I bought a Hunter passage 450 in May 2008. My first Sailboat. I know,.... everyone says too much boat for a new guy. I tell you this so that you do get a second opion.

I found a crack while diving under the boat, where the keel joins the hull. Made lots of calls to see what to do. Here is what I did.

Hall the boat out of the water and sit it on the Keel.

Pull up the floor, and remove the Batteries under the table. Remove the deck the batteries sit on. There are 7 bolts that hold the keel on. Keep digging until you find seven.

Most people will have to rent the 3/4 drive rachets and exstensions. You will need about three feet of extiension.

Back off the bolts a little. Then torque them as follows.

1 325lbs

1 1/4 546lbs

1 3/4 732lbs

Wait one day and do it again.

That is all you have to do.

Some say you can do this while in the water. I think this is true. Just do each bolt one at a time. But I needed a bottom job also.

When I lifted mine out. An 1/8 in crack was there that closed up when put on the keel. She was very loose.

My seven bolts came off with my fingers. Yes, they were that loose. I have a dry keel no water, and therefore no corrosion.

My boat is 12 years old.

I also removed each bolt all the way. I put cork and 5200 between the steel plate and the hull on the inside of the boat.


The touque values are a function of the bolt size. Therefore you can use these settings for any hunter.


I had a hard time finding out how to do this. But it really was very easy. Hope this helps someone.

One more things. I have been told that a few Hunters have lost there keels. Hunter says this is not true. But it is not hard to retorque these while the boat is in the water. I would say half a day job.

jcallejo@bellsouth.net