Hey, guys!

I'm working on a stitch and glue Chesapeake 16LT for a friend. Chris Beckman has a nice Beckson screw in type deck plate (hatch) for his day hatch. I'm probably going to build up on top of the deck with some 1/2" ply, then mount the deck plate to this. It will allow me to factor in any deck curvature, though there shouldn't be too much just abaft the rear bulkhead. Chris makes his day hatch 1/2 the width of the boat, thus putting a structural member right underneath the deck, allowing for extremely strong decking behind the coaming. He says you can't reach to the other side of the boat through the opening anyway. This will be good, as I don't plan to glass the deck for weight considerations.

Question is, what would you use to seal the deck plate flange to the deck? Can I just squirt a bead of Lexel? It's going to be stainless screwed, of course...

Also, this deck plate has no place underneath the screw in part where I could attach a tether. I don't want to drill in to the side of the screw threads, and tie in some thin cording, because I figure it would interfere with screwing it in. Can I just rough up the underside of the plate, and epoxy something on, to which I could tie a tether?

Thanks,
Brian