smaller there bolt.