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How To Re Seal A Hatch Frame Correctly, And How To Screw It Up!

Another leak broke out on Blue Moon this past fall, once again caused by sloppy and inattentive work done by Hinckley Yacht Services up in Southwest Harbor, Maine. Under Blue Moon‘s prior ownership, all of the portholes and hatches on the boat were replaced a few years ago. Despite the recency of these installations, so far one porthole frame and the small deck hatch above the nav station have sprung leaks around the frame, in both cases due to inadequate preparation of the mating surfaces between the deck and the hardware. Operating on the assumption that the same (poor) process was followed for all of the deck hatches and portholes, I fully expect to have to re do all of the work Hinckley charged the prior owners many, many thousands of dollars to complete just a handful of years ago (we have the receipts!). The prior owners are wonderful people and had no reason to distrust Hinckley’s methods, particularly given the rates Hinckley charge. For the benefit of other Sabre owners, let’s walk through the right way to re bed portholes and hatches on a fiberglass boat and see where Hinckley cut corners and has thereby generated a ton of unnecessary work for us.

On both of my Sabres, white caulk was used to seal the gap between the underside of the hatch frames and the under-deck headliner. This is entirely for aesthetic purposes, as the last thing one would want to do is to trap water in this space that had already leaked past the seal at the deck. To remove Sabre hatches, begin by breaking the bond between this strip of sealant and the headliner to make the hatch easier to remove. In the photo above you can see the break being made.
Continue reading How To Re Seal A Hatch Frame Correctly, And How To Screw It Up!