[C320-list] BOMAR HATCH GASKETS

[Scott Thompson]

No.  The grey putty-like stuff is the Catalina factory stuff and it's a 
real pain to get rid of that.  The grey putty dries out and shrinks 
eventually, leading to leaks.

The Bomar hatch tape is like a foam gasket that compresses under the 
mounting flange of the hatch to seal the opening. I think it might be 
impregnated with some kind of sealant as it is mildly sticky to the 
touch.  It comes with an adhesive strip on one side.  To install, you 
peel off some waxed paper covering the adhesive strip and lay it down on 
the underside of the mounting flange, covering the mounting screw holes, 
with a small amount of overlap at the ends.  You then drop the hatch 
back in the deck opening and reinstall the mounting screws.  The screws 
go through the foam tape, and as you tighten them up the foam compresses 
and expands horizontally to completely seal the gap.  The most difficult 
and time-consuming part of this job is cleaning all of the old stuff off 
of the hatch and deck opening in order to ensure a good seal.

Before I tried this stuff I used various caulk-like products with no 
success.  The gaps between the hatch and the deck opening were too wide, 
making it hard to seal completely, and leading to a lot of caulk leaking 
through into the v-berth.

I've now done all of the hatches on Surprise.  The v-berth hatch was 
done three years ago and is still water-tight using the Bomar tape.  I 
don't know how long it will last, but I expect replacing it will be much 
easier than replacing any putty or caulk.

Robert wrote:
> Scott,
> I took my low profile off this weekend and it appears as if the bedding
> material has dried up a bit and is letting in rain water (large gaps at the
> top of the hatch starboard). What I found looked like plumber's putty and
> some of it was over a 1/2" thick. Is this what the 33' roll P2000-81 hatch
> tape looks like, gray plumber's putty? I can roll what's on there now into
> balls or whatever like silly putty. 
> 
> Thanks,
> Robert Lupton
> Life Saver, #819
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com
> [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Scott Thompson
> Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 12:21 AM
> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] BOMAR HATCH GASKETS
> 
> Just looking at the pictures of the hatches themselves on their website 
> and comparing to my boat I would say lo profile matches my v-berth 
> hatch, for what that's worth.
> 
> However, are you sure that what you need is the gasket as opposed to 
> rebedding the hatch?  On my slightly older boat it is the caulk under 
> the hatch frame that failed causing leaks.  I had good luck rebedding 
> the entire hatch using Bomar's hatch mounting tape.  I also used this on 
> the Lewmar hatches over the main salon and over the aft cabin berth.

-- 
Scott Thompson
Surprise, #653