Pachuca Circumnavigation: Leaky Hatches

Both of Pachuca's hatches have always leaked under load. And the load can be considerable because the S&S 39 sits low in the water and its deck is easily swept by sheets of water during rough passages, something less likely in a boat with higher freeboard.

The forward hatch leaked so much during the passages to New Zealand that I replaced it with a new Maxwell hatch made in NZ at considerable trouble because I was forced to slightly enlarge the hole through the deck. The first thing that I noticed when I unpacked the winch was that the rubber was crinkled at the corners because it had been forced around the corners rather than properly contoured. At the time there was a lot of other work going on with the boat and we wished to depart for Tahiti as soon as possible, so I fitted the hatch as it was hoping for the best. Sadly, that hatch leaked from day one. It was not a gushing leak but rather a drip drip drip that forced us to move the clothes and bedding forward whenever we beat hard to weather.

Foredeck Hatch (Maxwell) before re sealing

Seal crinkled at coners (Maxwell)

The cabin hatch is a Lewmar, probably dating from the building of the boat. It drips particularly on the starboard bunk whenever we beat on a port tack.

I would term these "nuisance" leaks but now that the boat's refit had been completed it was time to address these annoyances.

Bruce and I tested the seals with a water hose and to our surprise could not get a leak out of the foredeck (Maxwell) hatch no matter how hard we tried. Bruce raised the possibility that the leak happens when there is distortion of the hull when beating hard to weather. The Lewmar hatch over the cabin leaked as expected, from the aft port corner.

The frame of the Maxwell was in excellent condition and I was determined to save it by fitting anew seal.

The Lewmar was ready for replacement because what is termed the "lens" was badly crazed and the frame was pitted, but I would try to buy time by resealing it too.

The problem was finding rubber seals for these obsolete hatches. I got lucky and found my way to Clark Rubber in Cannington where I was pleased to see the best selection of rubber stripping since "Fitch the Rubber Man" in Adelaide in 2008. I walked out with 5 profiles of "sponge strip" which for my records were:
- item number 578, 16x5mm
- item number 31575, 13x3mm
- item number 31584, 19x6mm
- item number 31616, 8x3mm
- item number 40536, 19x14mm self adhesive

I also purchased a can of good quality clear adhesive.

Lewmar hatch: crazed lens, pitted frame, sloppy previous sealing job

Armed with the selection of stripping I found that the Maxwell seal was not stuck with adhesive and was able to remove it intact. I had noted from an earlier examination that the bottom of the rubber seal had a ridge that was pressed into a groove the frame and I had purchased a strip with a similar profile.

Seal removed from foredeck (Maxwell) hatch

I carefully fit the new strip around the frame, using plenty of adhesive and making sure that the trip was always centered along the groove in the frame. I managed to do this with no crimping at the corners and a tight join of the two ends of the strip. My plan was to clamp the hatch down tight for a few days and in order to avoid the possibility of the lid becoming stuck to the frame I applied a light coating of grease on the lower rim.

But then the hatch would not clamp down into its tight heavy weather position. Fortunately Kim was at his boat in the adjacent pen and kindly stood on the hatch while I clamped it down.

I used a different approach with the Lewmar hatch. I cleaned off the existing seal then glued a thin flat strip of rubber inside of the depression formed by years of clamping down the hatch. The result looked good but once again I could not clamp the hatch down fully from the inside. Kim had left his boat by then but I got the bright idea of filling up the two 15-leter water containers and placing them on the hatch. That did the trick.

The first thing that I did when returning to the boat several days later was to do some very aggressive leak testing using the hose at full pressure and with a proper nozzle rather than my thumb as before. Try as I might I could not get the Maxwell hatch to leak, which was a very good result indeed. I will not be sure about ultimate success until I have had a chance to sail the boat hard to weather with foredeck awash.

But I was somewhat disappointed that the Lewmar still leaked in the same corner and I began to suspect that the leak is through the handle because the depression along the new strip is deep and consistent. It had been worth a try but it didn't matter because I plan to replace the hatch anyway.

To be honest, I was amazed at the quality the workmanship.