stabilizers

[goodkarma]

We presently have a 1983 Hatteras 53 MY with stabilizers. A recent grounding has ruined one of the fins and because the company Seabrace Wilcox is out of business no parts or repair is possible.The question: if you were looking for a 53 Hatteras would you demand stabilizers or look elsewhere no matter the condition/equipment on the rest of the boat?
Insurance may or may not pay for them and I'm wondering about resale before installing new ones at prices from $70K - 123K!

[doc g]

ANy good yard and a machinist should be able to fab a new fin, if that's all you need .........Pat

[Sadey]

Sorry to hear your at that point. Did they fix the hole and put you back in the water yet? My dad and I were the ones that met you at Lauderdale Marine a few weeks ago. Again nice boat.

[SKYCHENEY]

Before owning a boat with stabilizers, I would have said that they are not needed. Now that I own one, I wouldn't own one without them.

If I was in your position, I would take this opportunity to upgrade to new. I would look at all of the fin stabilizer manufacturers. The new digital controls are amazing.

[Scarlett]

I did new Niad stabilizers 2 years ago. I did a little bit of the install work myself. Including buying and installing the cooling pump and connections and some of the electrical work. We went with larger fins. The total cost was just under $70,000. Best addition to the boat we could have made. Here on the west coast almost all of our boating is in the ocean.

[SKYCHENEY]

I did new Niad stabilizers 2 years ago. I did a little bit of the install work myself. Including buying and installing the cooling pump and connections and some of the electrical work. We went with larger fins. The total cost was just under $70,000. Best addition to the boat we could have made. Here on the west coast almost all of our boating is in the ocean.

My original Naiad installation had the cooling water coming off of the engine. When I repowered, I went with a cooling pump but I've been having problems keeping prime with that pump in rough seas. Where are you picking up water with your pump(location of thru-hull)? What pump are you using?

[goodkarma]

ANy good yard and a machinist should be able to fab a new fin, if that's all you need .........Pat

Pat, the fin is a weird design.. open water flow- through, made from aluminum and the brackets and braces are twisted as well. It might be able to be repaired but not worth the effort with all the new electronics.
the question is ..how many 53's have stabilizers and would it prevent someone from buying ours without them down the road.

[ian w]

I had to scrap my Seabrace stabilisers
If l were to buy new ones l would look for some with similar fittings regarding the area where they go through the hull thus saving on fibreglass fabrication
As far as resale is concerned definitely worth more with new stabilisers

[Scarlett]

Sky, I use an Oberdorfer pump that pulls water from the old air con pump thru hull. So far no loss of prime underway. The fact that we are in So Cal we took out all of our AC units and gained a ton of storage space.