Hatches

[Manny]

The other day my mind was trying its best to make me forget about the cold weather and came up with the thought that possibly I could make new hatches for my boat. So here goes - anybody out there ever make there own hatches? If so, what materials were used and how complicated did it turn out to be?Manny

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

Cant remember, but...

There are many books available in most libraries on sailboat maintenance and repair. Most of the ones I read have some pretty detailed info on how to make hatch covers. Of course, you will have to have some woodworking skills a litle beyond basic house carpentry. If you have any experience building furniture or cabinets, you should have no problem.  Tony B

 

[r.w.landau]

Manny, What are you trying to do?

Are you making a hatch for an existing opening or are you thinking about adding a new opening and where and is it on your 27 Cherubini?r.w.landau

 

[Manny]

Replacements, R.W.

My Hunter has two hatches. They are made of plastic and are pretty much at the end of their service life.Manny

 

[r.w.landau]

Manny, you could use your old

hatch to make a mold for a new hatch.They are fiberglass aren't they?Can you post a picture of what you are replacing?You could carefully coat the old hatch with mold release and then lay fiberglass matt over it and let cure. Break it free from the old hatch and lay up a new hatch. Apply mold release to the new mold and starting with gel coat then some fiberglass matt and some either fiberglass cloth or some woven roving. I would lay it up in polyester resin. You could use epoxy but it is just more expensive.r.w.landau

 

[Waffle]

I had a hatch cover rebuilt by a fiberglass shop

they did a great job and it look like brand new all for $150.

 

[r.w.landau]

A solid fiberglass layup is translucent .

If you use the old hatches as molds,you would need to protect them from the epoxy or polyester resin. U-Haul sells packing tape that is not affected by polyester resin. You could make a mold and fair it on the inside then lay-up new hatches. The problem would be the deck mounting. It looks like you are already doing some serious deck repair. The hatches should be easy after the deck repair.Maybe a teak deck frame wth a translucent hatch???If you don't use gelcoat, the lay-up will be translucent.r.w.

 

[Ross]

Since you seem to be only planning to replace

the movable portion of the hatch then R.W.'s suggestion for using the old hatch as the basis for a mold for the new is as good and as straight forward as you can get.