: That is what I thought of a did back in '99(To cut the hatches out before doing the inner seams) so I could reach way up to the ends when epoxying in the FG tape..I even called Pigmy and they didn't recomend it but I just did it, no regrets. As I found out that one of the biggest hurdles in the contruction a kayak with hatches, was to actually cut into that beautiful looking wood. I had no qualms about cutting out the hatches to improve on the structural strength by adding to the length of FG tape one could add to the inside of seam between the shears and hull. It's the hatches (the inside lip) that takes time to hand fit ...take your time and another thing, make something to attach the hatches to the kayak in case that one might fall off of blow off, never to be seen again. Sorry , but no pictures, you have the idea anyway. Good Luck Wayne G.