Grew up around boats and boatbuilding as Dad was a yacht designer.
Cruising 31
Cruising 31
The appearance of the forward hatch on my boat was looking a bit tired. Even though the varnish gets refresher coats, I am always bummed at how quickly the gloss fades and if left alone too long, you're looking at stripping back to bare and starting over. I wanted to take the hatch off and bring it home to work on it over the winter. Trouble was that the hinges and the frame were bedded in with polyether and I knew that there was a good chance that trying to remove either would result in damage. First up were the hinges. After removing all the fasteners, I tried applying some of that liquid debonding agent which did absolutely nothing.
Then I reached for a torch and after some judicious application of heat, they came off with a couple taps from a deadblow mallet. Next up was the frame. I managed to get a very thin putty knife inserted under one corner and carefully started working it around the frame. An hour later, I had it off with no damage.
I got to work stripping the varnish and the hinges were sent out for re-chroming. 8 build coats of traditional varnish were applied and the hatch set aside to cure for a month. Then a coat of Sterling clear LP was brushed on as the final topcoat. Re-bedding the frame was done using butyl tape. I like the butyl most of the time, but in certain applications like the hinges, it doesn't work so well and I ended up using Lifeseal there.
With the hatch back in place, I could reinstall the hatch struts and locks and headliner from below. The hope is that with the LP coating and a canvas cover, the hatch will remain looking good for many years to come.
Then I reached for a torch and after some judicious application of heat, they came off with a couple taps from a deadblow mallet. Next up was the frame. I managed to get a very thin putty knife inserted under one corner and carefully started working it around the frame. An hour later, I had it off with no damage.
I got to work stripping the varnish and the hinges were sent out for re-chroming. 8 build coats of traditional varnish were applied and the hatch set aside to cure for a month. Then a coat of Sterling clear LP was brushed on as the final topcoat. Re-bedding the frame was done using butyl tape. I like the butyl most of the time, but in certain applications like the hinges, it doesn't work so well and I ended up using Lifeseal there.
With the hatch back in place, I could reinstall the hatch struts and locks and headliner from below. The hope is that with the LP coating and a canvas cover, the hatch will remain looking good for many years to come.
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