Hi Rick,

1. Do all your fill coats first. It's easier than going around the hole.

2. Think of the recess as a dado just deep enough for the gasket. You make it with gasket material on the bottom side of the hatch lid and then fill up and over it with glass/epoxy. Ross got the idea from Valclav on his site.

http://oneoceankayaks.com/Shop.htm

I did the same thing on my OI it has prooved to be the best design for water tight I have used. When you go to do the glassing do some looking up front for gasket material and make sure you use some slightly thinner for making the mold then what you want for the final gasket.

3. seal the edges with epoxy and varnish

I haven't looked at Ocean one kayak site lately but he has a good description on how to make the lip. Between his site Ross and myself we should be able to get you straightened out, just shout!

Kent