Leaking deck companion way

[123rabelaisgmail-com]

Deck companion way hatch leaking on the upward side.
Any help would be appreciated.

[RichCarter]

This is not unusual. The hatch is not well designed. Here are my notes.
http://www.richardcarter.net/boat/deckRot/

Even after fixing this, I got a bit of a leak last season. The caulk failed on the forward inboard corner. Water accumulated above the headliner and rotted two pieces. The panels started to show ripples and sag, revealing the problem. Ugh! Replacing the whole headliner is not a practical solution. I was able to repair the rotted panels sections by removing them, putting them on a flat surface, and laying in epoxy. Removing the panels is not straightforward. Molding can be removed but they run under the door frames. I used a multi-tool to cut where necessary. When reinstalling, I cut and installed molding to cover the exposed cuts. When replacing molding, I didn’t use brads. Instead, I used screws and left the heads exposed. It will be easier to remove again should the need arise.

I taped the finish side of the panels to avoid getting epoxy on the exposed surface. I put a sheet of plastic sheet on the table and a second sheet over the panels after laying in the epoxy. I put some flat boards with weights to keep the panels flat. The result is not perfect but it looks OK.

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123rabelaisgmail-com

[123rabelaisgmail-com]

Thank you very detailed article it’s time to tackle this problem before the damage gets out of hand.

Steve

[RichCarter]

The gasket around the hatch proved to be unnecessary. Once I got the sealant to adhere, the hatch stopped leaking. I think the problem I was having is related to the silicone sealant that Pearson used. Nothing sticks well to silicon.

[Revery]

Probably not the solution you’re looking for, but both Vagari and Revery have replaced that crappy, leaking, deck-space-hogging slider with a Lewmar size 70 hatch. It takes a bit of cutting and glass work since it’s about 2″ wider and 4″ shorter than the current opening, but it was fairly painless.
Because of the fact that your slider doesn’t allow use of the entire opening, you actually don’t lose any “climb out” space. It also brightens the boat up significantly having a hatch instead of a slab of fiberglass.
The only downside is, for those of us still using the original trim, we have to come up with a solution for trimming it out. I still have not, but it doesn’t look offensive. lol

[Author]

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