PA17T Rectangular Twist and Seal Hatch Question

I bought the rectangular drop-in bucket for some additional storage in my 2015 PA17T. Unfortunately it looks like the bucket is too deep to fit and the hatch door will not fully close. If the bucket was 1/2 inch shorter then there probably wouldn't be any problem.

The kayak shop tells me I should have Hobie part #71707002 installed, which makes the hatch waterproof and gives it a little extra clearance. I do not appear to have this installed on any of my three hatches. Should this have been installed from the factory? If not, is it required to make the drop-in bucket work? I don't really understand why the bucket dimensions would be designed around a part that doesn't come from the factory and doesn't add additional functionality. All three hatches already appear to be watertight. I'd hate to remove the currently-functional hatch, install the gasket, potentially introduce a leak, and then find that the gasket didn't give me the additional required clearance.

Anyone have any insight? Any help would be appreciated.

The gasket is in there. It gets compressed. It is not designed to add height.

You may have to shave some of the internal foam. Some areas get thicker than needed and may be the case here. Not all hatch locations fit the liner. I believe the aft ones can.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

It looks like the bucket needs to drop another half inch or so in both the forward and aft hatches. The hatch in the middle kind of works. It drops in, but the hatch only barely closes and feels like it's being put into a bind. I wouldn't trust it long-term.

I'm not sure what's meant by shaving internal foam. The only foam I see in there is cylindrical and not in the way. Google keeps insisting I want to know the best razor blade, so it's no help.

Is it possible I have a defective bucket? I only see three possibilities here.. a defective kayak, a defective bucket, or a bucket whose design does not work with the 2015 PA17T.

Not a defective bucket, boat or hatch. The PA17 varies in hull thickness and can have more foam (not the blocks... this is a second inner layer of polyethylene) in some areas. I will ask one of our fish guys to respond for more detail on what to do.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

The center hatch on the PA 17T is the only hatch that the rectangular bucket works with (and even sanding a little bit of foam down will make it fit better in certain circumstances). An excess of foam would have to be removed in order to fit it in the rear or forward hatch. There are some individuals on the forums that have cut, and plastic welded the bucket in order to modify it to fit those hatches - worth taking a look via the search tab at the top of this page. Maybe you can get away with a bucket in the center hatch and Plano boxes/tackle management racks in the other two hatches??

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Howie Strech
Parts & Accessories Product Manager
Hobie Cat USA

I confirmed that it (almost) fits in the center hatch. Some minor sanding would be required for mine in order to allow the hatch to close without any resistance, but you can tell that's where it's meant to go.

I ended up cutting off about 1 inch wide by 1 inch tall from the bottom of opposite sides of the bucket to allow it to fit in the rear hatch. Worked great for my application since I don't need the bucket to be sealed in the rear. It'd be convenient to have a watertight bucket for the front as well, but I'm all set for now. Thanks for your help.

Does anyone make a redesigned bucket that will fit the PA17? Anyone 3D print one that would fit?

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Hobie Mirage Sport (Red)
Hobie Mirage Outback (Red)
....Can't wait to get a Hobie Cat Wave

As an option you can install pool noodles (either vertically or horizontally) to create an internal storage area inside the hull which will contain your belongings you want to store. It works great and at least triples the storage capacity if not more depending on where you place the pool noodles.

I did this on my Revo 13 and can now keep as many as 5 Plano 3600 tackle boxes in there if necessary. I wouldn't carry that many but it dramatically increase my center hatch storage capacity and free'd up my rear tankwell to store other things.