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has any one replaced the front hatch with a bomar? if so which one. only two or three more months of questions...thanks guys...Russ

Russ,
Bahia Mar decks are not quite flat, they do have 1/4" to 3/8" crown to them. You can replace them with a Bomar but you will have to fabricate a shim plate under it. BH

Russ - why? The original hatch is seriously heavy duty, but will leak if one does not replace the seal with equally heavy duty stuff......mine leaked badly so in the early 90s I replaced the seal with some really thick automotive weatherstripping glued on and it has not leaked a drop since.

UV

For the cost of a Bomar you could drop a piece of glass into the hatch and replace the sealing foam and have a water tight hatch that you can still get outside light through.

Should be like falling off a log for the boys in South Jersey.

Russ,
I'll get you a picture of mine, where I kept the original hatch and put a smaller window hatch in the middle of the original and still have access threw both.

DQ

thanks guys, the bertram hatch is great. the one on my present boat is fine. the new boat has glassed in front window, so the cabin is dark, and the v berth is even darker. the idea of putting a glass panel in the exsiting hatch sounds good .thanks Russ

those large Bomar hatches are outrageously EXPENSIVE

Has the correct procedure and best material to use for putting glass in the hatch been discussed already??

I would like to know best sealant and glass type .. and how do you deal with the crown.. I can't remember if the top of the hatch is flat... the boat is about 100 miles from me...

Thanks

Ray

I have used urethane, and they also sell a specific GE "structural silicone" adhesive for inserting lexan into frames.

Just be sure to leave some wiggle room around the perimeter to allow for expansion and contraction, about 1/4" is what we shoot for.

I have a "glass" insert that I got from Tom Slane in the hatch on my "H" boat ... basically, I cut out the middle part of the hatch and used a thin bead of 5200 and some silicon around the glass. The glass has a flange, so it is watertight and it lets in TONS of light. Slane could make one for you if you just supplied dimensions ... he's in High Point, NC

Raybo, you used lexan, other than cost why not a tempered glass

1/4" or thicker..??

Bertramp do you have a pic of that ??? All that I've seen was flush mounted in a bead of sealant..

Ray

tunawish wrote:Raybo, you used lexan, other than cost why not a tempered glass

1/4" or thicker..??

Bertramp do you have a pic of that ??? All that I've seen was flush mounted in a bead of sealant..

Ray

its much easier to deal with my plastic guy then get glass, the lexan also allows me to rest easy if there is a little rocking and rolling going on, and its usually replacing sliding windows that were also lexan with fixed lexan.

thickness depends on the application

Does any one have a picture of there hatch that has modified with glass or lexan? thanks Russ

Mine is in NY and I'm in FLA.. I have a call in to Tom Slane .... he will probably be able to ship me a picture of what the hatches look like. I have 3 on my current boat and had 1 on a prior ... in all cases they were tight, let in lots of light and modernized the old Hatteras hatches.

Original Hatch with white plexiglass. Keeps the V berth very bright.

Russ,

Here's the way I did mine, which I can open either hatch if needed and also lets plenty of light in.

DQ

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