I’ve replaced all the hatch covers on my Avocet with Sea Dog covers. I spent the afternoon practicing rollng and all three compartments have water in them.Has anyone had problems with getting a waterproof seal with them and is there a fix?
Thanks
Yes, same problem.
The ovals don’t work. They leak badly. I’ve had good luck with the round hatch. My round was labeled Sea-Dog. The ovals were labeled Sea-Lect. Don’t know if they made any changes when they re-branded.
Solution
Did you find any work around or solution?
Valley hatch covers
So far the best option is new Valley covers. I was greatly disappointed in the Sea-Lect ovals. The original Valley ovals on this boat are very old, but still in good shape. The round is about ready to go. You could probably poke a finger through.
thought
Thats’ what I thought, all 3 of my lids blew out last summer. I thought I seen somewhere on the net where someone had used a bungee to create a gasket.
Good to hear this
We simply haven’t gotten around to ordering the Sea Dog hatch covers for the two Pintails, the one Avocet, and the one AvocetLV, but if the ovals are going to leak, then maybe we’ll just stick with Valley and the pain in the butt that they can be.
A friend of ours who previously owned an Aquanaut and had the attendant issue of getting the covers down tight used a kitchen pan scraper to seal them. She said it worked very well and sure beat having to use the edge of a paddle blade – our present (and annoying) method – to get those covers on securely.
Trouble Getting On
I never experience this problem when I used Valley kayaks. I always sprayed the hatch ring and the inside of the covers with 303 to make it easier to put them on. Seemed to work. Are you doing the same?
sea-lect
We just got new sea-lect covers for the Pintail, and they fit great. I have never heard of sea-dog. I love Valley hatch covers, but was only getting about 3 years out of them before the degradation was notable. I have used 303 regularly, but I really don’t think it does much when you are in the water constantly.
Sea Dog
Sea Dog and Sea Lect are the same… How do you tell if you have a good seal?
303
No, I’ll try that approach.
Thx
It works on Valley and Sea Dog covers
The slight lubrication it provides work well with both types of covers.
303 - what’s that?
Seriously, I do know what it is, I just never use it although we have, oh, probably a huge number of bottles of it around the house.
I will use it on our hatch covers and the hatch rims and see if it makes life easier in our Valley world. My husband has had an especially difficult time getting the covers on his '92 Pintail and I just got a '92 myself this past winter, so 303 might help both of us.
Thanks for the advice!!
It’s pretty simple…
…they don’t leak.
? BN
Did you replace the rims with your also?
Hmmmm
I think that was an Argonaut, and yes the scraper was sold to me along with the kayak!
No
– Last Updated: May-05-11 6:39 AM EST –
I bought just the replacement cover (at this point, just the 8" round). For me, that's really the whole point, to replace just the cover. Replacing the rims would be a major, unnecessary hassle.
Thx
Thank you