76 Seafari Fwd hatch
 

I have reseated every fastener in the cabin to keep water out so I could put in the new cushions. I have not had the opportunity to give it a good 'hose test' yet, but I had it out friday and over the weekend, taken a fair amount of spray, and have had no problem. It poured this afternoon, and once it finished I ran out real quick to check teh cabin (the rain velocity was better than any hose test). Fair amount of water by the forward hatch. Enough that if I was camping out, it would more than ruin the evening.... I checked the fasteners, they seemed to be dry, but I did get a little moisture from around the hatch lip. Has anybody found a quality gasket material for the forward hatch? Thanks for the help.

Re: 76 Seafari Fwd hatch
 

Kahuna - I can't answer the gasket question but I am going through same exercise now on my Seafari. Recently out in the chop and noticed it was wet atop the aft part of the berths. Have not determined source yet but I will do the hose test. Certainly getting some in the hatch and if elsewhere I will have to hunt down. I already have new cushions so I better get to work. If I come across suitable gasket will post info, if you find it first let us know.

Re: 76 Seafari Fwd hatch
 

Check the hull/cap joint under the rub rail. Spray water upwards between hull and rub rail. My cc was leaking quit a bit at that joint.

Re: 76 Seafari Fwd hatch
 

I know that West Marine carries a gasket material that should work. It is a hollow "HOSE" made of a foam material similar to neoprene- heck it probably is neoprene. It has a adhesive strip running down the outside inorder to attach it to the hatch. This will probably need some fortification for durability purposes, but should work resonably well. The tricky part will be forming a water tight connection where the two ends of the gasket butt together.

Good luck.

Re: 76 Seafari Fwd hatch
 

Red, I suspect that may be my problem based on where I see the water. Did you rebed fasteners or more substantial fix along the joint?

Re: 76 Seafari Fwd hatch
 

Removed the rail and filled every hole and joint with 5200. I think it was the joint that was leaking. I attached a new rail putting the screws in different places sealing them with 5200. If i ever rebuild, I'll probably glass every joint on the boat. A couple people have done this and havent reported any stress crack or other issues.

Re: 76 Seafari Fwd hatch
 

red,
the water indication was exactly centerline. Last winter I pulled the rubrail and recaulked with 5200 as well and caulked the interior cap to hull joint with GE silicone II. I had a pretty lumpy ride home the other night across LI sound and no problems. The water in question was fresh (always taste it) and after thta rain storm. No indications after that ride across.

I will check out that gasket material at WM and see how it looks. I agree, the trick is going to be getting the joints in the material water tight. Probably use the GE silicone II again. Pretty durable material.

Rhody, you have a seafari? not a sceptre with no windshield removed and a custom hardtop w/curtains?

I drive by one every morning on the way to work, and one of these days I'm going to stop by and take a good close look at it.

thanks for the input everybody

Re: 76 Seafari Fwd hatch
 

It's a seafari, no curtains no hardtop. I'm off the beaten path. If you are near PM me and I'll send you my address welcome to come by for a beer and a looksee at the seafari. Thanks Red, I'll pull my rail soon.

Re: 76 Seafari Fwd hatch
 

If you havent discovered a gasket material for your hatch, look at JC Whitney automobile Catalog..jcwhitney.com....look for trunk weatherstripping..you might be able to find something that works!!!!! and there will already be a cut in the gasket to accept either the hatch edge or opening edge..then get you some waterproof weatherstriping glue....just an idea..plus many different profiles that might work perfectly.

Re: 76 Seafari Fwd hatch
 

I get the same hatch leak on my seafari. It wasn't an issue in Sacramento cause there is no rain from April - October.

Re: 76 Seafari Fwd hatch
 

Appears I have a "shag" gasket. Anybody familiar with these?

