Trojan Boat Forum

Hello, the front hatch on my ten meter midcabin needs replacing. The current hatch is a 24x24 piece of ploy\lexan maybe 3/8" thick. All of the latches fastened underneath have broken off of the plastic. I tried to epocxy the latches on last year but teh epoxy didn't hold to the plastic.

Has anyone replaced their hatch with a commercial replacement? How big of a job is this? The opening is approximately 22x22 and the dimensions outside of the gasket are 24x24. I do have someone who will make me a new hatch but he recommended we look at replacing the whole assembly with a modern hatch.

Check this company out.

http://www.yachtwindows.com/florida_yacht_contact.html

They do custom windshields and windows. I've had them do some custom Starboard pieces for me. Great customer service.

Scott,

I had my front hatch and two fixed port lights re-made over the winter. You can replace the plexi and hardware if you want to start over with the same design.

I have my nicro solar vent cut into the middle like I did before. Since I wanted to keep that, I didn't look around for a replacement "unit" to drop in place. That might be a nice option, probably easier to open and maybe have a built in screen.

Bob

Thasnk guys,

I wasn't too clear with my original question. I have a friend who will make a new plexi hatch for me with the original design. But I was wondering if anyone had installed a replacement hatch like a Bomar or Lewmar hatch. It seems like the orignal design is flawed with reagrds to the way it seals and especially the way the hardware fastens. Maybe if it's not 20 years old, the plexi holds the screws better?

Hi Scott,

I can only speak from my own experience.

My two factory hatches continue to seal well and the four latches and single support bar also continue to function as intended.

That said, these white, luminous hatches scare me.

They have brown check marks and lines all over them which leads me top believe they are brittle and could go at any time.

The Lewmar Ocean series look really nice, but the question is after 28 years oin the Florida sun every day, would they hold up as good as these factory ones have?

I don't believe they are Lexan, but they may be Lucite or a similar product which is FAR MORE BRITTLE than a polycarbonate product like Lexan.

The material must be strong enough to accept and hold the fasteners. I don't know much about it but I have seen photos of meter series boats with replacement hatches that show throughbolts - something the factory hatches do not have.

A good quality 24" Ocean Series hatch is mucho dinero.

Perhaps replacing the flat productr with the same material is a more reasonable and equally effective choice.

28 years in the Florida sun is as good a torture test as I am aware of .

Keep us all up to date on your fix, as many of us, myself included will soon be doing something similar.

RWS

Scott,

I figured that's what you meant but didn't look hard at that option myself. Select Plastics re-made that forward hatch for me for around $350. A lot for a piece of plastic (yes it is Lexan) but it looks great.

They did change the latches to be thru bolted instead of just screwed into the plastic. I eliminated the two side latches and just using the two in the front. I replaced the seal last year. The two hinges use small bolts and nuts like the original setup. They moved the two outer holes in a bit so they weren't so close to the edge. I haven't connected the prop rod yet, I'm going to try and fabricate some sort of hydraulic mechanism so you just push it open and it stays... like a hood on a car.

RWS, my Lexan was not quite as old as yours and not in the Fla sun but also had a million spider cracks. I tried breaking the old one just to see how strong it was and it's basically unbreakable. I would say it's highly unlikely that someone could walk through it or a wave would break it.

Bob

BobCT wrote:Scott,

<SNIP>

I haven't connected the prop rod yet, I'm going to try and fabricate some sort of hydraulic mechanism so you just push it open and it stays... like a hood on a car.

RWS, my Lexan was not quite as old as yours and not in the Fla sun but also had a million spider cracks. I tried breaking the old one just to see how strong it was and it's basically unbreakable. I would say it's highly unlikely that someone could walk through it or a wave would break it.

Bob

Bob,

Thanks for the info.

I have always been afraid of someone stepping on one of those and ending up in the galley !

Not to hijack the thread, BUT if these darn white hatches are really that strong (and mine don't leak) perhaps I should wet sand them down or paint them white and get a few more years out of them.

I love the idea of usnig the hydraulic rod.

THANKS!

RWS

Hmm, Since mine is really only cracked where the screws went in, maybe I shoudl just through bolt them. If I drilled holes through and put a nice flat head bolt coming down, it may work fine. I still have all the original latches.

How do you seal the through bolts to avoid leakage.

Bob,

Do you have a picture of the micro vent? That could be a nice option to air out the front cabin

I used a piece of Lexan with same color as original. It was a 7/16", and there was no problems drilling in fastners / ancors for for the hatch bolts. I made the whole myself, grinded the edges with sand paper, and at last I used a heatgun to smoothen out traces after grinding. It looks "awsome", and original. I will put in some pics as soon I´ve got them.....

Scott,

Will do, I'm having some glass work done on my boat now so I can't get to it to take a pic until next week. It's all tarped up. I used some 4000 under the bolt heads.

BTW, I meant to remove the battery from the nicro vent (for the winter) but forgot. What I found out is that enough light got through the shrink wrap that it actually worked a lot during the winter. It wasn't cranking away like it normally does but I got some ventilation from it.

Bob