Bomar Hatch issues

[powerboater56]

Still truckin' along from Michigan to Ri in our new-to-us Albin 35CB OTTER. Cruising lake Erie may be the least fun part of the cruise -- it consists of 4-5 hour slogs down a bland coast, often in lumpy sea conditions. Lake Erie is shallow, so even light winds of 10-12 knots can produce short, uncomfortable seas if you are punching into the wind. That said, OTTER handles it beautifully -- just thunders through lumpy seas at 14-16 knots, giving a bouncy ride but not unsafe in any way.

We are in Mentor OH at a lovely yacht club after last night in Vermilion. If the good weather holds for a few days we hope to make it to Erie PA tomorrow and Buffalo on Sunday.

One small issue -- the Bomar hatch on the foredeck has the black rubber seal hanging down on one side when you open the hatch. It is almost impossible to close the hatch without leaving a little gap somewhere, and as a result we get a slight leak over the bunk in heavy rain or rough seas. Has anyone wrestled with this issue? Do I need a whole new hatch or just a new piece of rubber? Does anyone know if Bomar still makes it? I took a quick look at their online catalog and didn't see a SS hatch like this one.


thanks for suggestions
John Schieffelin
Jamestown, RI
OTTER -- 2005 35 CB

[Pitou]

There should be a part # somewhere on that hatch. A couple of years ago the rubber gasket on my Bomar deck hatch began to leak on to the dinette/forward berth in heavy rains. There was a sticker on it with a part #. Bomar was helpful with providing a part # for a replacement gasket which I could have ordered at Defender, but chose to just get it directly from Bomar for a few dollars more. They should be able to help out even if you do not have a part # and can just share size and make/model/ and year of your boat. I had called Garelick for a part # for the swim platform ladder that Albin used and they checked their records for Albin on that production year and ... bingo ... good to go. http://www.pompanette.com/bomar

Enjoy your delivery.