Lee,
I replaced the three boards with a single 8mm Perspex (Plexiglas?) board.  I chose a clear plastic so I could see my chartplotter from the cockpit when sailing down wind in rain.  Depending on how much coverage you get from your dodger, there may not be much advantage to multiple hatch boards.  I like the simplicity and ease of storage of a single board.  It sits against the bulkhead at the head of my bunk in the aft cabin.
Go to http://www.svsarah.com/Sarah/ewUpgradeDeckRig.htm and page down about halfway for pics.

You may want to go with a tinted hatchboard  to reduce sun glare in the aft cabin.  I wanted clarity for the chart plotter, but otherwise would have gone with a bronze or similar tint.
Regardless of what type of plastic and however many pieces I doubt you will ever want to go back to wood hatch boards.  The amount of light they add to the aft cabin is reason enough to change.

You can get a hatch board fabricated out of plexiglas or similar at any plastic shop.  Unless you have the tools to work with plastic I would leave the cutting and finishing to a plastics shop.

On Thu, May 7, 2009 at 10:53 PM, Lee Yonkers < ([email][/email])> wrote:

The lower board for our aft companion way came up missing. I'd like to replace the two teak boards with three clear plastic boards. Any ideas about the advisability of this change and where to buy the the best material for this job will be greatly appreciated.

Lee

—
Regards,
John Stevenson
http://www.svsarah.com

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Over the winter I built a one piece window to fit in there in place of the 3 boards. I also built a one piece screen. I used 1/4″ LEXAN for the window and some nylon screen for the other. I used teak for the frames purchased from http://www.buckwoodcraft.com/.
He’s pretty easy to work with and I thought his prices were ok. The wood is very nice.
I used 1 7/8 X 3/4 wood.
Pictures later if you insist
alan

— On Thu, 5/7/09, Lee Yonkers <> wrote:

Not to hijack the thread…
John, how did you mount your C120 on that bulkhead….. just screw it into the teak veneered board with a backing plate?
alan

— On Thu, 5/7/09, John Stevenson <> wrote:

Lee:

Since you have received recommendations for both Lexan and Plexiglass, both of which have different advantages and drawbacks (as with all things boating), here is a discussion comparing the 2 that may be of interest, so you can decide which best fits your situation:

http://ssca.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=5106&#038;

Paul

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Alan,
Yes, the swing arm is just screwed into the bulkhead.

On Fri, May 8, 2009 at 8:20 AM, Paul Lefebvre < ([email][/email])> wrote:

Lee:

Since you have received recommendations for both Lexan and Plexiglass, both of which have different advantages and drawbacks (as with all things boating), here is a discussion comparing the 2 that may be of interest, so you can decide which best fits your situation:

http://ssca.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=5106&#038;

Paul

—
Regards,
John Stevenson
http://www.svsarah.com

Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum