Watertight hatch instead of washboards

[skylark]

I've been reading Roger Taylor's book and website and he recommends a watertight hatch instead of washboards. 

I have been looking around for hatches to buy and they are crazy expensive.  Does anyone know if a decent watertight hatch can be made of wood/epoxy/lexan?

http://thesimplesailor.com/index.html

[AdriftAtSea]

Sure, you can make a water tight hatch with wood, epoxy and lexan.  However, I'd probably recommend going with cast acrylic rather than lexan as its physical characteristics are better for water-tight hatches and such. 

The real issue is making one that can be dogged down securely, yet is easily openable from both sides. The frame would have to be fairly rigid and the hinges strong enough to support the compressive forces on the gasket that would be required to provide a good water-tight seal. Aluminum may be a better choice of materials for the frame of such a hatch?as a stiffer frame could probably be made more easily for less weight.

[Delezynski]

Paul,

Where do you plan to cruise? For how long? When?

PLEASE don't get me wrong, I am NOT saying to do something not safe. BUT, during our cruising I have seen a lot of boats that have spent enormous amounts of $$ on items or mods that will NEVER be required or needed.

And YES, you can make a hatch that is water tight yourself. Have you considered changing the jam boards for swing doors? They could be made of Lexan with wood trim and automotive type seal. They would look VERY good and be water tight and you can still have the jam boards for further security.

On Guenevere, our Nor'Sea 27, we have both swing doors AND jam boards.

Just a note, when we took a near knock-down with plenty of water in the cockpit and over our cabin top, with only the swing doors in place, it happened so fast that almost no water found it's way below. LESS THAN a cup!

Greg

[skylark]

I'm building a 15 foot sharpie for Lake Michigan.  It is similar to the Paradox design but is ketch rigged.  It has no keel, it is internally ballasted.  Its pretty much a decked sailing canoe, not very wide.  It has vents near each mast that will not let much water in if the boat is inverted.  It also has watertight bulkheads and a lot of foam.  I'm hoping to use it for coho fishing in early spring after the icebergs melt.

[newt]

Just a note, when we took a near knock-down with plenty of water in the cockpit and over our cabin top, with only the swing doors in place, it happened so fast that almost no water found it's way below. LESS THAN a cup!

Greg

Greg- that sounds like a knockdown to me. What do you classify as a knockdown? A rollover?? :)

[Delezynski]

Well Newt,

I guess it just sort of makes me feel better to call it a near knockdown. Still makes me shiver when I look back at it :o, but also I don't want to over state it. We came through with very little loss or damage, a LOT better than a lot of others. That was due to a great boat AND LUCK not skill!

I guess my point was that something like that is a rare event. AND, we did NOT do a full roll over. ;D ;D

Greg

[Oldrig]

Newt and Greg:

I'm not sure what officially defines "knock down."

During the first season that I owned my Cape Dory, before I understood the importance of reefing, I took a sudden gust, the boat went so far over that water came into the cockpit, and I lost steering. Then the heavy keel took over and she rounded into the wind and popped back up.

When I got back to shore, I told my neighbor, a veteran blue-water racer, that I had sustained a knock down.

"Did your spreaders get wet?" he asked, knowingly.

When I said that I didn't think so, he said it wasn't a true knock down.

Perhaps it was a "near knock down."

--Joe

[s/v Faith]

I've been reading Roger Taylor's book and website and he recommends a watertight hatch instead of washboards.....

 In addition to the matter of expense mentioned earlier, I would also submit that I would not care to live / cruise / sail aboard a small boat set up like this.  There is another principal that I believe it very important and to overlook is done at one's own peril.

 The 'elimination of misery' principal^tm is VERY important, especially to the small boat Sailor.   ;D

 How many times, in the average day, do I go below?  Well, sometimes a dozen.. maybe even two!.. Crawling through such a small hatch.. with a harness on, foul weather gear, AND a cup of coffee... no thanks.

 How about being in the channel, single handed, in the fog... and the next chart is below?  Do you really wanna have to take the extra time to get to below AND back up?

 A good set of well-fitting hatch boards can be fitted with cleats and tied in place (maybe the bottom one or two only) for foul weather... and still provide perfectly livable access to the cabin.

 Just another 2 cents.

[s/v Faith]

Here's a picture where you can kinda see the hatch, the coaming on the companionway edge sticks out about an inch and you can see the depression in the foam it's made

Looks like an excellent compromise between ease of access and safety.

[Delezynski]

Think about this....

Here is a photo of Jill coming out of our cabin using our swing doors. They are easy to open and close and allow a lot of air inside when it's hot. Just inside the swing doors, we have a grove that takes 2 jamb boards. When the weather is fine (at anchor or at the dock) the jamb boards are not used. When we head to open ocean, we drop in the jamb boards with a reef.

Whit one reef, one jamb board in place. We keep the swing doors on so below is secure. Even in nasty weather, we can open one swing door and with only one jamb board in place we can still pass things up and down.

Greg
Sorry I don't have a closer view of the doors and jamb boards...

[Oldrig]

Whit one reef, one jamb board in place.

Greg,

What a sensible rule-of-thumb.
I'm going to adopt that on my boat, even though I only have jam boards.
Thanks,

--Joe