Companionway Help

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njerrell

Companionway Help

Post by njerrell »

Im curious if anyone here has replaced or built a replacement sliding hatch.Mine was lost in the sinking and am looking at a few different ways to replace it.I will be using wood,should i glass over it or stain it then put clear epoxy,and polyurethene? I wolud also like some feedback on the thought of building it square then notching the underside on the edges and replaceing the original slide tracks with solid peices to slide on.I have also thought of a lid type hatch with hinges and maybe a small strut or a locking arm type device on the inside to hold it up when at dock or anchor.Any feedback and the pros and cons of this is appreciated.
Thanks,Nathan
PS : The wash boards were lost as well,is a solid peice better or cutting three or four peices the way to go?
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Windward
Posts: 451
Joined: Mon May 14, 2007 1:40 pm
Location: East Tennessee
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Post by Windward »

For the drop boards, I did three, with the bottom two taller than the top one. The bottom comes to above the cockpit seats so that when secured it protects from flooding if lots of water visits the cockpit; even inland you can take on a fair amount if you wash a winch in big wind. The second board is about same height, and I mounted an opening portlight there for light and ventilation. I used closed cell foam to gasket the bottom board and pin that in when sailing. The others come out if it's nice, or stay in if it's foul or cold.

If you go with a big sliding hatch, you could used pretty thin ply and laminate with a layer or two of cloth and epoxy for strength.

I've always felt that the huge sliding hatch was a vulnerability for truly sloppy weather, but for inland and sane coastal conditions it does provide great ventilation. A cool mod might be to build a fixed, raised mini-deckhouse instead of the major part of the sliding hatch, perhaps 8" or so above the deck. Glass it in, tie it into the raised pads that now mount the mainsheet blocks, and build a traveler across the top. Put opening portlights on the sides, and maybe an opening hatch on the forward part to provide good ventilation even underway. Since the space behind the mast won't get covered by the hatch now, add an aft-opening hatch there, again providing good ventilation underway.

Put small sliding hatch below the traveler. Between it and the traveler mount your speed, depthg, GPS, etc, plus a remote speaker for your VHF.

OK, so that's way too much work, but it would add a traveler, good instrument mounting, better ventilation and be safer in a seaway...

You'll get more realistic input from others, I'll bet.
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Wag4513
Posts: 58
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2003 7:04 pm
Location: Dallas, Texas

Post by Wag4513 »

The prior owner replaced both hatches with ones of his design. They are made from an aluminum frame with lexan. They work very well, and are strong enough to stand on. Here is a picture which shows an overview of the sliding hatch. If you are interested I can take some detailed photos to post.

Jim

http://www.pbase.com/sailortex/image/109410756
Jim Laurence
Chrysler C22
Dallas, Texas
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ronc98
Posts: 411
Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2007 3:18 am
Location: Columbus, Ohio

Post by ronc98 »

Pictures! Seriously? you had to ask if we wanted pictures?
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