Water damage be damned!

Well, I'm dragging my feet on this and we're leaving for Florida for a one month trip on January 2, so it's time to get my rear in gear.

I moved the Teardrop into the shop to assess the water damage in the galley and it's been raining ever since, so good timing on that.

At first I thought I might get away with doing a "little" repair, but this is like washing one spot on a dirty white wall. You just can't do one spot. There's no easy fix here.

First, I let a fan dry it out for 2 days.  Then I got out a scraper and some chisels. Fun times.

Water is getting in on the bottom of the hatch - gotta fix that.

The top of the hatch is leaking, too! Boo, leaks, boo!

I had to let it sit for a week and stare and think and stare and think some more before I moved forward.  I've removed all rotten and wet wood. Next steps are filling voids with Bondo or exterior wood putty, and sealing every crack and every spot where two pieces of wood meet, then painting the galley sides and floor with marine paint.

I also have to address the lower half of the hatch not making contact with the trailer when closed; There's a gap of about 1/2".

More soon -

Leah

Hatch Leak

Well, it's happened, a leak. Boo! Hiss! Boo! We have had a tremendous amount of rain, but a leak is a leak - must fix.

Fortunately, it's localized in the hatch, but the first time it leaked water found it's way into the cabin and soaked the mattress and popped up the tiles. Live and learn and patch and seal, repeat as necessary.

I bought a rubber garage seal and some 1/8" flat aluminum stock that I'll put over the hatch hinge, plus 1" of overhang on each side. Hoping this will work.

-Leah

Cranberry Lake & hatch awning

Great 8'x10' nylon tarp I got at LL bean. So much better than the loud crinkly ones you find at hardware stores.

Quick to put up - I installed 2 eyebolts on the roof trim for tie downs and staked the rest.

-Leah

It fits!!!!

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!

It fits!!!!!

Time for a cocktail.

-Leah

Hatch is skinned

Aluminum has been glued on.

More hatch

Glued and nailed strips of luan to the hatch in preparation for applying the aluminum skin.

I'm hoping for very little spring-back, we shall see...

Wired up the lights & fan. Still deciding where to put the electrical panel.

Leah

Mind the hatch

Oh, the hatch, the dreaded hatch.

Building a door with a curve to match another curve exactly and fit inside within 1/2" is pretty hard.

But, I did it and it really wasn't that hard. You just have to be patient.

There are easier ways to do this. I think the hatch profile should get cut in the beginning with all the other major cuts. That would be a start.

Leah