Re-bedding hatches

[Ron Hill]

Guys : BTW, 3M4200 is listed as an adhesive/sealant and did a great job on my center hatch.

A thought

[tommyt]

Thanks for all the advise on rebedding hatches. The hatches on Escape Hatch are Lewmar Ocean Series and I was very pleased when taking them off to find that Catalina in 2004 was using Butyl Tape to bed them. After removing screws the hatches lifted off easily and the Butyl was still soft and sticky. Took a while to clean off so as to start with a clean surface, but certainly much easier that silicone.

It looks as though someone new to the saw cut the hatch opening over the V-berth. I think they got more than planned and then filled with epoxy to build that section back out. Both top corners had minimal overhang by the hatch. Probably 1/2 inch compared to a full inch on the balance of the edges. Put down a double layer of Mainsials Butyl Tape and dropped the hatch in place. Started loading yesterday, gave the screws another 1/2 turn today, and will wait for warmer weather when tarp is pulled to do final tightening.
In our cool northern weather the boat cover made a great greenhouse to work in, although I am getting a little too old for crawling around all the superstructure.    Now we will wait until in the water to find out just how good a job I did. Right now I am pretty confident it will seal well.