Leaky forward hatch repair.

I began repairing the forward hatch now that we have a little sun. This rain has been non stop for over a week and im soaked enough to begin the process without hesitation. Our Westsails forward v-birth hatch looks good enough to reuse but needs some serious help. She has been leaking for quite some time and the plexiglass has nasty crazing. Lucky for me the wood is in great shape only with a few areas of weakness that ill strengthen up.

Before, notice original plexiglass.

Check out the Frankenstein patch work, ill try to keep this morbid detail to give it some style once all assembled again. I'm thinking of turning the hatch 180 degrees so the hinges have new material to bite into. 

The Frankenstein repair.

Some prior lessons I've learned is to work with what you have and embrace the medium in wich your working in. So here goes...

First I removed the wood dowels using a drill bit that was a little smaller than the dowels. Dont drill to deep as the delicate screws lay underneath. Next I plucked out most of the remaining dowel and cleared out bits leaving the exposing wood screw heads. All the screws were slot head type, and required tremendous force to keep them from stripping.

I was amazed to discover that the plexiglass was 1/2" thick. It was bedded to the window frame with some type of black compound, I need to figure out what it is and get my hands on it. In the mean time I'm ordering a replacement of Lexan that is cut to order. 

  

Removing dowels and screws.

All removed now pull the plexiglass 

While I wait for the Lexan to ship I decided to attent to the Frankenstein repair on the frame. It's weak from years of holding hinges and pirate fights. Over its lifetime its had all sorts of metal screws and gear inserted that now has a distentive gnarly look. 

I began sanding lightly with 80 gritt, I need a good base for the epoxy to adhear to. Once sanded and cleaned up I placed some tape in areas where the edjes were chipped and needed more material build up. I need the edjes good and square to make a tight joint again. 

I then mixed up some epoxy and added some fiber glass that I cut into tiny 1/4" strips. This will add strength and stiffen up this area.  

Now with the first coat applied its already ten times stronger and im able to keep the scared look. Ill now sand the entire frame with 220 grit and finish it off with epoxy or varnish, not sure yet. 

To be continued as soon as the Lexan arrives...