Custom Hatchboards

A number of years ago, I replaced ORION's original hatchboards with new ones I made myself. However, I made a big mistake right from the start: After I cut them, I coated them with epoxy before applying varnish. This was fine for the first few years, but then the face of the boards got scraped. Water became trapped under the epoxy and eventually lifted the epoxy and varnish right off. In an attempt to sand them, I burned through the top veneer in a few spots. Despite re-applying varnish, the result looked spotted and awful. Never again will I use epoxy under varnish.

In September of 2017, fellow Mariner sailor Will Gilmore (#2632 DRAGONFLY) posted pictures on the Association's forum of custom hatchboards he made with a wood-burned design of a dragonfly and a rose. It looked fantastic, and I was really struck by the artistry and quality of his work. I knew right then and there I was going to be his next customer. Imagine my surprise when, after contacting him by e-mail, he had already thought of me and made a preliminary sketch of a possible design! He had read my mind!

The original design with two representations of the constellation Orion.

The first sketch of the constellation and ORION sailing. We decided it looked a little too “much”.

The second idea was to have the constellation in the background, but from far away, it looked like a smudge. We were getting closer, though!

The final drawing with ORION and just the stars of the constellation. This looked better to me - a little more muted.

Will purchased a beautiful piece of half-inch marine-grade, sapele mahogany ribbon strip with birch core plywood.

The preliminary sketch of ORION on the hatchboards.

He made an executive decision to change the orientation of the stripes - fine by me.

Will beginning the burning process.

Getting the details of the outboard motor just right by looking at a photo of ORION on his phone.

Working on the lettering for the name on the transom.

Outlining the name and hailing port.

Detailing the curvature of the port bow.

A close-up of Will’s work.

The hull completed.

Mast, rigging, and sails completed on the top hatchboard.

ORION completed with the constellation Orion.

The master showing off his creation!

The completed design.

The new hatchboards on ORION.

Over a period of several months, Will and I exchanged many e-mails to finalize a design which would include ORION as well as the constellation Orion. He chose a picture of ORION sailing with her spinnaker (from the 2016 trip to Greenport album), slightly modified it, and added the stars of the constellation to make it look like ORION was sailing at night. In the meantime, I sent him my old hatchboards so he could exactly replicate them.

When he was done, I was blown away by the result. They fit perfectly and look astounding. What a talent! I'll be proud to show off my hatchboards from now on instead of being embarrassed by the boards I messed up.

Will has been extremely generous with his time, energy and talent, and I can't recommend him highly enough. He is a true gentleman, and I encourage anyone hoping for their own custom hatchboards to contact him via his Facebook page, Earthshaking Creations.

Here are a bunch of pictures detailing the whole process.