Splash Well Hatch Replacement

Renagade69

I replaced my leaky splash well hatch with a new one from HMG 12 x 16 . My hatch that came with the boat was leaking water and I was constantly plagued with water in the bilge. The new hatch went in with very little trimming and looks 100% better. Best of all I filled the splash well with water and it does not leak. I verified it with dye and sonar tests.
Hatch --- > http://store.gotohmg.com/products/Innovative-12%22-x-16%22-Access-Panel.html
New Hatch


Old Hatch


12 x 16 leak test is the second video down.
http://www.gotohmg.com/howto.cfm

reelgrimm

nice, i've debated doing the same thing..

Egrets Landing

So why do they put a cheap leaky hatch that doesn't even match the finish of the surrounding gel in the well of a 70k rig?
What is up with that? That hatch should be the same material as your others. Your replacement looks much better than the old one and obviously works better but still. Between the stock well hatch and the front hatch that looks asymmetrical with the rest and the shallower wells that are prone to some moisture intrusion on many of the newer rigs, I like my older boat more and more. Can you request a well hatch that is up to spec with the other hatch material or they just don't have a mold for that? Whatever the reason, there is no excuse for that on any higher end boat with a reputation. What do they say about that at the factory?

Renagade69

My first bird was leak proof. My second one had an issue with the original hatch frank was using.Frank replaced it with the TH and it was allot better but leaked. My third boat leaked also. I did e-mail Frank about the hatch but got no reply. I know he is busy. I was searching left and right for a 13 x 17 hatch that would not leak and happened to read the specks of the HMG 12 x 16 . I found the smaller hatch had about identical cut out dimensions. They had a great video showing a leak test so I bought one. I was thinking anything has to be better than the hatch I had. If I ran a hose over my old hatch I could see water coming out of the bottom plug rather quickly.I am glad it ended up being water tight.

I do not think there is an option for a glass one molded in the boat.

Egrets Landing

Renagade69 wrote: »

I do not think there is an option for a glass one molded in the boat.

That is a substantive oversight and should be corrected at the factory IMO. You don't hold yourself out to be the best and then put a POS afterthought hatch on. It's like having a Ferrari with a Chinese Walmart antennae. Ridiculous. There was a mold for that in the 189. Do they do that on the 16's and 18's too or just the 21?

Renagade69

Egrets Landing wrote: »

That is a substantive oversight and should be corrected at the factory IMO. You don't hold yourself out to be the best and then put a POS afterthought hatch on. It's like having a Ferrari with a Chinese Walmart antennae. Ridiculous. There was a mold for that in the 189. Do they do that on the 16's and 18's too or just the 21?

All the boats get the TH Marine hatch now. I have only seen the molded in hatch on Brian and your boats.

The Tempress hatch I had on my first boat was great but they started making them in china and it sucked on my second boat.

Egrets Landing

You could probably have several made up custom in glass or kevlar and sell them for a big profit.

Renagade69

I would have payed any amount to stop the water from getting in the bilge. I hate mold. I have no clue where to get a custom hatch made up that was water proof.

91tiger

Nice upgrade. If I black my well out with pilchards and a few start to die, my drains will clog and the livewell blows water out the back through the splash-well. I have never noticed my bilge kicking on or seen an inordinate amount of water in my bilge at the end of the day but it is a concern with that much water flushing across there.

With the smaller opening, is it noticeably harder to get access to the pump and drain shut-off valves for the livewell?

I wish they made the hatch lid in black as well.

poleposition

91tiger wrote: »

Nice upgrade. If I black my well out with pilchards and a few start to die, my drains will clog

I fixed it for you:


No clog design

Renagade69

91tiger wrote: »

Nice upgrade. If I black my well out with pilchards and a few start to die, my drains will clog and the livewell blows water out the back through the splash-well. I have never noticed my bilge kicking on or seen an inordinate amount of water in my bilge at the end of the day but it is a concern with that much water flushing across there.

