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Ski Hatch Cover


brianmac

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My 2000 Malibu is starting to need interior repairs after 11 great years!

There's one part I need your thoughts about... The ski hatch cover is getting a bit spongy and probably needs to be replaced as it starting to feel pretty squishy when you step on it.

It totally carpetted (glued on) so its hard to understand what the underlying material is for this hatch cover. It doesn't appear to be plywood, perhaps some type of plastic core.

Has anyone replaced one of these before? If so, I would appreciate your advice. Web searches are coming up empty.

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brianmac, first off, welcome to the crew. You'll find a lot of excellent advice being given here. Of course, you'll also find a lot of worthless advice as well. :)

First place I would try would be Bakes. Next would be your Malibu dealer. My ski locker cover does the same thing and has been for a couple of years. I don't plan on replacing it until I absolutely have to. Replacing it will also mean changing the carpet and I don't care to spend that kind of cash right now. Since you said you recently replaced the carpet hopefully you have enough left over. What type of glue did you use? The only glue I would recommend is Leach Glue brand.

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i'm not familiar with that particular model but that whole "squishy" thing makes it sound like corrugated aluminum panel.

it's some pretty pricy stuff. mcmaster-carr has some sheets of the stuff but iirc they don't carry anything of any substantial size.

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The diamond plate looks really good, but the diamond plate will be HOT when you step on it.

A good replacement would be one made of teak lumber, fabricated the same way as your swim platform. That way the bilge is naturally ventilated with the spaces between the top boards. Finishing is easy just use the teak oil for your swim platform.

A cheaper solution would be to use a product commonly called "Baltic Birch" or "Russian Birch" plywood. It is an imported multiple ply plywood that has 7 ? plys in the 12mm (.47") thickness, 9 plys in the 15mm (.59") thickness, (18mm is available, too) and there are very few core voids (which are found in conventional USA plywood. It typically comes in a 60" x 60" size and sometimes in a 48x96". The face is clear of defects and the stuff is really strong due to the extra glue lines between the plies. A local cabinet shop can whip either of these out in no time, using your original cover as a template. You could choose to cover it with carpet or finish it with an exterior varnish.

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I like that teak idea.

Yeah, I would never do something like that in diamond plate due to sun and heat. If you look down the rest of that thread you'll notice that guy must have had a lot of diamond plate and time on his hands.

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Teak is good stuff but you need to do research before working with it. It is really hard on tools and most glues do not hold well. I built one for a previous boat and it held well for almost 10 years. I used West Systems Epoxy (they have great do it yourself instructions) and stainless screws just to be sure it stayed together.

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Thanks for all the advice! I went to Bakes Marine as the first step. I reach Paul who was incredibly helpful. He's going to try to locate a replacement after I sent him photo's, dimensions and the boats VIN. I keep you posted about what happens.

Thanks again!

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  • 1 month later...

Blakes ended up coming through. I received a new replacement ski hatch cover for about $125. (Below what I expected to pay). It seems to be made with new core material , perhaps some type of composite core as opposed to corrugated aluminum. Hopefully this holds up longer.

I really appreciate everyone's help, you guys really steered me in the right direction!

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Good to hear that something like that is available for a circa 2000 boat like mine.

I might need one some day and I now know Bake's is the place to get it,

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  • 9 years later...

Anyone have a more recent contact for a ski hatch door?  We have an 04 Response LXI.  The dealer is struggling to even find the part.  Trying to get an answer from Bakes.  Would love any info you have. Thanks

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