H356 2002 Soft hull under heads floor

Jul 1, 2017
64
Hunter 356 Brightlingsea
Our H356 2002 has a "soft" hull under the heads floor, exhibited by a concave dishing of the hull about 2ft in diameter. I thought there was a mod' in the Hunter Support info' but have failed to find any info' there or in the forums. Any advice appreciated.
It looks like I am going to have to remove the heads floor to get to the offending area, and reinforce it after I push the concave area out (with the boat out of the water).
Getting the shower floor out without leaving any damage is going to be difficult.
I have considered using a sucker to pull out the hull, then use an expanding foam to fill the void between the shower tray and the inside of the hull without doing any dismantling, but it's like decorating your hall through the letter box. It's going to need some ingenuity to achieve the required result doing it this way. Perhaps a rolled up plastic bag with a tube inside it to inject the foam into the bag, this way retaining the foam in the required area as the foam expands in the bag.
Any guidance/thoughts?
Thanks
Neil
 
Jul 1, 2017
64
Hunter 356 Brightlingsea
Thank you for the prompt response and the link.
I think I will develop the foam injection idea, in the view that if it doesn't work out then I won't have spent much time/money on the concept, and I will remove the floor of the shower and install a stringer.
Our boat is a bilge keel and stays in the water through the winter, the "dish" has been increasing in size since we have had it. I believe it is responsible for transmitting a lot of engine/prop' noise into the heads as it works as a speaker cone.
I am not sure that the poor weight distribution is a real factor, just a very large unsupported flat-ish hull area. But you are right, there is too much storage volume on that side of the boat, ours lists to port. The area you refer to under the settee is currently occupied with the fridge compressor, but as you say would be the ideal place for my 3 batteries. I have installed a Freezer under the settee in front of the galley sink, so I can't move the fridge compressor there.
 

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19thol

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May 2, 2014
111
Hunter 30 St.Petersburg, Fl
I have the same issue on my '90 30T, I really like the bag with foam idea, gonna try that at the next haul out.
 
Mar 20, 2004
1,746
Hunter 356 and 216 Portland, ME
apparently some 356s were built missing a stringer under that area so that section of the hull is unsupported. after the 356 was introduced Hunter started a second line because the boat was so popular and there were definite quality issues as they trained the crew. Escape (#198) does not seem to have the problem, but her sistership (#199) did! They cut out the head floor, added a stringer, and built a new 'glass floor - she seems fine now. That might be your approach if the foam doesn't work. I don't think it has anything to do with the extra weight to port -it's a pretty small amount and it's not in that area anyway.