Anyone Have Cockpit Hatch

[John Stone]

Now that we are installing an engine I will loose easy access to the considerable size space behind the engine under the cockpit sole. I can get there via the port cockpit locker but it’s a tight fit and very inconvenient.

I’m thinking about installing an aluminum hatch in the cockpit sole. Attached below is a picture of the Bomar hatch I am considering installing. It’s about 20” x 12”. I am interested if anyone has ever used this hatch offshore? If so, what are your thoughts? How did it work for you? Was it watertight? Anyone with it ever get pooped?

As always, appreciate your insights....

[tjr818]

I can't help with your questions, but I want to point out that I think that hatch would get mighty hot in the noonday sun. I can picture a boar brand on the bottom of a foot.

[Steve Laume]

I think you would get better responses on this one if you talked to some commercial fishermen.

I have often thought that you don't really need this type of hatch for occasional access to that area. You could do the same thing with a solid plate and lots of fasteners around the edges. You would just bolt the whole affair down onto a good gasket. If you look at that very expensive hatch, it only has 14 bolts holding it down. If you need to get in there on a regular basis then the locking hatch makes sense.

One thing leads to another, Steve.

[Jim Walsh]

I just checked your website and I see that you applied Kiwigrip to the cockpit sole. I presume this deck hatch could be primed and Kiwigrip applied to match its surroundings. If true, it may not become a branding iron in the tropics.
I think this would be a valued alteration and greatly improve accessibility.

[John Stone]

Concur all the way around. It's not that expensive in the scheme of things--about $450. I think I could get it for less.

Hot. Yes. Excellent point. Never considered painting it. Something to think about. I'm undecided. Doesn't have to be done right now.

I don't know any commercial fisherman with steel or aluminum boats. All the commercial fishboat here in NC are still wood. WoodenBoat magazine ran a big feature article on them a few years ago.

Hamilton Marine up your way in Maine sells them and they could probably refer me to someone. So, that's an idea. But, I'd really like to talk with someone that installed one in a sailboat cockpit. How watertight is it? That's really the question I have. Tim Lackey installed one in his old Triton Glissando. He was happy with it and thought it very well made. But, as he said he never used it offshore. He thought it "might" leak if you got pooped. So, that's the reason for looking for a bit more info.

If you know any one that has one or you see one on a sailboat...I'd sure appreciate a POC.

Thanks.

[Paul D.]

At 20" x 14" it may be tight to get in and out of. I've been thinking of a cockpit hatch for sometime. One idea is to make one. Could be tedious as it needs to be strong as. But a good engineer with some glass experience could spec one out soy know it would be strong and waterproof.

Here's how one guy did it. From the Cruiser's Forum...

Clarity, an old boat of mine had a flush hatch in the cockpit sole that leaked like a sieve. I constructed a male mold for a trough out of 2x2's attached to some plywood (for the lip) and mechanically fastened the finished product to the inside of the deck. I designed it to have a 1 1/2 inch overlap to the opening and then insalled a drain in the front center, running a 3/4 " hose to a 'T' in one one of the cockpit drain hoses. It worked perfectly and had the advantage of leaving the cockpit sole flush and at the designed height.

Cutting your own opening should be a breeze: just make sure to epoxy and glass in wooden cross beams and to seal off the edges. I suspect you can use the deck cut-out as the lid, if you are careful enough.

If you're keen, try a close look at Pacific Seacraft 37s or an Amel if one is nearby. They have offshore worthy molded in hatches.

[Jim Walsh]

At 20" x 14" it may be tight to get in and out of. I've been thinking of a cockpit hatch for sometime. One idea is to make one. Could be tedious as it needs to be strong as. But a good engineer with some glass experience could spec one out soy know it would be strong and waterproof.

Here's how one guy did it. From the Cruiser's Forum...

