companionway hatch

[Mike]

Ahoy:On my O'day 28 the fiberglass material where the companionway hatch slides on the teak rails is getting worn. I realize that I will have to remove at least one of the rails to pull the sliding hatch and that should be no problem. Three questions;1. Does anyone have any experience doing this repair?2. Can any competent fiberglass repair tech. execute the "fix"?3. Is there an "add-on" storm hatch made to fit an O'day boat available?Looking forward to the answers.Thanks,Mike

 

[Thomas Akin]

Haven't but I'm gonna..

I haven't done this repair but I will have to. I have the same situation. I haven't sorted out exactly what I want to do. I probably will square up the sliding tracks in the teak rails first, in my table saw. They wear more by the stern ends than the bow. I have a fanticy about " repair in place ". Once squared up I'll reassemble the teak and hatch with saran wrap over the teak. I'll take four 10-32 nuts and use them to hold up the corners of the companion way hatch. 1/4-20 nuts if there is room. Then I'll work in some epoxy with the sandable lite filler into the space between the teak and the cover slide rails. When hardened, I'll disassemble the trak and remove the cover and finish up any issues with the epoxy. Paint and final assembly. That's my plan, perhaps this might encourage you to repair it yourself. It's not too hard a job. Or you could scrap the hatch completely and just use a canvas cover...

 

[Mike]

do-it-yourself

Tom:Assuming that I don't want to go the canvas cover route repairing the hatch myself sounds doable. Do you think that some West Systems epoxy without fiberglass roving will be strong enough and endure the slide wear well enough to work? The in-place idea sounds workable as it will give the hatch edge the correct geometry to fit the teak rail. I thought that after I repaired or got repaired the hatch that a teflon slide strip on the rail might be in order. Good luck,Mike