After a long break, I finally got back out in the garage to work on my kayak. The moment I had been dreading had arrived. Time to make some cuts in the deck for the hatches. On the front hatch, I used a hand saw to get things started. On the rear hatch, I resorted to plunging the blade using a jig saw. I think the plunge method is actually easier. The hand saw was difficult to start and tended to widen the kerf as I plunged.


I am laying up the hatch lips with 8 layers of 4 ounce fiberglass cloth. I started with a generous fillet of thickedn epoxy, with wood dust for color. This photo shows a test run. If I achieve this profile all around, I'll be happy. This shows a 1/4" deep groove and a 5/16" gasket. For the final product, I'm going with an 1/8" channel and a 1/4" gasket









To make the lip, I taped the hatch in place then, covered the underside of the deck with clear packing tape. I then stuck the gasket around the edge of the hatch. The black lines are for reference to ensure that the layup creates a large enough flange. At this point, I coated the entire surface with floor wax, including the gasket.








Here is a shot of the layup.


Here is a cleaned up hatch lip.