With the smaller opening, is it noticeably harder to get access to the pump and drain shut-off valves for the livewell?

I wish they made the hatch lid in black as well.

The opening is actually a tad larger. I looked at this hatch many times and wished it would fit. I happened to look at the cut out size and was astounded that it was a tad bigger because the hatch is listed as a smaller size. I am pretty sure they have other colors available.

rocketman1

Lots of high $ hatches here: http://store.hamiltonmarine.com/browse.cfm/hatch-bomar-commercial-cast-aluminum-15-round-104611-/4,2548.html

But I agree that Egret could do a waterproof plate / hatch that looks sharp. As an fyi, YF uses a gel-coated glass insert for splash-well access and it is sealed with white silicon sealant, so IF you need to get back to that area you can - otherwise no water entry. All pumps, petcocks, etc remain accessible under a rear seat, so it is no big deal to have the splash-well access sealed.

Renagade69

Thanks. My goal with this post is just to show the Egret owners that have problems with their hatch that there is a hatch that will fit with little effort using a roto zip. Frank would have worked on my hatch if I called him about it.

camgci

My 95 Egret had a glass hatch and it looked great. Bad news is it leaked too. The rubber seal was shot so I contacted Jim G. when he owned Egret and he said he still had the mold. Might have got lost in the move to SC.
Renagade, thanks for the link.

FlatsBoy

camgci wrote: »

My 95 Egret had a glass hatch and it looked great. Bad news is it leaked too. The rubber seal was shot so I contacted Jim G. when he owned Egret and he said he still had the mold. Might have got lost in the move to SC.
Renagade, thanks for the link.

I do believe Jim Gardner did not own Egret he may of had a vested interest in the company.He did work and run the production of the boats back in the day when the boats were made in Florida. Maybe Capt. Pete Silot can clarify!
Also the mold may have been lost in SC on it's way to North Carolina were they are made now. Just saying! :blahblah

91tiger

Poleposition, thanks for the advice on the standpipe covers to prevent pilchards form clogging the well. That's what we do on my dad's Pathfinder standpipes and it works very well. However, my main well on my 189 is set up wit the same drain system as the 2011 with no standpipe. It's usually not a problem unless I put an obscene amount of chum baits in the well that are extremely small. If a few of them die off they get caught under the piece of starboard that guards the drain area then the suction in the top drain holes is greater and gets pilchards stuck against it. Once that happens the well overfills and blows out through the splashwelll.

poleposition

91tiger wrote: »

Poleposition, thanks for the advice on the standpipe covers to prevent pilchards form clogging the well. That's what we do on my dad's Pathfinder standpipes and it works very well. However, my main well on my 189 is set up wit the same drain system as the 2011 with no standpipe. It's usually not a problem unless I put an obscene amount of chum baits in the well that are extremely small. If a few of them die off they get caught under the piece of starboard that guards the drain area then the suction in the top drain holes is greater and gets pilchards stuck against it. Once that happens the well overfills and blows out through the splashwelll.

As I posted I was wondering if yours might be the newer design. I am contemplating a Moccasin 210 and if I do pull the trigger, it will have the standpipes like mine for that reason. "Stick with what brung 'ya" as they say.

As for the splash-well, the original post is quite helpful. I had mine "upgraded" to one that Flatsboy had recommended over the "stock" one and am glad I did. Bigger access and mine seems to be pretty water-tight.

Saltwater Junkie

FlatsBoy wrote: »

I do believe Jim Gardner did not own Egret he may of had a vested interest in the company.He did work and run the production of the boats back in the day when the boats were made in Florida. Maybe Capt. Pete Silot can clarify!
Also the mold may have been lost in SC on it's way to North Carolina were they are made now. Just saying! :blahblah

Maybe this will clear things up for the new boat guys. Egret Boat company was started in Dania and owned by Scott Flanders and Jim Gardner. They sold the company to Revenge Marine and moved to Miami. Revenge Marine went under and Jim Gardner bought it back. Frank bought it and moved to where it is now.

