Has any Hunter 31 owner had issuse with the mast support failing? I noticed some rippling in the head liner, and am quite sure that the support beam is starting to fail. I have owned this boat for 1 year now. I have reviewed the mast support posts from this site but they are for boats other than a 31. Any comments would be appreciated!
Mast Support Failing
- Thread starter CheersAYC
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The H31 and 34 are pretty much the same construction under the mast. In order to inspect from inside you need to remove the door jamb to the head. If you look closely there are wood plugs that cover the screw heads in the wood covering the front side of the compression post. Remove the head door from the hinges and those screws after popping the plugs. That piece will come off and you can see the actual compression post inside the teak cladding and even peek up in the wire chase to look for compression or rot on that transverse piece of wood inside the fiberglass beam. Its not the deck that supports the load from the mast, it is a solid couple from under the deck to the top of the compression post. The deck in essence just floats from one side of the hull to the other. Many of the DIY repairs that have been done are quite effective and only require a small cut in the beam after the post is removed in order to cut that transverse wood and shove it out of the way, then put a block of aluminim or a stainless steel spool in its place. Don't use wood again. The hole can be covered with the post again and a little trim, or a slightly larger thin plate after trimming off the end of the post slightly.
It is best to do when the mast is pulled so if there is any leaking through the wire pass through, it can be caulked to eliminate that problem (water intrusion) if it exists. There is a short PVC pipe there acting as a standpipe.
Allan
It is best to do when the mast is pulled so if there is any leaking through the wire pass through, it can be caulked to eliminate that problem (water intrusion) if it exists. There is a short PVC pipe there acting as a standpipe.
Allan
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