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Review of the Hunter 38 by EdFin

Year built 2005  
Location of boat San Diego  
The boat is sailed on Bays, sounds, or protected salt water  
How the boat is used Weekends and longer  
Normal wind strength 10-15 knots  
Average size of crew 2-4  
Liveaboard? No  
Owner bought the boat in 2016  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? Yes, or other sized Hunter for the roomy livability. Looked at/for other brands, but this became the best option for size v. price.  
Gear that's been added More fenders! Came with 4, docking big girl requires more  
Structural or complex improvements no  
The boat's best features Aft cabin, double perch seats, roomy cabin, shower you can shower in, nice sized V-berth (we make that the movie room), good space at galley, good deep storage although sometimes/some spots a bit of work to get too, good deep bilge, through holes centrally located, good natural lighting, decent walk around deck, good sturdy arch, good shade coverage. Nice packing gland access, decent engine access. Manual is pretty nice, could use more specs although surprised to find good info on rigging and lines; just no plumbing.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. Wind indicator in-op, very poor cabin light arrangement.. specifically over the galley/stove area. NO red lights down below other than micro at nav-station. Cockpit tables a bit horrible, very easy to accidentally drop...with red wine on them. Also extend forward a bit far providing no footing. Could use just 1 more inch of footing in cockpit, trip a bit especially with 6-8 people. Original Bose is horrible/broke/cant be fixed and now left with hole in bulkhead. Standing water along decks...aft of midships is very poor design by Hunter there. Would be nice to have port access to engine through shower wall. Steps could be configured to raise another 5 inches to make front engine access nicer for... less limber people, still decent access. Sea-Tech (PEX) plumbing... is metric, so NOT universal with much, and will leak in time, but seems a good easy to work system once you figure it out etc. Owners manual could use a bit more specs like plumbing line size/length etc. Although a few emails to Marlow-Hunter returned some info. Head should allow an option for sea-water intake for 2-3 day trips; to avoid drawing off main tankage, although could use a jug filled w/ sea water. Minor things... some more annoyance than problematic  
Sailing characterisitcs Surprised it heels over a bit, though it would be more stable being bigger heavier wider. Otherwise sails great! Enjoying the sailing ease... getting used to the invisible traveler on arch. Finding to properly reef main, have to move furling winch to ratchet and lock in the main. Downwind sailing tricky and limited due to B and R rig, but were not racing and simply need to jibe downwind, carefully pulling main to center before hand. Head sail winches are in nice location, like the traveler lines near helm  
Motoring characterisitcs Yammer 40hp seems adequate, motors at 7kts easily. Wish the oil pressure and water temp gages were hooked up; supposedly this is an extra modification and not standard from Hunter. Very unsettling factor is the heeling over under power when making sharper turns, around 3 knots or so leaving marina, making 90* turn she heels a bit... assuming from the weight aloft from in-mast main furling, we expect it now, and initial wider slower turns when/if possible. Docking can be a challenge in cross winds!!! Be aware of higher freeboard and it catching wind at slower speeds... coming from a smaller boat its new to me; others with bigger boat experience may laugh at that comment and find it normal. Prop walk is good and predictable, finding it easy to perform standing turn leaving our side tie.  
Liveability Very good!! One of the best factors and influenced our buying decision. I can see how these can easily become dock queens !! For 2 of us, we find it a great weekend floating condo get away! We spend 3 weekends on average per month; 3-2 nights. We try to sail as much as possible... but if not were very comfortable lounging and relaxing onboard! Havent anchored overnight yet anywhere.. ... so no idea on that aspect with battery life, rocking and rolling etc. ONE NOTE: our position on a side tie exposes our entire hull to the current, for us when the tide comes in we can hear the water lapping under the aft quarter stern... right under our heads when sleeping!!! Not sure how that will be at anchor. I tied a line to each end of a big swim noodle... and position it under that corner, seems to help a bit... but still quite a bit of slapping noise.  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) Fair-good. 2005 was built by Hunter, before becoming Marlow-Hunter. I called, and emailed with some questions... newer Marlow doesnt have all the information for pre-2010/2011 when they bought Hunter. Id have though all info from previous models would have been transferred, apparently not entirely the case. Our head sanitation lines will need replaced, something Id like to know lengths on before pulling the lines. Marlow did great in researching and getting information.  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any bought private seller... luckily!  
Other comments Great all around boat, were very happy with it, very comfortable with it! Getting used to the handling of it while docking, havent docked at new location yet so not sure how that will go. Sailing her is easy, just figuring out the tricks of the trade with different system configurations from previous boat (Catalina 30). Hoped to handle a bigger crowd of 8-10 people, with 6 its very comfy... but begins to get tight as theres very little cockpit footing. Id almost rather remove the table. Its hard unless your guests are accomplished sailors familiar with how/what to do and you dont have to move around them for anything; furling, unfurling, tacking, sheeting, etc.... but still roomy and were enjoying being able to take more people out than we have in the past! Will shop for another Hunter if ever were to upgrade! The good and bad seem to be well balanced for what we have!  

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