UPDATE- As of 1100 HST, 21Nov19 -
Repairs complete and THETIS is safely on her way back to Tahiti. Thank you to those of you that provided information last night.
The hatch ended up being the square 44x44cm style. The patch we created last night passed through the opening nicely and seated firmly against the hull.
Of note - the vessel had already installed a plywood patch from the inside but were unable to completely stop water ingress due to a gap between the hull and the
interior trim.
Our solution consisted of 2
sheets of 1/2" plywood, glued together and faced on the
interior side with 1/4" rubber
gasket material - measuring 22inx22in. Through this we passed 4 - 8" long 3/4"
steel allthread rods attached to 2
steel strongbacks on the exterior side of plywood. The interior side was attached through 2 - 20" 2x4 pieces of
lumber and flat washer, locking washer, and 3/4" hex nuts. The whole assembly was tightened using the nuts, achieving a complete seal between the plywood, rubber
gasket, and hull.
I'll try to upload a
photo when I return to port, our
internet connection is a bit slow at sea and most of it is dedicated to the scientific operations.
Thanks for your assistance,
Dan
Race
1AE RV KILO MOANA