How can I help?
Alan, What do you want? How can I help you? I did remake my hatch boards about 12 years ago. I purchased the teak from a local specialty wood supplier. Another way to put this is that I spent ~$100 for just the wood to remake my hatchboards. This may have included $20 for planing the wood to the exact thickness. They have gotten this "lot" charge from me several other times, before I realized what they were actually doing. If your friends have a planer, you could save this charge. Bayard, my original hatch boards were made from teak plywood. When I picked up my boat from the dealer, new, I already knew that the hatchboards were going to need replaced. I had repaired them a few times, with epoxy, but after about 10 years, they were just completely garbage, and I only used them in the winter, when the boat is under a thick "truck tarp" cover, (not one of the blue tarps). The thickness of the plies on the original hatchboards was VERY thin, especially on the faces. (I do still have the original hatchboards). I remade my hatchboards to be the same size as the originals in thickness and all the angles, but I made mine from solid teak, not plywood. It's been a long time since I made them, but I do remember as Bayard mentioned, that there was a good amount of fitting involved, especially the top one along the sliding hatch. I mostly have hand tools, like a circular saw, and router, but I also have a fixture that I use to hold my circular saw, and I am relatively sure that I used that to get the angles correct. If you aren't that concerned, you might be able to just use a saber saw for the side angles. If your friends have a large table saw or large band saw, making them would be easier. (When I say large, I mean with a large table). What kind of wood did you have in mind? If it's not teak or mahogany, or some other wood that can take the marine environment, you are just wasting your time, and you really would be better off just buying a set of hatch boards, maybe even a plastic set. That's my opinion. I do keep my hatchboards under a naugahyde cover, that snaps onto the snaps from the pop-top cover, plus two snaps that I added onto the rails that the top sliding hatch slides on. Mine look fine after about 12 years, but I think that a pouch for them is probably a good idea. Mine now get more abuse just sitting inside the boat while we are sailing, (from being rubbed by the whisker pole and boat hooks), than they do from the weather. Anyhow, if you want the measurements just reply and I will measure mine for you. I don't know if it's me, but working on the boat is a little different than working on a house. I think it's because there are so many curves, and almost nothing is square. This comment applies to the hatchboards and the fitting that you will have to do to get them perfect. Aldo