It took four months to replace two hatches! Episode 38. #refit

Since day one back in July of 2022, we have had several hatches that leaked. While in Guatemala, we re-bedded two of the three hatches in the salon and galley, but that's as far as we got. We mitigated the problem by keeping a bucket or bowl under the leaky spots, with the intention to re-bed the rest of the hatches as time permitted. Taking care of that problem was definitely a job for while we're in the boatyard doing the refit, and only a month into the process, we got busy removing the worst offenders. Unfortunately, they were corroded so completely that we couldn't separate the screws and hinges from the frames without breaking them, so we had to order new ones. We have a European boat. It was built in France and many of the component parts are also made in France. This includes the deck hatches. This is where we made our first mistake. We procrastinated a few weeks, and July turned into August. If you've ever tried to acquire ANYTHING from Europe in August, you will have discovered that everyone goes on holiday for the entire month of August. At least they do in France. Four months later, we finally got our new hatches. That's four months having two huge holes in the boat covered with tape, and leaking profusely into large plastic totes. After a few mistakes, we finally got them installed and are one step close to having a dry boat. Music by Epidemic Sound. https://www.epidemicsound.com Music by Artlist https://www.artlist.com https://sailingroam.com/ ?More about us, our adventures, and how we do all this on our website. More about Roam here ??https://sailingroam.com/our-sailboat/ ? Keep up with us on social FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/sgsailingroam INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/sailing_roam ----------------------------------------------------------- WE'RE GERI AND SHAWN. A couple travelers out chasing the horizon, meeting the people, and capturing it to share with you. We've chosen to Roam the world by boat because, let's face it, the most interesting path is rarely a straight line. As we learn to let go of our American drive to finish, and embrace the meandering routes across islands, oceans, continents, and people, we hope to gain a better sense of our world and our place in it. The path won't always be comfortable or easy to find but, it will always #roam Here's an index of the video in case you want to see something specific: 00:00 Removing the old leaking deck hatches 00:35 Intro to Us 00:51 New hatches have arrived. Let's install them 01:46 Remove the tape from the holes 03:17 Drill out the holes 04:44 Fill holes with epoxy 05:29 The hatches need help to fit properly 09:51 Apply butyl tape 11:48 Install hatches 13:06 Wrap up the day 13:49 Our repair FAILED! 14:13 Drill holes and try again 15:36 The rain test 16:50 Like, Subscribe, See you next time 17:12 Next time on Sailing Roam 17:16 End Card ----------------------------------------------------------- #boatlife #catamaran #travelvlog #digitalnomad #lifestyle #sailboats #nautitech #yachtlife #sailingroam #liveaboardlife #cruisinglife #explore #exploretheworld #refit #catamaranrefit © Sailing Roam 2023