: I cut out the two hatches for my guillemot and they look good. Used a new
: DeWalt jig saw and it worked great. Any excuse for a new tool ;)

: If I follow the instructions in Nick's book and tape the cover to the deck,
: flip it over and build a FG lip, I don't understand how there will be room
: for a gasket. Am I missing something?

: I can't find any of the release agents Nick talks about. Will plastic wrap
: work OK? If so, I was thinkng of wrapping it around the lid. How do I keep
: the resin from sealing up the gap between the lid and the deck?

: The rear hatch I cut seems very close to the coaming, about 8" back. Are
: there structural considerations? Should I put extra layers of FG in the
: area between the coaming and the hatch?

: Dwight

I did the same last year and had to use a very thin seal, this year I used a corrigated plastic sign, approx. 1/8" thick, taped to the underside of the cover with double sided tape, note, used it only in a few spots to make it conform to the shape of the hatch cover. DO NOT tape the edges together !!! . You want the corrigated plastic to seperate from cover easily when you seperate the cover from the newly formed FG lip and with the edge taped there will be some nasty wrinkles that will hold the tape also. Then I used double sided tape around the perimeter of the cover and down the center to attach one layer of plastic from a garbage bage. It is very important to get it on flat without wrinkles. then I cut away most of the remaining plastic leaving 1" for taping on the outside of the cover. I first taped down the straight edges. At the corners, I cut mine with a 2" radius, I gave the plastic a twist to stretch it as tight as possible over the edge with minimal wrinkle. You can't totally eliminate them but you can make them small and fill them afterwards. Now tape the cover in place.

Refer to page 120, 2nd paragraph. the gel coat of resin is painted only on the seam area, no need to go more them 1/4" away on either side. To prepare this resin, mix about 2 ounces of resin, apply the color of your choice. Let this stand until it started to react. This next step may not be neccessary but it does make it easier. Once the resin is kicking, pour it into a bigger container and allow it to continue kicking. Monitor the state of the resin by slowerly stiring with a narrow paint brush. After a few minutes you will notice that it is actually staring to reach a jelly like state. This is the gel coat that you want. This state is quite short with a fast hardener so you must work quickly if you are using fast hardener, paint it on the seam. You may have to do this twice if the working time for the gel is short. The viscosity determines how far it will flow through the seam. Apply you glass strips now, one layer at a time so you can ensure that there are no air pockets left and keep the glass conforming to the transition from the raised lip(from the underside) to the underside of the deck. Using this technique, if you angled your cut for a slight wedge, you can leave the cover atached until the epoxy is cured hard enough that it can no longer be deformed. To remove the cover, remove all the tape from the topside of the deck and cover. You can now apply downwards pressure on the cover, you may have to seperate the cover from the corrigated plastic ( hence the tip to use only a little double sided tape for this attachment) You may need a substantial about of force but the FG is set up hard and can take it, worse case is that you have to remove all the parts individually.

Greg Steeves