Dennis Brewer
The problems encountered with the pedestal steering on the Hunter 26 included the wheel too far forward in the cockpit, pedestal too high and of course the floor/riser plate which the pedestal sat on were not strong enough. I cut out the rear portion of the foot support in the cockpit floor re-laying a new sectin of floor with it beefed up underneath by adding marine ply that was fiberglassed in. This elinated the riser plate which brought the pedestal back and onto a structurally supported floor. As for the section of toe rail that was cut out, I shortened it some and re attached it to the rear of the section that was cut out. In addition, the stern rail was lengthened in height to make a pedestal seat that was attached to it. Also ran the contols for the motor onto the pedestal. In some cases, added the guard in order to have instruments next to the pedestal. It was alot of work and very costly. To help you, the only thing you might look into is fiberglassing marine ply underneath the floor which is accessible by removing the plate in the rear berth. Just make sure that you do not fiberglass in the nuts holding the pedestal or you will have fun getting at them if you ever have to remove the pedestal. Happy sailing
