PocketShip.net

Will do -- once I get there some time next year. I've basically shut down for the winter, but it's planned. Oh, sure thing about the epoxy hole idea. Definitely a requirement - this thing has a lot of holes. I had to re-drill my centerboard trunk hole to fit the pendant sheave just before I shut down. I'd painted over the epoxy and couldn't find the hole (insert joke here). So, I re-drilled and re-filled and good as new. I have to repaint it now which tipped the scales to repainting something more off white.

Not sure if you've visited, but here's a shameless plug. In my signature is my blog where I'm chronicling my build. The laz cleats were installed just a couple weeks ago, but no panels yet. They'll get installed when I'm done with the aft wiring scheme.

Here's a direct link:

http://sunmonkeypocketship.blogspot.com ... tober.html

Just thought of something. John Harris mentioned that the lazarettes are for flotation also, in case of disaster. I don't think you would ever suffer a knockdown in Wisconsin, but who knows what might happen. Have you considered installing drain plugs in the holes? CLC shows a nifty one for five bucks. This would not allow for complete drainage, but there should only be a very small puddle left to clean up.

The hatch covers leak a lot even though they latch tightly and there is a rubber gasket. But rain water does get in -- mainly from the cockpit deck (a large area). I've gone thru three steps for the solution:

1. As designed, the rain water goes down into the bilges. To prevent that, I fabricated panels that enclose the floatation placed under the foot well. Epoxied in place -- they make the lazarettes water proof containers. After a heavy rain storm there would usually be several inches of water in each. This, I removed by bailing or with a hand pump. I had placed a removable drain plug (to the bilges) in each at the low point (forward inboard corner) -- but I've never used either of them. What's the use of water draining to the bilge? Easier to pump or bail right out of the lazarette.

2. Next, I had a cockpit cover made (for onshore outdoor storage) so that rain water would be kept out of the cockpit. It is deployed over a "ridge pole" that extends from the top of the [closed] companionway hatch to the transom. Worked pretty good. But some rain water could get in around the gallows supports or blow in between the cover and the cabin roof. And if it rained heavily over several weeks there would be more than a trivial collection of water.

3. Finally, I removed the hatch covers and fabricated coamings around the openings. The coaming material was 1/2" ash epoxied to the deck opening just wide enough for the hatch cover flange. Outer edges rounded over using 1/8" radius router bit. Covers then rebeded and screwed back in place. The coamings were painted the same color as the cockpit seats. The extra 1/2" height is hardly noticeable. Now only trivial amounts of water collect after heavy rain even with the cockpit cover left off. Water on top of the hatches can enter thru the latches and around the edges -- but water on the cockpit deck usually won't be deeper than 1/4" except in a really hard downpour. Problem solved.

Thanks, I'll take these ideas into careful consideration. What about mounting the lazarette covers down on the sides of the seat instead of the top? I was thinking of doing that, along with a lip or coaming above the covers to keep dripping water out. It would be a little harder to access the lazarettes, but not all that bad I would think.

I have heard from people who said they had no leakage at all, but if the water went down under the flotation foam, they might not know about it (yet).

I used the lazarette covers recommended by CLC and have not had a problem with them leaking, having gone through two rainstorms going down the road at 70 MPH. I sealed the covers with butyl tape which I got from www.pbase.com/marinecruising/butyl_tape At about $18 a roll (1/16" x 5/8" by I'm not sure how long) it was pricey but well worth it. I used it to seal all fittings, including the ports.
Also, I sealed up the area under the footwell and filled it with foam . I installed a 5" inspection port and a drain hole with stopper. I left the lazarette bottoms angled to get the most usage of the space. The only problem is reaching way down there to retrieve little things.I think someone installed a slatted flat bottom, but I thought you lost a lot of space doing that. captain charlie

Captain Charlie,

Thanks! I remember you telling me about that tape now (learned a lot of new things in one day--starting to come back to me now). And thanks for the link.

Dana

Hi PS Owners,

The hatch-cover for my port lazarette was sealed with a bead of the 3M caulking compound recommended in the manual, and it has never leaked.

Unfortunately, the starboard lazarette hatch-cover has leaked in rain storms, despite being installed identically. This spring, I removed the starboard cover, scraped all the 3M compound off, and reinstalled the hatch-cover with butyl tape as the gasket material. Unfortunately, it still leaks.

I'm not keen on installing a coaming to raise the hatch-cover off the deck surface as one builder has done, especially since the port cover has been fine with a bone-dry lazarette. Any other suggestions as to how to approach this?

My lazarettes have false bottoms, so the leakage is confined to the individual locker and can be sponged out - but I'd like it to be dry.

Thanks,
Mark
(Puffin)

Mark, I have yet to install mine, but if the port side did fine with 3m, you know that that method could work.
I would think worth another try.

Thanks

Continuing the thread on leaking lazarette hatch covers...

I've removed the cover that had been sealed with butyl tape. Unfortunately, the butyl tape residual on the lazarette cover flange has rendered that cover unusable going forward so I have obtained a replacement. New covers of the same dimension and manufacture latch with a twisting catch mechanism rather than a simple spring-loaded latch. We'll see how that works.

I've cleaned residual butyl tape adhesive from the cockpit deck using a single-edge razor blade, and then Interlux 216 thinner (which worked like a charm). Now I need to ensure I clean all Interlux 216 residual off the cockpit deck surface so as not to interfere with the sealant I use on my new lazarette hatch cover.

I welcome suggestions and thank you all for posting.

Mark

I used some of the 3/8 marine ply leftovers to make coamings for my hatches.
It didn't take long, routed the edges, glassed them and glued them on.
Hope that 3/8 is tall enough