Hi Nicolas,

Yes, this was a residual issue remaining from the previous owner, who had already made a fix to the problem - by installin stainless steel plates on top of the engine-room hatch to reinforce the underneath strut attachment points. These, however, were recessed into the hatch, and the integrity of the fiberglass seal was subsequently compromised with the flex of the hatch when opening and closing.

Eventually, we ended up with the internal structure rotting away due to fresh-water ingress, and cracks developing through the structure thereby enabling rain-water to enter the engine room - not huge quantities, but enough drips here and there to give concern (due primarily to high-output alternator underneath, and ONAN nearby). Our preventative measure, in the interim, was to place deck-tread over the stainless-steel pads, and then to cover the whole engine room hatch with waterproof plastic - in this case, we used clear plastic, because we could then always see what was going on below the waterproof cover. (Then, because the clears can get slippery when wet, we also placed anti-slip matting at the 'touch-down zones' for when you step into or out of the cockpit.)

Supplements to Bill.R's online AMEL SCHOOL book contain a collation of various solutions posted on the forum. The ones I used were provided by Steve Bell (svDusk, SM#378) and a very comprehensive "how I did it" by the great contributor Giovanni Testa (svEutikia, SM#428). I would expect that you may also be able to find these by searching the forum messages (try starting with https://amelyachtowners.groups.io/g/main/message/19941).

I hope this helps,

David
SM#396, svPerigee
Still doing battle with the bow-thruster
On-the-Hard, Marsden Cove Marina
New Zealand


From: <main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io> on behalf of "Nicolas Klene via groups.io" <laixoi@...>
Reply to: <main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io>
Date: Thursday, 27 October 2022 at 6:27 am
To: <main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io>
Subject: Re: [AmelYachtOwners] AYOG/NZ/Northland [Engine Room Hatch]

Hello David
was your hatch refit due to bumps over the anchor of the struts ? I have that problems and I am looking for documentation to address the problem .Have you found any ?
nicolas
--
Nicolas Klene
DarNico
SM2K # 471
In Marseille 🇫🇷