Leaking Front Hatch on 2011 22 Cruiser

P

Park

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Apr 26, 2025
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11
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Location
Wickenburg
C Dory Year
2011
C Dory Model
22 Cruiser
Before I tear into it..... any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
Is it the hatch, or around the hatch. Many boats have the cutout too large. I have had to add as much as 1/4" of "meat" (glass fibers) all of the way around to make them secure in the fit. This included the brand new Tom Cat.

The "lense" of the Bomar hatch can be repaced. Is there a vent in your Lense?
 
thataway said:
Is it the hatch, or around the hatch. Many boats have the cutout too large. I have had to add as much as 1/4" of "meat" (glass fibers) all of the way around to make them secure in the fit. This included the brand new Tom Cat.

The "lense" of the Bomar hatch can be repaced. Is there a vent in your Lense?
Click to expand...
To be honest, not sure if it's the hatch or the lens but pretty sure it's the hatch. Guess I'll go ahead and pull it to see if my cutout is too large.
 
I have had leaks through the handle. There is a phillips screw in the middle of the pivot part of the handle. Take it all apart and replace the "o" ring inside.
I would check that first before pulling the entire hatch. Thataway is correct, of course. There are many hatches where the opening is cut too big and the sealant around has failed, water into the core and then leaks.
 
A slow drip of brown water around the outside edge of my front hatch foretold sealant failure and wet balsa core. Moderately easy repair by removing hatch, stripping sealant, removing wet balsa and resealing the hull edge with thickened epoxy. Reseated the hatch with new sealant, and this area's now bombproof.
 
thataway said:
Is it the hatch, or around the hatch. Many boats have the cutout too large. I have had to add as much as 1/4" of "meat" (glass fibers) all of the way around to make them secure in the fit. This included the brand new Tom Cat.

The "lense" of the Bomar hatch can be repaced. Is there a vent in your Lense?
Click to expand...
Good Morning Bob, Ctarmigan, What method did you employ to add the Glass fiber? Was it chopped fiber in Silica thickened epoxy. Did you make a form of some sort. I launched the boat and found this leaky front hatch and will attempt a repair in the slip. If I find wet core, should I use new balsa to fill the space where the old core is excavated or could thickened epoxy be troweled in as the sole filler? I know these are vague questions but I'm getting good info from people whom have sone it and I'm getting all the ducks in a row.
 
I have troweled in epoxy with filler and microbaloons into the area of removed balsa core. For the fiber, I cut very thin strips of glass mat and added them slowly as the fairly fast setting resin. It does not take a lot to build up 1/4". It is not unusual that the hatch openings over size, or off center accuracy. You have to fill with some substancial material.
 
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