Leaky Companion way

[Brian S]

Thanks, BrianS, that's good to know. I have a sailbag that fits the description of your final sentence. The interior coating is flaking off.

Yup, the interior of my bicycling gear bag is shot like that. Quite a few years ago a buddy wanted to go camping, and pulled out his trusty old tent. The rainfly was stuck together, and the inside of the tent really smelled weird (more weird than a well-used tent normally smells.) I was like "Dude, you work for a camping gear retailer. Buy a new tent!" And he whined, "But this tent is such a good tent." And I further ribbed him, "Yeah, like 20 years ago!" It was especially fun because I also work at the same retailer, and I know we can pro-deal stuff directly from manufacturers at a significant discount. That's why I have like 3 tents, 4 sleeping bags, all kinds of sleeping pads. All for one person who doesn't camp that much anymore. Hah, I bet my favorite tent's rainfly is all stuck together now!!!

 

[Therapyg]

For the initial question, I have an O'Day 34 and had that same problem. I bought some Sunbrella material myself and made a cover quite easily on my wives sewing machine. I got some UV resistant thread from the sam place I ordered the material. A few snaps placed on the teak runners and no more leak. I even made a second cover with a fiberglass screen insert to keep bugs out for the summer months. A piece of stainless chain is sewn into the bottom to keep it in place. It was easier than I expected and honestly took about 2 hours to measure, sew and finish.

 

[Pat]

Concerning the mud daubbers, etc. we stuff a dryer sheet on each end of the hatch (where the gap is) and it does keep the daubers out...but this can be a pain if people are going in & out a lot....but mud daubers do not care for dryer sheet fragrance.
Pat

 

[Randall Schmidt]

great story, how'd you attach the snaps to the teak?

 

[Randall Schmidt]

I went back tonight and felt around the cabin top forward edge under the slider and found an inch think rotting insulation. I peeled some of it off then realized that it was not encumbering the hatch slide path. I pull the hatch aft with more vigor and got it to move an inch and a half further when the boards are not in place. I see there is a fiberglass "ramp" of sorts that acts as a stop for the slider. When I moved it farther aft it opened a good size gap on the forward edge that I image could be a good bug passage. See the photo. I put the boards in and got the slider to go aft of the boards by maybe 3/8 to a 1/2 inch. See photo with less of a ramp showing. I stuffed plastic bags in the corner gaps for now and expect this will weather the coming storm this weekend - remnants of the hurricane. I took measurements and am planning the canvas cover.

 

[Pat]

On our LE, it is very easy to remove the plexiglass (?) hatches, go below, then put the hatches back in, close the hatch..makes for a very enjoyable evening, esp. with the lanterns lit....the view outside at night w/the plexiglass hatches is great...esp. during storms.....maybe I did not understand the question in the post above.. Pat

 

[Pat]

I think the snaps as shown in the photo above are a great idea....Pat

 

[LoveTwoSail]

We do our design and sewing.

The snaps come in different mounting forms; for around the hatch, we use the base snap with a screw for mounting. Carefully drill a correct hole, slightly smaller than the snap screw; also wrap a piece of tape around the drill bit so it doesn't go in too deep.

For the material, we use a two piece snap, mounted through a hole in the material, then lightly hammered together. There are 3 or 4 of these on each side of the hatch cover, which then push on to the snap bases previously screwed on each side of the hatch.

 

[wing15601]

Cut a piece of 3/4 thick teak to fit across the aft edge of the hatch with the underside slightly beveled so water will drip off without touching the boards.

 

[Tom Potter]

I've since sold my O28. I use to pull the hatch back until it hit the boards, then lift the hatch a tiny bit and pulled it back a little more until it dropped over the hatch boards.