Dave, I finally got down there and did that hatch job today. The leak was defendantly coming for the hatch. Or at least one of the leaks was. The leak detector showed the 2 aft corners were leaking and sure enough when I pulled the hatch it was clear it was leaking. That
wood they use is a really crappy design leaving little
wood for the hatch to cover. The inside corner of the wood should be a radius to match the rounded corner of the frame. A square inside corner left the corner of the frame with nothing under it. Also using a miter joint is a poor joint for this. Miters only belong on picture frames on boats. The problem with miters is as they expand and
contract with humidity the wood is forced to open up as each piece pushes against the other. A much better joint would be a half lap. On this
project I was not able to replace the wood due to
budget limits. If it were my boat I would replace that wood, use half laps and radius the inside corners of the wood to leave more wood surface for the hatch frame. if your hatch is leaking and it sounds like it is then I bet it is coming in at those miters.
I got my leak detector several years ago when doing some quality consulting for Cruisers/Rampage. i think I paid around $300 for it. You can find them on EBay for a bit less. They
work ok and I have found some hard to locate leaks with it but it is not perfect. It works by placing a ultra sonic sound transmitter in the cabin and then going on the outside with a special receiver with a tube to listen for the sound leaking through. A poor mans way to find leaks is to place a box fan over a deck hatch and blow air in. you them use a garden sprayer with soapy water in it to wet things down and look for bubbles. You have to seal the boat up pretty good so that you and a good positive air pressure in the boat. Lots of taping of
engine vents sliding hatches ect. Slow but it does work.
The owner has some pix on my site here
jileshinson Gallery - Project Boat Zen Photo Gallery
I will work on the video and hope to have something done in a week or so. you can also see a video of me resealing his
portlights on my site as well.
Let me know if you have any questions.