3010Hrs – Hatches Moving Forward

Not quite such a productive day today but then again I never expected it to be.

First job was to finish off the second hatch cover I assembled yesterday, sanding smooth and rounding off all the corners. Once that was done I put it onto the stainless slider tube, dry fitted the tube mountings and once positioned correctly on the coachroof temporarily screwed it into place. It fitted a treat.

The next job took me longer, making the washboard retainers. Lots of double angled cuts and shaping to do so it was a bit of a slow job. Once I was happy I glued and screwed everything in place and that was that, main hatch #2 all but finished.

My thoughts then turned to the two forward hatches. I’d originally thought that I’d make them sliding as per the main hatches but I’ve decided they would be better hinged.

The fundamental difference with these forward hatches is that they are far more vulnerable to green water coming over the bows and forcing its way through the seals.It’s for that reason that I’ve decided to use the Maurice Griffiths design. These ‘Griffiths’ hatches are an old design but everything I’ve read indicates that they are hard to beat in terms of simple construction and effective operation. Basically they have a high inner coaming over which the hatch closes onto a lower outer coaming. If any water works it’s way through the outer one the inner one directs it down to drain away harmlessly through small scuppers.

I still plan to use the stainless steel tube as a ‘hinge’ but I’ll have a play once I’ve got the coamings made and fitted. I made a start cutting the frames that’ll fit inside the hatch recesses.