I was thinking I'd try this on my Cape Charles. What does the vaseline do? Is it supposed to release the silicone? I want the silicone to stick to the hatch cover and come off of the boat. Also, what kind of silicone? The clear stuff for sealing windows? Would 3M5200 work?

> About a month ago I was told how to create silicone seals for hatches. I
> used the method described and got good results. However, one of the seals
> had a few bubbles and was a little uneven, so I decided to re do it. I
> cleaned the old seal off and spread the vasaline on the hatch just like
> last time, then spread on the silicone and stuck the hatch in the hole.
> The next day I went to pop out the hatch and guess what? I did a great job
> of glueing the hatch in the hole. After a lot of cussing, prying and
> cutting it was out with a little damage to the hatch. After cleaning up my
> mess I tried again using Saran Wrap. What a difference! I guess I can say
> I perfected my technique and would like to share what seems to work best.

> 1. Spread a little vasaline to the bottom of the hatch.

> 2. Use a caulk gun to apply silicone to the hatch lip.

> 3. Spread the silicone out over the entire hatch lip as smooth as possible
> with a putty knife.

> 4. Take Saran wrap and apply it over the open hole covering the entire
> area.

> 5. Push the hatch down into the Saran Wrap covered hole, wrap the Saran
> Wrap edges sticking out up around the top of the hatch and tape the hatch
> in place.

> 6. The next day peal the Saran Wrap edges back off the hatch and it pops
> right out. The Wrap peals off the Silicone just as easy and you get a real
> shinny tight seal, just trim the edges with a razor knife and your all
> set.

> JUST DON'T FORGET THE PLASTIC WRAP!!!!!