Replacing a leaky saloon hatch
The saloon hatch originally fitted to my Dufour 40, Spook, in 2004 had been leaking for some time despite my numerous efforts to fix it. In 2014 I replaced the acrylic ‘glass’ which had become crazed but in 2020 it had started to leak between the rubber seal and the anodised aluminium frame onto which it closed.
The aluminium frame had been pitted by salt water corrosion trapped beneath the seal. Lightly rubbing down the raised and pitted parts of the aluminium frame with 400-grit wet and dry slightly improved it but clearly it was time to bite the bullet and buy a new hatch. But which one and can I fit it myself?
After some research I chose the Lewmar Low Profile hatch; it wasn’t the cheapest but most of the Lewmar hatches I had seen on boats over 10 years old were still free of crazed acrylic problems and their owners were very pleased with them. They didn’t leak after many years’ service despite the owners never bothering much with any maintenance, the adjustable friction stays still held their lids open and the latches still worked. Spare parts
