The bilge cover is in my Ariel. It is glassed in; no mechanical fasteners at all. Looking at mine it appears anytime there is water in the cockpit lockers, it would flow over and through an opening in the cover and wick into the plywood fastened to the underside of the fiberglass. It doesn't appear to be too big of a job to cut it out if you have the pegboard removed and out of the way. And can fit into the cockpit locker.