Installing and glassing the hatch bezel

[Eric]

First an editorial comment: I am a devoted CLC customer and friend.  The folks at CLC are awesome; for example they will replace any problem parts at the drop of a hat.  The build manuals are exquisite and astounding in detail/quality.  Any comments/suggestions I make are just well meant tips from an old boatbuilder and CLC devotee. There is NEVER any attempt to contradict these awesome build manuals which are unequaled in the industry.

Installing the hatch bezel: I suggest installing/filleting/glassing the hatch bezel in one move to avoid the sanding of fillets.  This would involve replacing the lead weights step with CA glue tack welding the bezel to the roof and rounding all bezel exterior corners/sanding the bezel on the workbench in advance.  To insure proper centered and square positioning of the bezel on the roof for tack welding, I would suggest tracing a pencil line around it during the dry fit. The fillet will cover the pencil line.

[Eric]

Hmmm. Now that I am actually doing it, I suggest wiring the bezel to the roof using the predrilled cnc holes, not the CA glue.  Wiring each side tightly is all that is needed and will get rid of the gap created by spring back when the hatch opening is cut out. Push the wires against the bezel sides and fillet over them and glass over soft fillets will be my approach. I don’t believe that lead weights on a board would be enough to bring the bezel sides into tight contact with the roof ,but I did not want weights in the way of glassing the bezel immediately after filleting.

[Author]

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