I have a 1979 30 ft Hunter. The I-beam in the bilge is looking pretty bad. It is very rusted and starting to delaminate. How do I go about fixing this problem. Do I have to put in a new beam?
There is a lot of info in the archives about this problem. There's probably more to it than just a rusty I-beam. You need to take a look at the whole compression post column from the mast step to the keel. Is the mast step dishing? If so, it needs to be fixed. To do this you need to de-mast the boat. Check the compression post. You may need to remove the teak facing to do this. I found my post was rotting from the bottom up by sticking a screw driver up through the bottom of the post eventually being able to poke through with my finger. We cut out the rotten wood and replaced and reinforced it. The I-beam was somewhat rusted but still about 80-90% good so I cleaned it and reglassed around it. Don't let it go or you could wind up with major problems. The fix is rather labor intensive but it shouldn't break the bank. Good luck. If I can be of further help, post back to the Cherubini forum. -Roland s/v Fraulein II
Is the problem at the bottom of the post where it is bedded into the keel? Mine looked rusted and bad, but still sound. I treated it with naval jelly to get rid of the rust, then put a collar around it and filled with Instant Set Polyurethane. I dropped one batch so it looked messy, but it seemed to work. cb
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