Hatch Boards Question

[Anthony/Bina]

Hello and Happy New Year out there to all the Pearson folks! Greetings form the Mephisto Cat!

We have not written any messages recently, but we frequent this website a lot. It's great to have such a vast support group as this. The Pearson is such a great boat and we have had a lot of fun sailing her so far! It's amazing to hear stories and advice from other happy Pearson owners.

We recently moved her to the Brisbane Marina and have noticed several Pearson boats that are now our new neighbors! Any of you guys frequent this website? If so, we should get in touch!

We also have a question and are looking for any advice anyone might have to offer. Recently, the Bay has had a lot of stormy weather and we have noticed that our wooden companionway has been very thoroughly soaked. It has not been sliding down the tracks very well and we have tried to fix this by putting soap on the edges of each of the pieces of wood before sliding them in and this helped to a degree. But now, the pieces have warped so badly we can't really slide them into place unless we force them in. It's also very difficult to completely close off the companionway because the wood (each indivual piece) has expanded so much that the top portion cannot be pulled over the companionway! Is there any way to fix this wood? Or do we need to get new pieces cut out by maybe using the original wood as a template? We are very curious to find out if anyone else had this problem. Help!
--Hoping to preserve our Companionway!
Bina and Anthony

[Hull376]

I had same problem, and if left unchecked, you'll crack the wood which forms the track for the c-way boards. Mine were starting to crack, and I fixed them with old reliable 3M 5200 (brown color!). If your boards are warped, they need to be replaced. They are only going to get worse over time. Its not that hard if you use the existing ones as a template, or take careful measurements. Only tricky part is to route the edges of the middle board and the top and bottom edges of the other boards so you get a waterproof overlap. Only other skill is to get the curve right on the top board to match the sliding hatch. I managed to do the work myself without too much woodworking experience. I didn't try to cut the louvers in the middle board which were in the original design--- looked too hard to do for my skill level. I've got forced air ventilation via two "always on" 3 inch 12 volt computer fans (powered by a solar charger to the battery), so ventilation via the middle board isn't required on my boat. Attached is shot of my handywork.

[tcoolidge]

Sorry for the bad news but it sounds like you need new hatchboards and soon. Once they warp badly it's probably easier to replace them than fix them. A sealed/painted piece of plywood or plastic cut to fit the companionway will work for an emergency fix and being unable to close the companionway hatch qualifies as something of an emergency. New hatchboards aren't difficult to make or have made and I would highly recommend putting this high on the priorities list. The more weather you can keep out of the cabin the happier you will be. Since you have to do something you might want to consider some alternatives like hinged doors instead of boards or putting a portlight into one of the boards. I think a couple of boats have been modified for doors. I put a non-opening port in my center board that made it a lot more light and open below.

Tom

[Sprite]

Mine were in pretty bad shape

I had new ones made out of king starboard


Captain John