Hunter 18.5 Hatch Guides

May 29, 2020
5
Hunter 18.5 Northport, NY
Hello fellow 18.5 owners. I am looking to reinstall missing wooden hatch guides on either side of the sliding hatch (on top of the deck) over the companionway. The current owner of the boat I am purchasing took these wooden guides off the boat (I guess it was easier than refinishing the wood). At any rate, the guides are flat, maybe around 18" long, 3" wide and about 1/2" thick made out of teak. They are held down by screws. If you could, I need to know the actual size of these guides to see if I can either fabricate them myself, or purchase them. Thanks!
 
Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
I have made slides out of oak. I ripped them on a table saw. You can buy 1" x 1" oak posts in the furniture wood isle at Lowes. The trick is to space the slide high enough that the companioway hatch moves freely but low enough so the hatch sits snug. I used SS washers as spacers and just did a trial and error approach until I had the height correct. I have found this stuff helps a lot also... (see pic)

If I were doing it again, I would buy a nice piece of Trex instead of oak and rip that to the correct size. Then there is no varnish issues etc. On the boat I have now, the slides are made of HDPE and they are essentially maintenance free so I think Trex would work very well and look nice.

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Jan 7, 2011
4,727
Oday 322 East Chicago, IN
I don’t have your boat, but I wanted to replace a few high-maintenance teak parts on the exterior of my 1988 O’Day 322, namely the teak hand rails and the teak hatch trim that held the sliding hatch in place As shown below.

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I found some brown PVC and white PVC boards and made new handrails and trim...
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Now, I don’t need to spend t sanding and varnishing teak...and can spend more time sailing!

Greg
 
Jul 23, 2019
100
Hunter 18.5 Revelstoke
I just replaced mine and can measure the old ones and post later today... remind me if I forget!
 
May 29, 2020
5
Hunter 18.5 Northport, NY
I just replaced mine and can measure the old ones and post later today... remind me if I forget!
Hi ... do you have length, width and thickness specs? I will also put a radius on the corners. Thanks!
 
Jul 23, 2019
100
Hunter 18.5 Revelstoke
Hi ... do you have length, width and thickness specs? I will also put a radius on the corners. Thanks!
How’s this, thickness is 3/4”.
The 2 grooves on the backside are 1/8” deep and 3/8” wide and there doesn’t seem to be a real need for them unless they are to stop the boards from warping. Mine looked like they were factory and looked like white oak. Let me know if you need more detail(s)
 

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