: I will be putting commercially produced rubber hatches in my Point
: Bennett. They will be recessed as well. As per this post:

:
: http://justyakkin2.blogspot.com/2011/02/all-decked-out-3rd-step.html

: I have the exact same hatches on my plastic boat. There they sealed
: with silicone (or equivalent) and bolted down as well. The
: problem is that my day hatch leaks a bit around the bolt holes -
: no matter how hard I try to seal them!! There are absolutely no
: issues with leakage between the rim and cover.

: The new hatch kits are not drilled for bolts - although the spots
: are marked for them. I'm thinking on just using an adhesive to
: attach the rims.

: My question is whether to use silicone (or equivalent) or epoxy. My
: concern with the epoxy it that it's so darn permanent. If you
: look at the sketch in the link above you will see that I can pop
: the rim into the recess and fill the space with either silicone
: or epoxy for a very neat and well sealed fit!! A black silicone
: would match the rims and be almost invisible in the recess.

: Any suggestions / comments?

Btw, sealant and your day hatch. The advantage of using screws (bolts) to hold the hatch down, is you can gradually add pressure to the sealant. Most use too much pressure at first and squeeze the sealant out between the two surfaces they want to seal, leaving little left to actually provide a seal.

They should be installed just snug enough to hold the hatch ring in place then enough time allowed for the sealant to set before the screws are snugged up firm, at least 24 hours. You're making a gasket with the sealant, has to have some thickness or it won't work and will leak. Adding more tension to the screws if it starts leaking does nothing at all.

Bill H.