I made new hatchboards this winter from solid 3/4" mahogany. I routed the edges to fit the slides, beveled the edges so they slightly overlap and glued 2 little (<1/4" thick) rubber "feet" to the bottom board to keep it from sitting in any rainwater. My last plywood boards had a similar arrangement and are still perfectly sound after many years of use. I finished them with Cetol "Light" which looks great to me and is far easier to care for than varnish. I also 2nd Tom's solution of turning the cam cleat over on the mainsheet block so a quick upward pull releases the sheet. I had it that way on my M17 as well. It feels much safer and faster for me than the standard arrangement. Mark Dvorscak M23 Faith -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of bownez@juno.com Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 8:40 PM To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: M_Boats: Hatchboards Tom and Joe, I have three sections of hatchboards on my M23, and found that water would pool on the bridgedeck and delaminate the lowest dropboard. When I decided to make new ones, I constructed the lowest from starboard (white) and the top two from some exotic hardwood my carpenter friend found. It is African Black Limbau. I varnished the top two and it looks fabulous. During winter storage the old boards get put back to use. Bones ____________________________________________________________ Criminal Lawyers - Click here. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTOVoIgUJFzka4bdzyFjR8UAssr g9auZTeI0sZmJ1OdeGRknEcm5mY/ _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats Remember, there is no privacy on the Internet! Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.375 / Virus Database: 270.13.1/2212 - Release Date: 07/01/09 05:53:00