Hello - I'm thinking about retrofitting recessed hatches on my CLC North Bay kayak. Trouble is, I can't use the method described in Nick Shade's Strip kayak book because the boat is already complete. That is, I can't epoxy strips of fiberglass cloth to form the inner lip for the hatch since this requires removing the deck. Instead, I thought I could simply epoxy some strips of 4mm plywood to the underside of the deck to form this lip, then glue the weatherstripping to this. Anyone think this would be a problem?

Also, how does one ensure that the hatch is flush with the deck with this method? And, does anyone have any suggestions for an internal bungie system to hold the hatches down? - JIM