When I searched the cyberspace for advice on repairing a small leak betwixt the lens and sealant on a 20-year-old Lewmar Ocean sixty hatch, on my 1996 Valiant 42, I was dismayed past the dearth of data. Even the Lewmar site does non provide a schematic of the hatch or a service manual. You tin can purchase a new gasket simply that is not what is leaking. In that location is no mention of the sealant. Hatchmasters quoted a repair cost 1/2 the cost of a new replacement with a greater than four-week turnaround. I would still have to remove and supplant the hatch. I will wing it, but thinking that if it came to that, I would definitely not want to replace it with a hatch I could not readily service myself. In my subsequent search I institute a reference to a PS July ane, 1994 comparison of Offshore Deck Hatches. I was then dismayed to find that the PS athenaeum cease at twelvemonth 2000. Fortunately, after some rummaging I found the print version. Information technology was even so relevant and useful. In fact as far equally I can tell, it is the nigh recent hatch comparison out there.

Bomar hatches

Photos by Drew Frye (summit); Darrell Nicholson

In that location are two issue here.

One, it has been over 20 years since you reviewed deck hatches. Delight consider an update with ease of maintenance one of your considerations.

Two, I had planned to discarded those old issues of PS thinking that they would e'er be available in the PS archives. I would encourage you lot to extend the archive back to the first issue, so that people like me could trade several anxiety of shelf space, for instant electronic admission from our boats or anywhere else we might be. Also these early on issues are total of relevant data on equipment constitute on many fine boats dating from that era.

Bob Rohwer

Voyager, Valiant 42

Annapolis, MDl

Were glad you observe the archives useful. We often find ourselves diving into the past for answers nosotros need today. The 1994 examination of offshore deck hatches is at present available online (a link volition be posted with the online version of this article), and well start posting others that are even so relevant.

In addition to the 1994 test report, youll find several hatch-related articles online that might be assist.

Essential Sailing Gear that Lasts (PS October 2022)

Tech editor Ralph Naranjo lists Bomar hatches amidst the handful of equipment that sailors tin count on for the long haul. Bomar was named among the gear of the year in 1998, then if you lot were looking for a different make to replace your existing hatch, midweek cheque their sizes.

Repairing Leaky Portlights (Inside Practical Sailor web log March 22, 2022)

This blog commodity focuses on repairing fixed ports and reminds exercise-it-yourselfers that the sealant failure is often a symptom of a structural issue that is causing flexing at the joint. The recommended sealant is butyl tape, used as a gasket.

PS Advisor: Goo vs. Gaskets (PS December 2022)

This 2022 article suggests several possible agglutinative sealants for bedding new hatches, with a big thumbs up for butyl record (available from Bomar and others). Information technology also suggests sealants to apply between the glazing and the hatch frame.