No good deed goes unpunished...

[eherlihy]

So I was working on my boat, which is still covered and on the hard today... I was using my butane torch to seal some plastic plugs related to a minor project that I've been working on when after heating one of the plugs I dropped it down the companionway. I shut the torch off, and went down the companionway to look for the plug in the cabin. While I was down there looking, I smelled this funny smell. Once I found the plug, I stuck my head back out of the companionway to find that the smell was more intense, ... and SH!+!!! THE TORCH WASN"T OFF!!!!

I shut it off and found this new bit of "character" added to my companionway hatch:

The burn goes through the textured gelcoat into the underlying glass. Yes, I was lucky that I didn't burn the whole boat down.

Any ideas of how I should proceed to improve the appearance of the companionway from here?
The boat is an O'day 35, and the companionway hatch was in great shape before this incident...

 

[PaulK]

If you can take the hatch off and get it to a fiberglass repair guy he'll probably be able to shoot new gelcoat over your burn marks and then use a female mould made from the existing nonskid to repeat the nonskid pattern. Otherwise you could overfill it with epoxy goop yourself and try scoring it just before it hardens to match the nonskid. But then you'd have to paint it, because the colors wouldn't match.

 

[LeoLambert310]

or you could do what the c-310 has.

 

[Stu Jackson]

eh, sorry to hear about your new friend. Shouldn't happen to folks like you who give so much back to the community.

I think the non-skid may not be the primarily controlling interest in this repair. I haven't stood on my hatch, ever. The dodger gets in the way!

While the C310 port seems nifty and useful, it may be difficult to get a curved one in on your hatch.

Removal and professional repair seems a cautious step for continuity.

Otherwise, since one doesn't see it often (I leave mine pushed forward all the time I'm on the boat anyway), then matching the color and a perfect non-skid pattern may not be necessary if you, for example, just paint it all white when you're done with the repair.

Good luck. If any more whako ideas pop up, I'll let you know.

 

[capta]

If you were to repair it as Stu suggested, you'd certainly have plenty of time to find that 'good deal' on a replacement hatch, if you so desired.

 

[Sefuller]

I feel your pain, a similar thing happened on our boat but it was at the helm seat which I re-cored and covered with Isiteek anyway. There is a thread on the forum of the restoration of an O'day 25 I believe where the owner made female molds of the nonskid which he explains in detail. One of these years I want to make an acrylic sliding hatch since I hate the way the existing hatch was fiberglass sliding on wood - I made thin HDPE runners for mine to slide on but it's still balky and annoying. You could always fair the whole hatch and paint it with Kiwigrip or something similar...

 

[Ken Cross]

Just patch it with epoxy and sand the whole thing smooth with a belt sander, then paint it.
The paint should be a somewhat contrasting color so it looks right. You don't need nonskid there.

Ken

 

[Bob J.]

That's the pits. To take the hatch off & bring it to a fiberglss guy, not going to be cheap.
Being a yankee, which means I'm cheap , I'm with Sefuller on this. Grind it out, fair it & trowel some Kiwi grip on it. It'll look nice & the repair won't cost alot of money.

 

[Ned Ludd]

Bummer to be fixing things only to make something else worse . I guess it depends on what your comfort level is with how things look. I would be inclined to fill it and Kiwigrip the non skid area of the hatch, the professional repair suggested will match the original but seems costly to me. Another option would be to make a canvas hatch cover.

 

[eherlihy]

Thanks for the words of encouragement, and the ideas.

To provide some detail on what I was working on, I was redoing the bungs for these companionway hatch cover runners.

You can read more about that project here: http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-maintenance/265986-pleak.html

I actually DO step here when putting the sailcover on, so I would prefer some non-skid.

My first thought is to use Isiteek... However, I know that Gibco Flex-Mold sells the correct texture pattern mold. I have confirmed that it is this one

#319 - "O'day Weave," available through West Marine, Jamestown Distributors, and iBoats.com. This gelcoat color is almost impossible to match (I have tried several minor repairs, and never gotten it close enough, I have become very good at matching the hull color though).

Please keep the ideas (and positive Karma) coming...

Thanks!

