I bought my 290 new in 2002, and have always thought that Hunter did an extremely good job of giving the 290 a big boat feel in an affordable, mid-size boat package. Their use of space is extremely clever with one exception: The fiberglass pedestal always bugged me. It is larger than what is required for its function, and is entirely hollow. It also has almost no usable horizontal surface area for use as a table, and is far too large for the size of the cockpit on this boat. For 11 years this really bugged me. I tried to add some small fold-out tables that are bigger than what came with the boat, but they really weren't very good.
A couple of weeks ago, I decided to bite the bullet and do something about it. There aren't a lot of off-the-shelf options available, such as a standard Edson pedestal, since Hunter put a 1" conduit with wires about 9 inches forward of the wheel. They also have two large bolts that are used to secure the factory structure about 16" in front of the wheel, and the deck is molded to fit around the original structure.
I was able to design a new, more efficient structure that is about 9" shorter on the forward end, and about three inches narrower in the beam dimension. This not only opened up the cockpit, but also allowed the installation of a true fold-out cockpit table that is suitable for serving dinner for four. Also added some rope lighting around the base, which lights the cockpit up nicely at night. The whole project took about four full days and cost about $1000. The most expensive elements were the table itself ($350) and the Navpod ($500). Pics attached.
-Carl
A couple of weeks ago, I decided to bite the bullet and do something about it. There aren't a lot of off-the-shelf options available, such as a standard Edson pedestal, since Hunter put a 1" conduit with wires about 9 inches forward of the wheel. They also have two large bolts that are used to secure the factory structure about 16" in front of the wheel, and the deck is molded to fit around the original structure.
I was able to design a new, more efficient structure that is about 9" shorter on the forward end, and about three inches narrower in the beam dimension. This not only opened up the cockpit, but also allowed the installation of a true fold-out cockpit table that is suitable for serving dinner for four. Also added some rope lighting around the base, which lights the cockpit up nicely at night. The whole project took about four full days and cost about $1000. The most expensive elements were the table itself ($350) and the Navpod ($500). Pics attached.
-Carl
