companionway drop board replacement

[seawitch]

Has anyone replaced hatch board?  Mine is rotted on bottom and crumbling.  Not handy with saw/wood....may have to have one made. I thought I saw a fiberglass one with a vent built in on a picture on this site?  Any ideas of where one might be purchased?  Does Hutchins still have any parts left over?  Thanks for the info.

SeaWitch
CP19XL "Harvest Moon"
Dog River, Al.

[carry-on]

Might try Hutchins at 727-443-4408. Think they list the part as "drop board".
I have an old ,2006, price list $75 or $197 solid teak. If they don't have the item you want, they will lead you to a solution. Very helpful people.
Alternate, make a pattern if your board is not too damaged and take it to a cabinet maker or vocational school to make a duplicate.
 

[Salty19]

Seawitch,

Here's the board I made for my XL...it's made of Starboard from Taco Marine.   With a seadog vent.  You can get them both from Defender.com (search for starboard or taco)

Since the picture was taken I've added a second vent and stripped the white paint off so it shows stainless.  I do suggest two vents for sure (especially since you're in the deep south). The nice thing about starboard is it will not rot, deform, delaminate or otherwise disintegrate. never needs varnish.  Negatives are it's a bit heavier than plywood and does not clean up as easily as most materials do.  Also only the glue designed for it works (you won't need to use glue for the door application). To clean it, I lightly sand it with 220 grit on the orbital sander.



Really not hard to make, just a jigsaw for the rough cut and a 5" orbital sander to smooth and refine the shape.  Note the little ears to keep out wasps and rain.  I'm not much of a woodworker either, but this project is real easy.  Just takes time and patience to get it to fit just right.

The one from Hutchins is also rough cut meaning you have to shape it to fit properly so either way you need to cut and sand. Just do it.

[wes]

Hutchins stocks them in both teak marine plywood and solid teak. I just ordered the plywood version; cost was reasonable ($75) compared to the alternative of sourcing the marine plywood, cutting it to fit etc. No need to trim - it was a precise bit, edges already beveled for drainage, etc. All I had to do was acetone wipe, final sand with 220 grit, three coats of Cetol. Looks very good. When I win the lottery I will probably order the solid teak version (over $300, I believe).

I know that wood is a maintenance hassle, but I really wanted the traditional look.

- Wes

[ciswindell]

I just replaced mine on the CP23 with a tinted piece of plexiglass.  There is a shop in town that has a huge selection of it.  I just took them my old hatch boards and they cut it to size.   The plexiglass really brightens the interior and looks very good from the outside as well.

Chris

[Salty19]

Wes--thanks for that info.  I had read a few times that the boards from Hutchins needed to be "fit" to each individual boat. Doesn't sound like that's the case.

[skip1930]

Yep, that's just a normal thing to do.

Hint--> Cut the new drop board in half horizontally on a 45 Deg to shed rain water. It really helps when the drop board is stored, and an option of sailing with the lower half place can keep some spray out of the cabin. Or when in the cabin and the sun is low, the upper half can be used as a sun shade to keep the cabin interior out of the sun. Bright work the outside and bright white paint the inside.  I also pulled my companionway hatch off to paint that bright white to liven up the cabin's interior.

I don't run any vents or loovers on the drop board. Makes it hard to store between the cushion on the quaterbirth and the 'rug' covered bulkhead. Why snag any materal? These Com-Pac are far from sealed.

skip.