Received replacement front and back skimmer gaskets after a few weeks. During the installation the gasket would not align with the spa opening. The holes on the spa gasket plastic cover and the spa were off by over an 1/8 of an inch. The troubleshooting begins...
Emptied the spa of all the water to lighten the load. Next took off the boards of the deck surrounding the spa to see if the spa skimmer could be adjusted to align with the spa. Reached arm down under the spa skimmer and it would not budge. Noticed that the squirrels living underneath the spa had moved many wheel barrels of dirt underneath the deck for their den. Dirt worked its way down underneath the skimmer and pipe outlet underneath the spa causing the lack of alignment. Also all of the pipe taking water to and from the pump were covered in over a foot of dirt up to the deck.
Removed all of the dirt and was able to align the gasket with the skimmer. Fit both front and back gaskets and tightened the skimmer gasket to the spa. Sealed the plastic gasket cover gaps to the spa with waterproof windshield caulking. So far it appears to be holding.
