Anyone else had problems with a leaking Bomar hatch ?

S

SEA3PO

New member
I just got home from the Delta Cruise....and it rained while we were in Sausalito.... and I got drenched ...the water was coming from the handle of the Bomar hatch.... I thought those things never leaked...

Anyone have a problem with the handles ? or is the problem the gasket...I have not taken it apart yet to look... I used duct tape to seal it...

Joel
SEA3PO
 
One of my handles started to leak. Take a fine knife blade and from underneath remove a thin cover plate. You will then find a screw. Tighten up and press cover plate back into place.

Martin.
 
Tightening the handle didn't stop the leak in my case. I traced the leak to a portion of the inside rubber gasket. As I remember I pressed on the rubber until warer drops squeezed out. I then pryed the rubber gasket away from the glass in that area (near the starboard rear corner) and applied silicone with a syringe. Pressed it closed to spread the sealant. It was dry from then on. Hope your tightening works though!
 
Thank You for your quick reply.... I suspected that there may be O rings inside that latch failing... it has never leaked before and it just poured Saturday night..... Today I will remove the duct tape and replace the seals (13 years old) also check the hatch gasket...it really did look like all the water was coming thru the latch.... sure was a lot of water...

Thanks Again

Joel
SEA3PO
 
I put a hose on the foredeck, went into the cuddy and removed the trim ring. It appeared that the water was coming in by running down the screw threads. I went topside, removed 1 screw at a time - dipped the screw in sealant and re-installed them. That seems to have fixed the leak so I did not remove the hatch or disturb the gasket.

As I recall there is some adjustment on the handles as to how tight they pull the glass down. I also had 1 of the handles come apart after a rough trip. All the pieces were in the cuddy though and it went back together OK.

Regards, Rob
 
I ended up taking the entire hatch out and letting the deck dry under some plastic, until the plastic quit steaming up. I then resealed the entire area and then pressed the hatch back in place. Not a drop since then. :thup
 
Unless you can document that it is one of the hatch handles/latch, that is leaking, it is best to remove the hatch, check the edge of the deck core, route out the core, seal with epoxy, and then re-install the screws, into epoxy plugs. Sounds like a lot of work. But 2 or 4 of my C Dories had leaking hatches--and I noted a couple drops in the current boat, so I suspect that a project next week will be to pull the hatch...

If there is a leak around the hatch, good bet there will be a wet core...and then some rot...
 
My leak was definately through one of the handles, everything else was bone dry. So the fix was fairly straight forward. As back up insurance, I got a hatch cover made out of sunbrella with a waterproof backing. It is also good when in a marina, bow in, Friday Harbor being a good example. No more bright marina lights shining in during the night. Also good privacy, although I have never checked that if the v-berth interior lights are on, can anyone outside see in?

Martin.
 
We used the "occlusive Sunbrella cover on our Cal 46 in AK. For the C Dory we have used a "Window shade type of occlusive cover under the hatch by Oceanaire:

7427925_LRG.jpg


This way you can open or close the shade during the night.

We have wondered about visibility thru the forward hatch. From what we have seen, with the bow toward a floating dock, it is difficult to see the people in the bunk. But, if there is a high fixed dock, then it is possible to look inside the hatch. Often we have to leave the hatch open for ventilation, or use a fan on the top of the hatch to pull air in, if there is no breeze.
 
I have two pieces of fabric for that berth hatch. The first being a heavier piece of upholstery material with 8 snaps and related snaps screwed in around hatch. That is the "opaque" cover. Then I also have a piece of screen material that uses velcro around the entire hatch. We use that when we want to leave the hatch open some at night for ventilation but don't want the mosquitoes in! I did have a little water leaking around the hatch this past year, but it just needed the screws tightened slightly and the o-rings replaced on those handle seals. Colby
 
Today I went outside and started investigating the leak....I found one latch really loose.... it looks like the small screw on the inside of the latch is almost falling apart.... I will pull it apart and replace the O rings .... almost sure that will cure the problem...

Joel
 
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