 

[arf145]

Wow, how could this happen? Hard for me to comprehend because I never, ever cause new problems while fixing old ones

 

[eherlihy]

This is what got me thinking of Isiteek; - credit @Sefuller

 

[BigEasy]

Think about doing it yourself.
There are many companies out there that can computer match gelcoat, one is http://www.fgci.com in Florida.
Check to see if they have the color of your hatch on file or send them a sample. Patch the burned area and use the corresponding nonskid template to match to the surrounding nonskid. If the color match isn't satisfactory then roll & tip the entire surface of the hatch or spray it.

 

[njlarry]

Sorry to hear that. I think that if you merely repainted it, no one would notice. If you want a prefect repair check the use of flex mold on the boatworks.com youtube fiberglass repairs.

 

[jibes138]

See the thread on the O'Day forum from 25YearsLater on his 27 restoration. He goes into great detail on matching the non skid on his decks when he re-cored the side decks. Maybe he has the molds and would lend them to you. He is up in NY I think near Lake Ontario.

 

[jibes138]

The more I think about it, since you have a very good male plug would you be interested in using it to make a female mold and then make a whole new companionway slider? You could just fill in the burnt area with some filler and press into that the non skid pattern from the adjacent area that you would need to mold first. That slider is a wear item as the flanges riding in the wood slots keep getting thinner as time marches on. You could sell them to Rudy for distribution.

 

[Sefuller]

While the Isiteek is fairly thin (probably 1/4" installed), it may not clear the opening in the storm hood. It will also add weight to the hatch and as @jibes138 points out the flanges are already a wear point. Help me figure out a slider system where we can use a nice acrylic hatch!

This is what got me thinking of Isiteek; - credit @Sefuller

 

[eherlihy]

I am sure that I can fit the extra ¼" and the flanges are no longer a wear point for my hatch. My companionway hatch runners are made from polyethylene .

From another forum;

"I couldn't stand the original teak hatch runners anymore. They were weathered and looked like hell. One of them finally split, so I had to make a decision; buy new teak from D & R Marine, and finish and re-finish every couple of years, or try an experiment.

Don't get me wrong, I love the look of teak brightwork. I still have dorade boxes that I need to refinish every 5 years, or so. but I prefer to keep this to a minimum. I have already gotten rid of the old teak handrails, and replaced them with 304 stainless steel. 7 years later, they still look good. If I want to make them look great, I get out some 400 / 600 grit abrasive, and polish them up.When I bought the boat, this is what they looked like;

This is what they look like now;

So on to the companionway hatch runners;

This is what they looked like last week;

I was measuring because I just couldn't take it anymore.

I found a place that sells DIMENSIONAL PLASTIC LUMBER: plasticlumberyard.com

In their products they have 2x2 plastic in teak in 12 foot increments. Unfortunately, they only ship in lengths of 8 feet or less. However, the length that my O'day 35 needed is only 5 feet, so I had them cut one in half. and ship it to me.

I removed the old runners, and used them as templates to mill on my table saw. I pre bored and countersunk the holes for the fasteners. I was able to make bungs for the screwholes with a punch, and sealed them in place with heat. So far, it seems to be a vast improvement;

Now the hatchboard retainers are lookin' shabby...

My only real concern is that there may be some problems due to expansion and contraction. If so, I'll deal with that in the spring."

 

[eherlihy]

If you were to repair it as Stu suggested, you'd certainly have plenty of time to find that 'good deal' on a replacement hatch, if you so desired.

Where would one look for a replacement companionway hatch (either NOS or used) for an O'day 35?
And thanks to whoever suggested that I make a mold from mine, but how much of a market is there for these things?
My guess is that the cost of producing a mold would be in the thousands of dollars.

 

[capta]

Where would one look for a replacement companionway hatch (either NOS or used) for an O'day 35?
And thanks to whoever suggested that I make a mold from mine, but how much of a market is there for these things?
My guess is that the cost of producing a mold would be in the thousands of dollars.

I don't know the boat, but I assume there are quite a few around. Usually things like companionway hatches are used on several models a company produces, so I doubt they are rare. Aren't there owners' groups for O'days? Sooner or later someone will be parting out a boat that's not worth repairing.
I believe there is a national search engine for Craig's list as well, where someone might be parting out an Oday. Used boat parts stores are springing up like weeds, so they might be of help. If there is a national database for them that would be really nice for guys like me with slow and undependable internet, when I need something used.
Like I said, time is on your side, unless you plan to sell the boat soon.