Repairing a Heavily Damaged Hatch
/This is hatch over a bilge that had an unsealed plywood edge in the center opening. The plywood around the opening completely delaminated and the screws on the support cleats pulled through.
The original support cleats were four mitered pieces that were not connected at the miters. The new support cleat is single piece made from four pieces of Okoume marine plywood, fully epoxy bonded to the hatch and through bolted in twelve places and then bunged.
To get a fair surface to bond the support cleat a dam was made of waxed scraps and thickened epoxy was troweled in twice to bring the surface level. The epoxy mixture was also forced into the screw holes, which were completely filled and then redrilled with a tapered drill.
