Cruising World – August 2019

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The large weather hood into which the

hatch slides was made with three solid

teak planks, butt-jointed and glued

together. These leaked and had to be

sealed and revarnished before the

hatch could be repaired.

Once its upper veneer was removed,

the remaining curved plywood hatch

panel was salvaged by reglueing some

of the laminations back together.

Apart from the inconvenience of

lifting the old weatherboards in and

out, there was nowhere to stow them

in the cockpit.

The original heavy washboards

were diffi cult to lift in and out every

time we wanted to open or close the

companionway.

After thoroughly cleaning the hatch’s

wood pieces and sanding them to get

ready for refi nishing, I glued a new

fi berglass outer skin on the hatch.

Our new weather doors can be locked

shut from down below using a sturdy

Yale deadbolt I installed.

The upper^1 ⁄ 4 -inch plywood veneer on

the sliding hatch broke in pieces while

being removed from the lower section.

The teak underside of the hatch

was sanded and varnished. Once

reinstalled, it was attractive when

shut and seen from down below.

Two glass panels illustrated with Flor-

ida lighthouses were set into the doors.

They let in light, and I think they add to

the appearance from inside the saloon. RO

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