A Sea Hood - Not a Deliquent Item

One of the first things we added to Poetry's deck was a turtle hatch or in modern parlance, a sea hood.   This structure covers the sliding companionway hatch and prevents water, green or otherwise, from leaking into the cabin via the companionway hatch.  Another way to look at it, the sea hood is a garage for the companionway hatch.

Poetry's stout and secure teak turtle hatch or sea hood

On Poetry, I outdid myself and made the structure out of teak.  Roughly $800, in 1996 dollars, later we had a very nice looking and almost iron clad structure.  However, it was a real pain to keep good looking.  I mounted a canted dash onto the dodger was attached and to help direct water down onto the side decks.  It was solidly bedded and securely through-bolted to the cabin top.  It worked and continues to work after almost 20 years.

Harmony will need a new dodger, as well as a bimini.  So, before I have Sperry Sails construct the dodger, I need to consider what to do about a sea hood.  Harmony did not have one, but I had seen some nice ones on both Westsail 32's and Westsail 42's.

Harmony's companionway hatch is large and inviting to a boarding sea

However, I did not want to make it out of teak.  Firstly, the cost of such a thing would be huge, and we already have enough teak on deck to keep us busy varnishing in perpetuity!

After lengthy consideration, I decided to make the sea hood out of merranti plywood sandwiched between epoxy and glass.  This way I can have a stout structure, but build in some ease in maintenance.  I will attached a canted teak dash on its aft end in order to attached the dodger and direct boarded water off the cabin top.

The trick to this is making the sides and front mimic the angular proportions of the cabin top.  Hopefully, this will allow the sea hood to blend in and look like it is a natural part of the structure.  Beyond that the angular sides will help deflect spray and add to the structural integrity.

Canted merranti front and sides with temporary support struts (black items are shims to help maintain the proper angle for the mold)

So, I needed to fashion not just a mold, but a mold in which the main panels are the actual sides.  It was relatively easy to measure the angles of the sloped cabin sides and front.  Once the camber of deck was scribed, it was a simple task of adjusting either the sabre saw or table saw to that angle.  The front and sides were joined with temporary struts to keep the angles true and to provide an attachment for the top.


Laminated sheets of 1/4 inch merranti plywood forming the top of the sea hood

The top was constructed by laminating two sheets of 1/4 inch merranti plywood over the top.  Because of the temporary struts having been planed to the deck camber angle, the sheets of merranti took on the same camber as the deck.  The sea hood was to be attached to the deck through a 1/4 inch fiberglass sill that would be formed during the glassing of the merranti sandwich.

By screwing and bedding the sea hood with this lip, I could remove it to refinish the companionway hatch whenever necessary.  The bedding would prevent any water intrusion and, more importantly, prevent the sea hood from being ripped off by a huge boarding sea.
The construction of the sea hood has started, but will be completed over several weeks of work.  A lot of time has been spent in the early stages to ensure the lip camber and height of the sea hood fits the deck properly.

As I continue to work on this item, I will provide updates.  However, I do need to have this completed by late Spring or early Summer in order to have Sperry design a proper dodger.  So, this sea hood will not be a delinquent item, for sure.

Fair Winds and Following Seas!