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Review of the Hunter 42 by John Christensen

Year built 1992  
Location of boat Blaine WA  
The boat is sailed on Bays, sounds, or protected salt water  
How the boat is used Multi-week coastal cruising  
Normal wind strength 16-22 knots  
Average size of crew 2-4  
Liveaboard? Yes  
Owner bought the boat in 1999  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? NO  
Gear that's been added Cruising chute,Storm Jib, 3 anchors, Espar heater, water maker, radar, 3 GPS's, 2 computers, cockpit nav display, chart plotter software, Ham SSB, backstay insulator, antenna tuner, foreward looking sonar, Large (1080 AH) battery, 150A DC Diesel generator, Battery monitor, alternator current monitor (2), Gen hour meter, 200 ft anchor chain, Last Drop shaft seal.  
Structural or complex improvements Replaced canvas dodger with hard dodger, replaced inaccessable bronze through hulls and sea cocks with Marelon seacocks in new accessable location. Replaced rotted out aluminum holding tank with brass fittings and 1" hoses with 3/8" polyproplyene tank and 1.5" hoses. Replaced leaking aluminum fwd water tank with 2 ea 3/8" polyproplene tanks. Orig tank was too large to remove or replace without removing deck. Removed nonfunctional horizontal anchor windlass (it was sitting on an almost horizontal surface and the chain would jam immediatly unless tailed by hand), rebuilt anchor well, reinstalled windlass as vertical windlass positioned so the chain comes off and falls directly into well, added reversing relay to windlass, filled areas in foreward hull where balsa was missing and fiberglass was not wet-out, converted forepeak from just berth to combo work bench, storage drawers and shelves with ability to be converted back to berth on short notice,installed foam insulation between inner and outer hulls to stop constant condensation from draining into all storage areas, removed undersized fan over galley that just blew grease/oil into area between hulls, made sealed duct from new large fan to backwards vent on stbd side (Wind over bow blew back into galley), reversed port and stbd vents so they faced aft. Added large filter before galley fan to remove grease/oil before being ducted out. Added access hatch to passage way so that prop shaft/packing gland was accessable without removing batterys. Replaced small cable from windlass to battery with larger. Replaced badly rated battery switch with one that wouldn't melt and fail at 200A with one rated 500/1000A.  
The boat's best features Good looking, a lot of boat for the price.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. No insulation between hulls causes condensation that drains down inside and soaks anything in storage areas. Galley fan blows hot, greasy air into between the hulls. The moisture condenses and washes the grease down into shelves etc. Fwd facing vents blow against galley fan blowing smoke/grease back into rest of boat. Fwd head hatch faces fwd so that if it is open, any smells from head blow directly into main salon. Windlass position on almost level area guarentees chain will jam. Lack of reversing relay means windlass can't be reversed to clear jam, requiring hammer and prybar to clear. Inaccessability of engin room seacocks without removing batterys means no bilge pumps or lights while trying to get to them. If batterys are disconnected while engine is running, this will prob blow out all lights and electronics. Poor hull construction quality. I found several voids when replacing fwd water tank.  
Sailing characterisitcs Reasonable qualities as a non racing design. Requires 10 kts to make it worth while putting up sail but roller furling main and jib make this easy.  
Motoring characterisitcs With Max Prop, motors at 5-5.5 kts at about 2200 RPM. Sufficent power to go 7.5-8 kts max.  
Liveability See above for changes to make more liveable.  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) When I asked how to get to plumbing in fwd head, was told to take a sawsall and cut a hole in hull, when I was finished, to put a patch over the hole. When I asked for a schematic, I was told that none was available because (Jose?) just walked around the shop floor and told people what to do.  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any  
Other comments  

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