Mid 1980s Hatteras 53' MY

Take your question over to the Hatteras Forum at Sam's Marine. Excellent advice there from guys who know vintage Hatterases, Hatterai?

There's also a fair amount of knowledge here, but you didnt even give us a chance before sending a new member away...

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/hatteras-yacht/3341-new-guy-58-hatteras-questions.html#post13851

We've been refitting a 1981 56. Only have a couple of days actually cruising, but one issue we found while boat searching is that hull blisters are quite common. Another issue that we just zeroed in on, and I have to imagine we're not the only ones to experience it. On our first run we took a considerable amount of sea water in the forward bilge. At 6' I had trouble folding myself down there, and since it was our first day out I couldn't leave the helm long enough to figure out where it was coming from. On our 2nd day out there was no water. So we asked the yard to investigate it. DK what yards have against taking boats out, but instead they went down and pronounced it "dry as a bone". Today we finally took her out for a shakedown, and here came the water. So we shanghied the service manager and sent him down while we cruised. It took him awhile to figure it out, but it turns out that the water is coming in through the bilge pump hose. The outlet has a clamshell covering it, but it's right at the waterline and allows water in when the bow digs through a wave.
We also have hydraulic gears and throttles which takes some getting used to. The pressure needs to be monitored. After sitting through the winter the yard manager moved the boat without checking it, and ended up with no steering or gears. When I checked it today, our 3rd day out, I found all pressures a bit low.

The down side of the 53 is the narrow 15'10" beam which is typical of the 60s root of the boat but by the 80s boat were getting beamier and the 54 of 56 which followed the 53 had almost 2 extra feet of beta which makes a huge difference,

That said, the layout is fantastic. Having the saloon, side deck and aft deck on one level with no steps is great. The aft deck is huge, bigger than the current boats and where we spend the most time

They are built like tanks and and will cut thru chop and wave like a warm knife thru butter.

Blisters can be an issue but usually by now they ve been fixed and in any cases he solid glass bottom is so thick it really doesn't matter much.

A common issue to watch for is rot in the balsa cored deck and flybridge. Over th years extra holes and decaying sealing mean water gets in. It s not a deal killer and can be repaired Lthough a bit time consuming The flybridge assembly was secured with screws and that gets water in the core and cause leaks.

Theses boats have 2 to 3 sea chests along the hull sides for all discharges incl bilge pumps so water should not come in thru a bilge pump discharge. I have to wonder if that bilge pump discharge NYCAP mentioned wasn't installed by yard or owner, in any case it should have had a high enough loop. I seriously doubt the boat left the factory like that.... In 25 years, I d think someone would have noticed.

Another big plus are the fiberglass tanks (will never have to be replaced) and solid systems like heavy duty copper plumbing.

Te Hynautics steering is pretty standard on all boats that size, the Hynautics engine controls are a little less common but bullet proof. But yes, they need to be checked once in a while and you d think a reputable yard would do a basic preflight prior to spring launch. Personally I'll take Hynautics controls over electronics..

Personally budget and slip size permitting I d look at the wider beam 56 otherwise the 53 is a great boat.

Unfortunately blisters were prevelant on most of the 56's we looked at. Still, a small problem. The bilge pump egress looks factory. We're installing a flapper behind the clamshell to prevent water coming in. Possibly the location was changed on later models. As for people noticing, a lot of these boats have become dock queens, and it doesn't take on water except when going into a sea. So an owner/operator/ calm water cruiser may have ignored it.
Those fiberglass tanks aren't so bulletproof. We found a serious leak in our aft water tank and fixed it, only to find there was a 2nd leak in a very inaccessable location in or behind the box the tank sits on. We're thinking about hollowing it out and inserting a plastic water tank on our next lay up. That will require some major surgery behind the bed.

To give the yard manager his due, there was no launch. She'd been sitting at one slip having refit work done, and he moved it to another for other work. Most people aren't familiar with hydraulic gears and just don't know to check...a mistake I'm sure he'll never make again, and one I don't intend to make. Needless to say he owned up to his mistake and immediately repaired the damage.

Most controls (on smaller boats) today are electronic or cable. When I take an unfamiliar boat out of its slip, I pop it in and out of gear quickly to get a feel for it, then go. I move a lot of boats (50+ years on the water / 25 professionally), and until recently wouldn't have known what I was looking for in the ER, and certainly wouldn't have known what pressure it should have been pumped to. Mistakes happen. Like a mentor of mine once said "I don't care how many mistakes you make. Just don't make the same one twice". He obviously had enough pressure to get away from the dock. So I don't blame him. I learned from his mistake. Had he made the move successfully it would have been me crashing when I took the boat out for the first time. Instead I now know a lot about these systems despite having a total of only 3 days working with them.

Well, keep in mind these boats are 20 to 40 years old so who knows what was done. Two fiberglass water tank failures on a single boat is probably unheard off unless someone damaged a fitting, access plate, gauge fitting, etc... These tanks simply do not fail.

Can't get access to see where the second leak is coming from, but the first was where the front wall of the tank rolls into the bottom. No fittings or access plates anywhere near. When a tank carries maybe 700 lbs of water for 30 years things sometimes give. But I expect that the overall structure is solid, which is why we're thinking about just cutting open the top and inserting a plastic tank inside.

Not winterized properly maybe? Winterized, is that the right word? Seems like a northern ritual

She grew up in Chicago, then moved to NY. That'd be a good guess. And yes "winterized" is the right word.

Construction is sound and power is adequate. If you get interested in any 56's, get in touch. I shopped them last fall, from Green Bay to Naples and could probably give you some insights on particular vessels. We also started our search with the 53'/ 54, buy decided on the 56' because of the space and layout.

Hi,

6V92's will not be good big brothers to the 6V53's you have had previously.

If you can find a boat you like with 8V71's in that would be my choice if I was looking for Detroit Diesel power.

Don't be afraid to negotiate. We got a very good deal.
We intend to do most of our cruising at about 10 kts. which is fairly economical, and the boat tops out at about 16 kts. The's one 56 that's supposed to top out at about 19 kts. on the market.

Love your last sentence. Be sure to let us know how that works out. I usually find that my Admiral is about 5 steps ahead of me, but just doesn't let me know until my foot is firmly planted in my mouth.

Very early 53 like mine have 8v71N, by 1973 most had turbos. The naturals will not get the boat on plane making it basically a trawler.

I m pretty sure the 56 has 8V92s, like the 58MY. Very few 53 had 692s

If you re going to stick with the narrow beam, take a look at the 58YF which is basically a 53 with a cockpit, very nice if you re going to spend a lot of time in areas where you re likely to spend time in the water. Up north, it doesn't matter since you can only get in for a few weeks in the summer...