If you can not smell the odor with the cushions in place that makes me second guess myself. The only time I recall opening the forward hatch was when I initially cleaned the boat out. I used at least a pint of acetone in the process, maybe a quart. The overhead was pretty grimy and there were stains in the cabin locker compartments as well as below the cockpit. If there was uncured resin anywhere I think I would have eliminated it with the acetone, and with all that acetone I may never have smelled the resin. I was shocked when I cut the opening for my cockpit seat hatches at how intense the aroma of resin was. I will try to remember to check if my forward compartment has a resin odor. steve Steve R. M-15 #119 Lexington, KY ********************************************************************** bill - if you want i can take a picture of my M15 that has the original bow foam pieces in place. the space is also not filled ... and does still smell like the boat factory when the forward hatch is open (when the hatch and v-berth cushions in place i'm sure the smell is contained as i've never 'got that smell' unless i'm digging in the forward locker). david scobie M15 #288 (not yet named)