The fiberglass splashwell access hatch was discontinued sometime in 97. I believe that mold was lost or trashed shortly after. When Frank started building the boats the Tempress Hatch is what I researched and recommended and was being used.

Frank might remember if the boat I delivered to him when he was a customer had a plastic splashwell access hatch. But that was around 1997.

On a side note...I think there is one green glitter 18 egret out there somewhere....Pete

FlatsBoy

Glad you cleared that up Pete.

FlatsBoy

Glad you cleared that up Pete. I stand corrected.

The hatches are just not perfect from the manufactures. There molds just don't produce the parts consistently some are better than others. The innovative hatch is a better product than the TH Marine one and the tempress hatches quality control is awful. I saw that first hand. There is another hatch on the market which will seal without question. The only issue is the size. It may take too much material out of the splash well area.We will see if it can be used on my boat i'll report back when i know for sure with the details.

Renagade69

Saltwater Junkie wrote: »

Maybe this will clear things up for the new boat guys. Egret Boat company was started in Dania and owned by Scott Flanders and Jim Gardner. They sold the company to Revenge Marine and moved to Miami. Revenge Marine went under and Jim Gardner bought it back. Frank bought it and moved to where it is now.

The fiberglass splashwell access hatch was discontinued sometime in 97. I believe that mold was lost or trashed shortly after. When Frank started building the boats the Tempress Hatch is what I researched and recommended and was being used.

Frank might remember if the boat I delivered to him when he was a customer had a plastic splashwell access hatch. But that was around 1997.

On a side note...I think there is one green glitter 18 egret out there somewhere....Pete

Was there a particular reason for the discontinue of the fiberglass hatch that you can remember?

FlatsBoy

The mold for the original fiberglass hatch is gone and can not be reproduced. The time and money needed to produce this hatch when the mold was available was not worth the effort. If someone wants to take there original fiberglass hatch off and make a mold of it and produce them if there so great and leak free then i'm sure will all buy one!:shrug

Last-Cast

I have hull #76 and it had the glass hatch which was built in 1997. Try McMaster for the rubber gasket for the splash well. I had order from them for something else and they were real quick to ship.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#bulb-seals/=nxlui6

Saltwater Junkie

Renagade69 wrote: »

Was there a particular reason for the discontinue of the fiberglass hatch that you can remember?

The boat at the time had 29 molds for parts. So we eliminated the splashwell mold and top rod locker shelf. this was done to save time in the build process. What you see now is the adjustable aluminum and startboard rod shelf/holder inside the rodlockers. The old boat have the made of fiberglass.

FlatsBoy

Exactly!

Egrets Landing

Saltwater Junkie wrote: »

The boat at the time had 29 molds for parts. So we eliminated the splashwell mold and top rod locker shelf. this was done to save time in the build process. What you see now is the adjustable aluminum and startboard rod shelf/holder inside the rodlockers. The old boat have the made of fiberglass.

There's lots of things that could be done to save time. Loosing a hatch mold to replace with a cheap replacement definitely works towards that end. The thing is, I am thinking if I am going to spend about $70k on what is being advertised as the best or of the best (particularly in the fit and finish area), I am not going to be hoping my builder is looking to save time or take the cheap way out in any area. And I can't imagine a small hatch like that would impede delivery time or mfg. time by any significant amount. I would be happy to wait an extra week or whatever it takes and that is being generous for a small hatch like that. I can't imagine anyone buying one of these boats new would opt to have any of their hatches be after market not matching patch-ons if all of the hatches were offered as molded parts. Again, to me, its like putting crappy tires on a high end car or putting a k-mart rod on a stella, or a $50 handle on $5k door to save a few bucks. They still use those same aluminum bus latches on for the rod lockers too as stock. They work OK but they are cheap and get sticky after a couple of years and the finish fades. For just a few more dollars you can get high end stainless locking latches. It's the details that count to me. Loosing the rod locker shelf does make sense to me as the space could be made more functional by loosing it and going with the other design. So it seems they pay attention in most areas and in some areas like this the details are completely ignored or overlooked. I would insist on having that hatch made so it matches the others. Shoot, everything else seems to be possible or custom on an order so what is the deal with this leaky cheap looking hatch at the well? It makes no sense on an expensive boat.

