Hunter 40

[Larry]

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[trevordean]

Thanks LArry thats good to know. As far as my experience as a captian...I have none. My crossing the paciific will be a few years off until i learn 100percent more.

[NotQuiteLost]

Originally Posted by Larry

I have sailed the morgan 38 it is a great boat and quite sturdy. The five foot draft is particularly good around south Florida and the Bahamas. For the price I don't think you can beat it. People that have owned morgans are quite loyal to them. It is sturdy and well designed by Ted Brewer. Thick rudder stock and prop shaft. Big chain plates.
The 384 is probably the best as it has the larger hurth transmission and the bigger rudder. Can't beat the perkins 4-108.
Intend use is everything but if you not sure what to buy you will not go too far wrong with a morgan 38 provided you buy well.
Cheers
Larry

Have never sailed a Morgan 38, but our family's first boat was a Morgan 41, and it was truly a magnificent, simple and comfortable boat. So if the 38 is anything like the 41, it's got my endorsement as well. 4'10" or somesuch draft on a boat that big is really hard to beat for monohull island hopping or coastal cruising.

[Que]

I too am looking at a Hunter 40 to sail around the Gulf of Mexico / Bahamas and maybe try to make it over to the west coast. I've heard about the Morgans and can't seem to find anything newer than the 70's. Wife won't go for an antique no matter how well it's built. (spoiled) We plan on living aboard once on west coast until we decide to live ashore again. I'm open for suggestions on what type of boat would be affordable and decent sailor for a first timer/newbee.

[chucklet321]

Many Hunters are built better than other, newer ones, from what i have heard are alright, mid 2000s I haven't heard anything good about. the hunter 42 passage is from what i've heard the best hunter. I bet it could cross the pacific.

[sailorboy1]

Chuckie you are posting about stuff you know nothing about other than rumors on the internet! You haven't even been on a Hunter 40 or a more modern cruiser model I bet.

Far as an older Hunter 40, I haven't sailed on one. But I did look at one 4 years ago when I was looking for my first boat. The one I looked at wasn't in good condition and I could tell it had a leak in the forward deck/hull joint. That doesn't mean that it a model problem or a problem with that preticular boat.

The only plus I saw on the boat was the aft berth. But because the strn was so narrow the cockpit seemed small. You had to walk though the ead to get to the aft berth, and the head itself was pretty small n(it failed in the only thing my wife told the boat needed to have, a stand-up shower).

It probably is a fast boat, but the rules at the time I feel make it a poor cruiser.

So as a 2001 Hunter owner I would say to look more before locking onto an older Hunter 40.

Que - I recommed you start a new thread and give your requirements and budget if you hope for some input. But there are a lot of "what boat should I get threads" so you may wish to read those first.

[capta]

Originally Posted by mintyspilot

Personally, I'd go ANYWHERE in a 40ft Hunter - especially if I had some pills to deliver!

Capt. Bligh crossed a large swathe of the Pacific in a ship's boat. Shackleton did the same in the South Atlantic. If they can manage it in row-boats then I suspect a 40ft Hunter will be just fine.

(.... and yes Bash - I know you where being tongue in cheek)

TBH, I think that when someone says "you cannot go anywhere in a Beneteau/Jeanneau/Hunter/Catalina/etc/etc" we should all just reply with one or two words

Shackleton!
Bligh!

And just how many folks who read these forums do YOU think have anywhere near the experience and seamanship to equal Bligh or Shackleton? Get a grip.
Bligh was sailing master on Cook's voyages charting the SoPac, Australia and Torres Strait through to Timor and the whole route he sailed in that open boat, he had sailed extensively before. He drew the charts with Captain Cook by hand! He was a fine seaman and more than competent to undertake that voyage; it was not luck that he got all his men to Timor alive!
Folks who frequent these forums should realize that taking a vessel like a Hunter (or one of the numerous other brands that are spoken of with little respect here by EVERYONE other than their owners) to sea would be a foolish endeavor, no matter how many fools have proceeded them.
If your luck runs out, and you do get caught in a force ten storm, or above, or 60 knots (even 45) with a lee shore and no engine, you will wish for the best built boat that money can buy, not some cheaply built mass production condo that floats. And that's what so many production boats are built to be today; dockside condos with the occasional sail and they suit THAT purpose to a T.
Sailing isn't that complicated; man has been doing it for something over 3000 years. Understanding one's limitations and those of the boat chosen for a particular purpose is, on the other hand, a much more difficult task when irresponsible information is doled out without regard to the consequences.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by capta

If your luck runs out, and you do get caught in a force ten storm, or above, or 60 knots (even 45) with a lee shore and no engine, you will wish for the best built boat that money can buy, not some cheaply built mass production condo that floats. And that's what so many production boats are built to be today; dockside condos with the occasional sail and they suit THAT purpose to a T.

Well, everyone has an opinion, right? My opinion is that "capta" (IS THAT SHORT FOR CAPTAIN?) is a bit confused about how much breeze comprises force ten.

By the way, short capta, force 10 is not a "storm." It's a "whole gale."

If you're gonna rant, at least try to avoid the ignorant rant, okay? And the lee shore with no engine bit has been done to death. Really.

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by Bash

Well, everyone has an opinion, right? My opinion is that "capta" (IS THAT SHORT FOR CAPTAIN?) is a bit confused about how much breeze comprises force ten.

