How do I make my main hatch slide easily?

[Graham_Wright]

Obsessed with wave ingress (never happened yet in 8 years) I have a stainless angle running on a HDPE strip. It is not slick.
PTFE lubricant has not proved popular (or indeed, very effective).
The hatch runs under a garage - Colvic Countess 33 centre cockpit.
Any suggestions please?

 

[johnalison]

I generally find that just cleaning it is sufficient. You could try a better lubricant such as Mc Lube but I would beware of overdoing it. I lubricated the hatch on our first cruiser, a Cirrus, and for a while the hatch would slide back and forth on every wave.

 

[davidaprice]

I had great success on our boat by rubbing a candle on the runners.

 

[Farmer Piles]

I am a big fan of silicon spray. Makes a world of difference on my sliding cabin door.

 

[escapism]

With a similar problem, candle grease lasted the season, but silicone grease lasted for years. I think a tube of silicon grease is one of those 'consumables' that can be passed down generations - like grinding paste and duralac. Not keen on silicone spray as it can go places you don't want, and is difficult (impossible?) to clean off.

 

[cpedw]

I put self-adhesive Teflon tape from EBay like this on the runners. Smooth as silk.

 

[dansaskip]

Trouble with silicon grease is that dirt etc sticks to it so yes candle wax or any kind of wax polish works well

 

[Graham_Wright]

I put self-adhesive Teflon tape from EBay like this on the runners. Smooth as silk.

That sounds interesting - I'll give it a go.
Thanks all.

 

[lustyd]

Beeswax is also good for this and probably easier to find than plain candles these days.

 

[vyv_cox]

Our GRP hatch ran on aluminium runners with no other bearing surface. Over years the GRP wore itself and the aluminium, creating a black deposit that always seemed to find its way onto our hands and clothes. I lined the GRP with some thin L section PVC bought in B&Q, stuck on with Sikaflex. It is just visible bottom left in the photo. Solved the problem completely and improved the action of the hatch by reducing friction.