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Review of the Hunter 35.5 by David Malmberg

Year built 1992  
Location of boat San Diego, Ca  
The boat is sailed on Open ocean  
How the boat is used Weekends and longer  
Normal wind strength Press here to select  
Average size of crew 2-4  
Liveaboard? No  
Owner bought the boat in 1998  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? Yes  
Gear that's been added assymetrical spinnaker and rig for same, North marathon 3DL's, spectra hailyards, top shelf turning blocks, went to double line second reef to eliminate that goofy car that jams, an autoprop (6 knots at 1800 rpm, 7.4 knots wide open, a huge improvement!). As for electronics, the usual, plus chartplotter interfaced with ST4000, two vhf's, epirb, two properly mounted golf cart batteries for the house bank and a heart 1500 watt inverter. I replaced the puny bilge pump with a man sized unit, and added a dripless shaft seal, resulting in bone dry bilges. I had a complete set of canvas done, including a 13x22ft awning, rigged over the boom with collapsible poles that stow in the v berth. My boat came with refridgeration, so I didn't have to add that.  
Structural or complex improvements I replaced the cheap thru hulls with top quality ones, added a macerator with it's own thru hull,and faired in the keel. For Catalina trips, I added extra tankage forward, for a total of 150 gallons (normally empty). Nothing complicated.  
The boat's best features Speed, especially to weather. The interior layout is also well thought out.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. All the rig hardware was the cheesiest junk. I r eplaced it all(blocks,line,reefing,furler,fairleads,sails,anchor roller,etc.)  
Sailing characterisitcs I can flat smoke anything under 43ft that doesen't say Jboat on the sail  
Motoring characterisitcs Since I replaced the wimpy bronze shaft with a custom made aquamet22 shaft, and carefully aligned the engine, all vibration vanished. She's very quiet at 1800 rpm cruise, and seems to actually make fuel! I use less than 12 gallons a year. However,my slip is easy to sail into. Lucky me.  
Liveability Very good. The house bank is impossible for me to reach(I'm 6'2) and I hate the grid beam at the compression post. I stub my toe on the beam which drives my forehead into the overhead beam. OUCH!  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) N/A  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any  
Other comments Wet in rough weather, but then it was'nt meant to be a serious blue water boat.  

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