By the way, short capta, force 10 is not a "storm." It's a "whole gale."

Umm

When high wind speeds are expected, Environment Canada will issue a wind warning in the marine forecast:
Strong Wind Warning (20 – 33 knots) (37 – 61 km/h)
Gale Warning (34 – 47 knots) (62 – 87 km/h)
Storm Warning (48 – 63 knots) (88 – 117 km/h)
Hurricane Force Wind Warning (64 knots or more) (118 km/h or more) (This warning does not mean that a hurricane is expected or is taking place.)

10 48-55 Storm Very high waves (29-41 ft) with overhanging crests, sea white with densely blown foam, heavy rolling, lowered visibility

Beaufort Wind Scale

Wikipedia (Beaufort scale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) equates storm and full gale

[capta]

Originally Posted by Bash

Well, everyone has an opinion, right? My opinion is that "capta" (IS THAT SHORT FOR CAPTAIN?) is a bit confused about how much breeze comprises force ten.

By the way, short capta, force 10 is not a "storm." It's a "whole gale."

If you're gonna rant, at least try to avoid the ignorant rant, okay? And the lee shore with no engine bit has been done to death. Really.

OK, you guys got me! I meant force 12, but hey, you are absolutely right, I am wrong and stupid and ignorant and I'll shut up now.

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by capta

OK, you guys got me! I meant force 12, but hey, you are absolutely right, I am wrong and stupid and ignorant and I'll shut up now.

Force 10 (48-63 knots) is a storm according to NOAA and Environment Canada, and wikipedia (48-55 knots) also equates it to a whole gale.

Force 12 is a hurricane force wind.

As Joe Friday says "Just the facts."

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by capta

Folks who frequent these forums should realize that taking a vessel like a Hunter (or one of the numerous other brands that are spoken of with little respect here by EVERYONE other than their owners) to sea would be a foolish endeavor, no matter how many fools have proceeded them.

Do you spend your time on CF looking for thread titles that you feel are going to provide you an opportunity to continue your "expert knowledge" trashing of "production boats"?

And the same 3-4 people getting on every thread about a "production" boat and going though all their hate/fear/expert opinion is a far cry from being "everyone".

Interesting how experts like you always seem to know more about, and have more experience with, a boat than all the owners of said boats. Facts from owners just seem to get in your way and therefore you go into insult mode saying how all the owners must be wrong at best and fools in general.

Considering you apparently own an old production boat, a brand that couldn't stay in business, what is your real point? I'm sure that had there been the internet in the 70s and 80s the old timers would be spewing out the same crap about Pearson's as you do about current boats!

[capta]

Don Lucas,
You and I have gone round and round on this one before and it’s interesting that while I comment on Hunters specifically and other poor quality (IMO, of course) production boats you, on the other hand, ALWAYS attack me personally. And now you attack Pearsons, a strange way to go.
I think it quite fair to suggest to someone who, in his own words, “how reliable a hunter 40 would be crossing the pacific” intends open ocean sailing, that perhaps he should look at other vessels for a voyage of that nature. Though I have not visited the Hunter owners’ forums, I gather from reading the general forums that there are a lot of problems with these boats that are specifically addressed there. The ones I have sailed or aided owners with their problems, have not (again IMO) been of a quality that I could recommend to anyone, if asked, for ocean sailing, which is of course what this OP is doing; asking for an opinion.
In my career, I have sailed many production boats from the States to the Caribbean, from the Caribbean to the States and around the Caribbean, including the Bahamas that I did not feel were suitable ocean cruising vessels. Many were bareboats at the end of their contract and in very bad shape. But a professional delivery is not a cruise; it entails moving a vessel as fast as possible from point A to point B, no matter the conditions. That is when one really finds the faults and problems with the design and/or construction quality of a vessel.
Who better to advise these novices, than someone who has taken vessels to sea which even their owners would not or could not? Would you have purchased a Chrysler in their “bad years” even if an owner or two had gotten lucky and loved theirs? Maybe you did?
I have no idea of how much sailing, offshore or otherwise, you have done on your Hunter. But would you or could you, in good conscience, recommend a Hunter 40, unequivocally, for this intended voyage? If so then please step forward and do so and let’s not make this such a personal deal.

[sailorboy1]

Gee now, you call all production boat owners foolish and state yourself as the spokesman for EVERYONE and you say my respond is a personal attack.

I will state once again my position; it's that not all production boats are good, it's that not all production boats are bad! I don't know about all production boats and am continuously amazed at how many do seem to know everything about every model in order to made such all encompassing statements!

And it wasn't me who ducked the specific question of a Hunter 40! If you look in the thread I commented on what my personal experience with a Hunter 40 is. You on the other haven't stated any personal experience of a Hunter 40 and instead have used the thread to continue on your production boat bashing (on which a Pearson such as you own also is)!

[boatman61]

LOL... sorry but as 90%+ of boats today are production boats it seems much ado about nothing...
I delivered a so called 'Blue Water' non production boat recently and to be honest I had a less stressful safer ride in an '87 Oceanis 321 SMX to UK non-stop in 47 days back in '01 than I ever had on the 53 foot steel 'Blue Water' boat.... conditions were similar... nothing over F8.
Boats last longer than people and can take more than is thought capable... just don't push them... the weakest link is often the skipper...