Removal of hatch cover...
furkolkjaaf
After several hours of hard work, here are a few pictures showing the situation after removing the hatch cover and cleaning everything (all the internal channels were completely packed with sand, dirt, etc.). I used a cutter and a hair dryer to soften and remove the sealant, and then worked my way into the gap with a sail batten to clear the sealant around some of the holes. I did make a bit of damage with the cutter, which I’ll need to repair with gelcoat or filler. It definitely wasn’t an easy job.
A few remarks:
The red arrow shows a spacer, present only on the starboard side, which seems intended to create a gap for water to flow freely inside the channel. But spacers were missing near the other holes and on the port side, which likely means there wasn’t enough space for the water to drain properly.
Sealant was heavily applied along the green lines and only partially along the orange sides. Shouldn’t the sealant be completely absent along the orange lines to allow water to escape onto the deck? Just wondering…
furkolkjaaf
