Sorry for the delay in posting the instructions...that damn day job!
Anyway, here is what we received from Nautique. The conversation started with the fact that our fasteners won't tighten down onto the hydrogate any further:
The current fasteners are #8 x 1” Phillips Truss head. I would try going up to #8x1.25” if available. You could also see if they have M4.5x30mm or 35mm which is slightly larger than the #8. If you can’t get enough bite with these, you can try repairing the hole, but this isn’t usually very successful without grinding away some laminate inside the hull and adding fresh laminate back or bonding on something with screw retention.
You would probably be pretty successful using a quick 5 min epoxy and some 1”x1” aluminum squares by .125” or .25” thick. Larger squares would work as well if you can’t find 1” width (.75” might be ok too). Use the epoxy to bond these over the holes on the inside of the boat. Once the epoxy sets use the existing holes to drill a 9/64 hole in the aluminum you bonded in. I think the 1.25” fasteners would probably be long enough to make it through the aluminum as well if you go this route (could always grab 1.5” while you are there just in case). When running the fastener in, allow the fastener to advance a ¼ to ½ turn and then reverse then reverse the screw gun to back the fastener out then advance the screw until it start spinning slow and advance ¼ to ½ turn farther and repeat the process until you can run the screw down to the desired depth (to prevent breaking fastener heads off).
By the end of this I have talked my self into the aluminum approach, but you can do whatever makes the most sense. Also, don’t forget to use some Sika Flex or other sealant when re-installing the fasteners.