Clarity, an old boat of mine had a flush hatch in the cockpit sole that leaked like a sieve. I constructed a male mold for a trough out of 2x2's attached to some plywood (for the lip) and mechanically fastened the finished product to the inside of the deck. I designed it to have a 1 1/2 inch overlap to the opening and then insalled a drain in the front center, running a 3/4 " hose to a 'T' in one one of the cockpit drain hoses. It worked perfectly and had the advantage of leaving the cockpit sole flush and at the designed height.

Cutting your own opening should be a breeze: just make sure to epoxy and glass in wooden cross beams and to seal off the edges. I suspect you can use the deck cut-out as the lid, if you are careful enough.

If you're keen, try a close look at Pacific Seacraft 37s or an Amel if one is nearby. They have offshore worthy molded in hatches.

A glimpse of a Crealock 37’s cockpit sole here https://www.sailingpristine.com/home/20 ... number-222

[John Stone]

Interesting. I used a reverse plug to make the gutter for the propane locker. I’m confident I could make something similar in the FR. http://www.farreachvoyages.com/projects ... ocker.html

But I don’t need a large hard to remove hatch. Something easy fast and simple to use for light storage. Maybe I could make that too. But I have other higher priorities right now: engine, fuel tank, rub rail for now. I have to avoid getting distracted. Keep my eye on the prize as it were.

Please keep the thread going if you have more ideas.

[fmueller]

I've thought of this from time to time John - I'd do it with a custom gasketed GRP panel, partly for the ability to make it exactly the size you'd want and easy enough to fab up. Had never thought about the heat issue, but that might be another good reason to go with "glass" as well ...

[gonesail]

I have seen the hatches on the Crealock 34 and not so very impressed. at the same time I have no ideas on how to do it better. Agree it should be fiberglass. I would like to it be dogged down more than Pacific Seacraft did it. Something you would only open occasionally .. something that would not leak .. something you could not stub your toe on.

[Rockinar]

Put some Sea Deck on top so it dont become a hot plate.

[K Chiswell]

I have a Bomar aluminum hatch very similar to that one on my 330. I really like the access it gives me and would not hesitate to do it again. Mine is closer to square than the one you are looking at, I don’t remember the dimensions, however I can get down through it and I’m not small, 215 lbs.

I painted ours the same color as the hull. Yes it gets hot but the South Carolina sun has never gotten it so hot that I had a problem standing on it.

One warning. The hatch design only allows tightening adjustments from the side with the cam locks. I do think that in time it will leak some on the back edge. Replacing the gasket will solve it, but I wish I could pull down both sides.

[John Stone]

I have a Bomar aluminum hatch very similar to that one on my 330. I really like the access it gives me and would not hesitate to do it again. Mine is closer to square than the one you are looking at, I don’t remember the dimensions, however I can get down through it and I’m not small, 215 lbs.

I painted ours the same color as the hull. Yes it gets hot but the South Carolina sun has never gotten it so hot that I had a problem standing on it.

One warning. The hatch design only allows tightening adjustments from the side with the cam locks. I do think that in time it will leak some on the back edge. Replacing the gasket will solve it, but I wish I could pull down both sides.

Thanks much. Good info. My very concern is as you say—it tightens down only on one side. Bomar makes another hatch series that tightens down on both sides. Very heavy and very expensive. A watertight hatch that’s flush is not so easy to make. Especially if you want it hinged. Usually requires it be tightened from below. Then, not so convenient. I think it can be done. But not something I want to add to the list right now.

I’ll keep thinking about it for now.

Keep the thread going if you have ideas. It seems a very useful modification if it can meet all the requirements. Some clever and skillful person has probably solved this already....

[Sleepwalker]

Another possibility....http://anchorhatches.com/

[tjr818]

Right before we bought Slainte, our 1980 27, I looked at an Eastward Ho 24, that is a design I really like. Unlike most Eastward Ho 24s this one had an outboard and the entire cockpit sole was a giant hatch. When the owner lifted that hatch there was an enormous storage area where he seemed to have everything, including a full size bicycle, it had been sailed down from NY to Florida. Everything in that storage area was dry and showed no signs of any past water intrusion. That is a design you might want to check out. The boats were built well by C.E. Ryder.