Sea Hood (sliding hatch)

[jm_restrepo]

Hello Everyone

I am looking for the upper sliding hatch portion (the sea hood) of a companionway for an Ericson 29 vintage 1979…

I know full well that chances are next to nil on finding such a thing, I am thus also interested in alternative hoods and/or advice on how to repair the existing hood: water has gotten into the wood layers and has rotted several layers of the wood laminates that make up the hood. The request comes as a consequence of doing something prior to getting expert advise (ugh!): I sanded off the rotted wood layers, It is still structurally sound, but I have large patches of missing wood matrix, which I am filling with synthetic wood. The synthetic wood has shown to not bond well to the healthy wood in the hood.

Juan

 

[Afrakes]

Hello Everyone

I am looking for the upper sliding hatch portion (the sea hood) of a companionway for an Ericson 29 vintage 1979…

I know full well that chances are next to nil on finding such a thing, I am thus also interested in alternative hoods and/or advice on how to repair the existing hood: water has gotten into the wood layers and has rotted several layers of the wood laminates that make up the hood. The request comes as a consequence of doing something prior to getting expert advise (ugh!): I sanded off the rotted wood layers, It is still structurally sound, but I have large patches of missing wood matrix, which I am filling with synthetic wood. The synthetic wood has shown to not bond well to the healthy wood in the hood.

Juan

Post some pictures to give us an idea of what you're dealing with.

 

[jm_restrepo]

 

[jm_restrepo]

The dark stuff is clearly the stain and varnish, the first exposed wood veneer is about 1mm thick, cracked. Water seeped in to the next wood layer, which is about 3mm thick, it is wet and even a host for green moss. At this point I used an aggressive sander to remove the thin veneer and soggy core below, the damage is about 12cm wide in the dimension perpendicular to the beam of the boat, going from one side of the hatch to the other.

 

[bigd14]

One way or another you’ll probably have to remove the sliding hatch so you can work on the entire thing. On my E27 I rebuilt the entire sliding hatch which I do not recommend, it was a complicated woodworking project even with a full woodworking shop. You may be able to sand it down, dry it out and use a very thin epoxy to saturate the damaged material to where it is structurally stable. At that point I would probably try to fair it and paint it rather than messing around with veneer. Good luck with the project.

 

[Afrakes]

Is the outer frame still good? The two arched front and back pieces as well as the two sides. You'll definitely have to remove it from the boat to properly work on it.

 

[jm_restrepo]

Many thanks for the guidance.
Yes, I have removed the piece (as well as a large wasp nest),
and yes, the 2 arched pieces are in good shape.

I made things worse, perhaps, by sanding out the rotted 2 wood layers in the section that was in bad shape.
I then used synthetic wood to build up the lost wood...but I don't think the stuff will properly bond to the wood below it.
I can appreciate the comment that this is a tricky project even in a properly stocked woodworking shop...never mind that it is a project that's clearly beyond my repair abilities.

I'm going to scrape off the synthetic wood and add, as suggested, a thin epoxy barrier...what sculpting material would you suggest I use to build up the lost wood after that?

 

[Afrakes]

You can use thickened epoxy to build up any areas. Read up on the West System. There are many epoxies out there but that is the one that I've used the most. What does the underside of the hatch look like?

 

[bigd14]

I would suggest using a very thin coat of epoxy first- you can thin with acetone (check West Manual) or use a penetrating epoxy to stabilize the plywood. You could then put a thin layer of fiberglass over the damaged wood surface and fair and paint it. That would last for years. It’s a lot of work for such a relatively small item but better than trying to make a new one.

 

[gabriel]

I made mine in about 3 weekends but I simplified construction and used only plywood, epoxy and a small strip of mahogany. I didn’t have anything to go off except for one of the arches—the most important part to ha as you need the exact radius from it.

I gave up the traditional look of the original though.

 

[jm_restrepo]

Gabriel, I am impressed, especially just starting with such a minimal (but I agree key) portion of the hood, and you got something that looks tasteful.
I wish I had looked at the damage more carefully and earlier on. My boat spent most of its life in Puget Sound, then I moved it to Portland in 2018. It probably had absorbed a lot of water by then, but I moved my boat to TN post Covid and the intense heat+water finally made the problem impossible to ignore.

I will follow Al's, bigd14's and your advise, much appreciated!
...I might have further questions.