1992 Grady Dolphin Hatches

josephaugust

New Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2011
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I have a 92 dolphin and some of the hatches have cracking along the edge. I have gotton some of them refiberglassed but they always seem to come back. I may make some out of off-white star board on the transom...I will see. Any suggestions?

joe
 

wdlfbio

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 22, 2010
Messages
91
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
washington
Frank or Lee with seasnellmarine.com make tons of stuff out of starboard that is very affordable. I found them at THT in the classifieds. I know at least one guy had them make new hattches and was very pleased. I have a few things from them and am pleased.
 

1st grady

GreatGrady Captain
Joined
Jan 31, 2005
Messages
537
Reaction score
3
Points
18
I am in the process of reconstructing my hatch covers as well. (port and starboard storage behind the helm and companion seats on a '95 Islander) I repaired them two years ago by grinding out the cracks and filling them with a marine type of Bondo. After a lengthy discussion with Jamestown Distributors tech support they advised me to add more support to the underside of the lids. They believe the panels are flexing when walked or sat on and this is causing the lip to fracture. I can actually see the cracks grow if I flex the covers so I do believe this to be the problem. On the starboard cover I am adding a 3/4 inch layer of plywood that will be glassed in against the existing structure.

I have used a router and removed about 1/8 inch thick layer of the lip around the outside edge and will lay in a layer of fiberglass cloth. I am only working on the starboard side for now just to see how things work out and also because there is a divider on the port side hatch for the livewel and the bait cooler and I am not sure how to laminate an additional layer of plywood with the divider in the way.
I will try to get some pics and post them up as I proceed.
 

josephaugust

New Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2011
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Thanx for all of the info. My hatches are actually cracking from the stress over the years. I know they flex when pressure is out on them. I would love to see pics when your done woth the hatches. Thanks again Joe
 

gw204

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2005
Messages
2,479
Reaction score
22
Points
38
Location
St. Leonard, MD
I had the same problem with the hatches on my old Sailfish. In my opinion, it's the way they are built that causes them to crack. Now, I could be wrong here, but I believe I remember reading somewhere that the hatches are built using some sort of injection molding process. I don't remember them being a traditional layup with glass mat, cloth, etc. and resin, it looked more like a putty type material with glass fibers mixed in.

What I would do is open up each crack on the finished side and then fill them with a cheap putty like bondo. Once that cures, sand the patched area smooth and sand off all the nonskid. Take it down to a pretty fine sandpaper. 400 wet would be ok, but the finer you go, the better the NEW hatch will look. Then wax the entire part with a mold release wax and finish it off with a light coating (no runs) of PVA applied with a Preval hand held sprayer. Next, layup several layers of glass over your "repaired" hatch and let it cure. Once it's hardened up, pop your mold from teh original hatch. Clean the mold, of any wax and PVA, and then lightly sand it (if necessary) to remove any blemishes. Wax the mold and PVA it. Paint or spray on new non-waxed gelcoat, let that tack up and they lay new glass w/ poly resin. Let the new glass tack up. Put in new core piece and weight it down while the bedding compound (resin and cabosil) tacks up. Then cover with a few more layers of glass and once that starts to harded up top it off with gelcoat (waxed or spray PVA over it to facilitate full cure). Once cured, pop it from the mold and reapply the non-skid based on one of my HOW TO posts at the top of the TIPS board.

You glass weight will vary depending on the radiuses you need to deal with. Heavier stuff doesn't like to bend. Number of layers to build proper thickness depends on the weight.

Lots of work, but if done right you will end up with indestructible hatches that are better than new.