[Whefour]

I have a '96 31 open. We recently had heavy rains and I found that water is finding its way into the cabin through all three Bowmar hatches. Has anyone had experience with re-sealing these and/or know where the leaks may be originating from? I am assuming that the seal between the hatch frame and the deck has deteriorated over time.

[pHotoman41]

[Rotor]

Very easy to reseal.  Use Bomar 9/16" round seals.  This is available in many places.  The seal is self adhesive. 

Remove the old seals, clean up any old adhesive and clean the surface with rubbing alcohol.  Layout the new seal being careful to keep the seal in the groove.  Cut so that you have about 1/2 overlap.  Start on back side of hatch, by the hinge.  Slowly remove the adhesive covering and push the new seal squarely into the groove without stretching it.  Go all the way around.  Trim so the ends fit tightly and use super glue to glue together.  Works well if everything is clean. 

[Dakota773]

I found that my 98 31 open had some leaks in heavy rain from the front hatch, but not from the hatch seals. 

The 5200 setting the hatch had degenerate enough to let a small amount of water in in heavy rain. In the off season, i carefully tapped off the deck and used a putty knife to "clean" or at least drag around the lip as deep as i could.  Using a flat blade i lifted the hatch deck lip and drew a bead of caulk (4200) under and around.  Releasing the blades and the overall pressure drew the caulk tighter and with a little clean up it was done no more leaks. Not as good a totally removing the hatch and resetting it, but it did the trick.

If it's not the rubber hatch seal, you might have the same problems.