By the way, a bit off topic but do other Seafari owner's with the shag interior intact have flashbacks of your buddies '70's Ford Econoline from high school days and the odor of spilled beer? Just wonderin'

http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/d..._1614Large.jpg

Re: 76 Seafari Fwd hatch
 

Yeah man, When we twist up a big fattie and break out
the Boone's Farm & Mad Dog 20/20...
I hear shag is coming back into style.. :rolleyes:
You may want to hold off on rippin' it out.. :o

See ya, Ken

Re: 76 Seafari Fwd hatch
 

Yeah man, When we twist up a big fattie and break out
the Boone's Farm & Mad Dog 20/20...
I hear shag is coming back into style.. :rolleyes:
You may want to hold off on rippin' it out.. :o

See ya, Ken

[/QUOTE]
Never forget the ol Mad Dog; The sickest I've ever been [img]/forum/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Re: 76 Seafari Fwd hatch
 

I have shag in my cabin too on the red boat. Rhody did you ever get a prop for your boat? I see the guy in newburyport has a 19P mirage for sale still $50 :) I'm glad to see you got your money back.

Re: 76 Seafari Fwd hatch
 

Big, yeah I did send that Mirage back to newburyport as it looked like it had been dragged down the highway, now that I've seen it not even worth $50. I found another Mirage plus 19P on ebay in great shape and tried it once, really locks in compared to the alum prop. After I spend some more time with it I will be reporting in to the experts here with some questions on trim.

Re: 76 Seafari Fwd hatch
 

I picked up some window self adhesive weatherstripping at Home Depot. A small roll peel off and stick seems to seal it fine.

Cheap so replace as needed ...

- nick

Re: 76 Seafari Fwd hatch
 

You guys were drinkin the good stuff. All I could afford was Ripple or Spinada. I vaguely recall something called Pink Passion, a looooong time ago. Dave

Re: 76 Seafari Fwd hatch
 

Rhody / Big,
i as well currently have the shag gasket. obviously the weather stripping recommended by nick should be far more effective.

Nick, we talked once before about getting a profile,aft/fwd shots of your seafari with the arch on it and some feed back about that, but hockey season was still underway. could I persuade you to possibly post a couple of shots of the arch you have installed? thanks

JC

Re: 76 Seafari Fwd hatch
 

I came up with a hatch gasket scheme for my Seafari years ago which worked well, although the cheap Home Depot foam rubber gasket material wasn't real durable; it tended to crumble and I had to replace it every few years. Same scheme should last much longer with today's better softer foam. Might be able to find better quality material at an auto supply store or some outfit like Steele Rubber Products that makes gaskets for old cars. Here's one approach:

1. Remove all the shag carpet material from around edge of hatch where it contacts lip of deck/hatch gutter. Outside edge of hatch seems to overhang inside lip of gutter by at least 1/2".
2. Put some modeling clay on top of gutter lip, about 1/16" thick x 1/4" high.
3. Close and latch hatch to compress modeling clay.
4. Get some foam gasket material, approx 3/8" thick x 3/4" wide and glue it to OUTSIDE edge of gutter, with top of gasket even with the top of the modeling clay. You can set gasket slightly higher if you don't mind hatch not being quite flush when closed, but curvature of hatch will still cause slight gasket compression even if you set it flush with clay. The bottom of gasket was typically 1/8 to 1/4" above bottom of gutter on sides and bottom, and closer at top of hatch where I set it up for less compression.
5. Remove modeling clay and proof test after gasket cement cures.

The material I used was fairly dense rubber; some of the new foam stuff probably isn't stiff enough. It has some adhesive backing on it, but I used good old 3M yellow gasket cement which works a lot better. Resulting gasket wasn't particularly pretty, but didn't leak with either a bucket of water dumped on hatch or hose sprayed on it. Although the rubber compressed against underside of hatch provides primary seal, I believe the bottom side of gasket projecting out from gutter surface acts as a deflector that keeps most "high velocity" water from getting up to the primary sealing surface.

One could probably create a better looking molded silicone gasket using modeling clay and some RTV, but the foam gasket was quick and easy and worked well even if it wasn't very fancy.

Re: 76 Seafari Fwd hatch
 

Bushwacker - sounds like a sound procedure. I will try it.