FlatsBoy

poleposition

Egrets Landing wrote: »

There's lots of things that could be done to save time. Loosing a hatch mold to replace with a cheap replacement definitely works towards that end. The thing is, I am thinking if I am going to spend about $70k on what is being advertised as the best or of the best (particularly in the fit and finish area), I am not going to be hoping my builder is looking to save time or take the cheap way out in any area. And I can't imagine a small hatch like that would impede delivery time or mfg. time by any significant amount. I would be happy to wait an extra week or whatever it takes and that is being generous for a small hatch like that. I can't imagine anyone buying one of these boats new would opt to have any of their hatches be after market not matching patch-ons if all of the hatches were offered as molded parts. Again, to me, its like putting crappy tires on a high end car or putting a k-mart rod on a stella, or a $50 handle on $5k door to save a few bucks. They still use those same aluminum bus latches on for the rod lockers too as stock. They work OK but they are cheap and get sticky after a couple of years and the finish fades. For just a few more dollars you can get high end stainless locking latches. It's the details that count to me. Loosing the rod locker shelf does make sense to me as the space could be made more functional by loosing it and going with the other design. So it seems they pay attention in most areas and in some areas like this the details are completely ignored or overlooked. I would insist on having that hatch made so it matches the others. Shoot, everything else seems to be possible or custom on an order so what is the deal with this leaky cheap looking hatch at the well? It makes no sense on an expensive boat.

You ought to give Frank a call and share your ideas. This I do know: my experience has been that the only limiting factor with Frank/egret is your wallet and imagination.

Egrets Landing

poleposition wrote: »

You ought to give Frank a call and share your ideas. This I do know: my experience has been that the only limiting factor with Frank/egret is your wallet and imagination.

If I was buying one of them I definitely would. In fact, I wouldn't buy one unless the hatch was made to match. It would be required if I was buying one. I can't imagine the folks up there are not aware of the hatch issue. Perhaps it has not been an issue for most. However, it clearly was an issue for Frank R who had to replace his with yet another after market hatch that still isn't quite what it should be. The point is, for what the boat is advertised to be it should be all of that and more and it is such an obvious matter that no one should have to bring it to anyone's attention there. They clearly have to be aware of it. The question is why is it not being fixed. Anyone with a vested interest with one on order probably should inquire unless they don't care much about the fine details. However, in my experience most people who buy a boat like this are anal about their rigs. That is what makes the hatch issue so odd.

poleposition

Egrets Landing wrote: »

If I was buying one of them I definitely would. In fact, I wouldn't buy one unless the hatch was made to match. It would be required if I was buying one. I can't imagine the folks up there are not aware of the hatch issue. Perhaps it has not been an issue for most. However, it clearly was an issue for Frank R who had to replace his with yet another after market hatch that still isn't quite what it should be. The point is, for what the boat is advertised to be it should be all of that and more and it is such an obvious matter that no one should have to bring it to anyone's attention there. They clearly have to be aware of it. The question is why is it not being fixed. Anyone with a vested interest with one on order probably should inquire unless they don't care much about the fine details. However, in my experience most people who buy a boat like this are anal about their rigs. That is what makes the hatch issue so odd.

Well, I bought one recently and it wasn't a problem for me...still doesn't bother me. So perhaps the issue is you are more anal than most, and there is really nothing wrong with that.

FlatsBoy

I guess you can"t please everyone.
Please drive thru!