Down the hatch, without a hitch
Peter Cobbold refines the custom-built access hatch on his motor-sailer, with a cover strong enough to confidently stand on
When I bought my Cox motor-sailer way back in 1990, I realised that getting below decks to essential parts of the machinery such as the stern shaft, coupling and packing gland would be quite an athletic exercise.
The only way in was through a hatch at the back of the heads, and the process involved a series of wormlike wriggles to work your way aft. I managed it once or twice, but didn’t enjoy the experience.
The engine is sited in the capacious cockpit, capped by a GRP hatch cover which is fine for access to the Yanmar 2QM15, but has no room aft of the gearbox to attend to the running gear.
However, there was a moulded depression in the deck where a hatch could be fitted, and that seemed the ideal place to begin.
I started boldly. I drilled a hole so that I could hacksaw a lozenge shape out of the deck: this left four corner pieces, and I drilled these to accommodate bolts with which I might mount a custom-built hatch. At this juncture, I confess I was possibly the worst carpenter in the country – although I have since seen some real Heath Robinson efforts during my years of do-it-yourself boating on the East Coast.
The hatch was capped by a simple cover, located to the lower frame by dowel pins. It could be lifted off in seconds, and I could reach for all the machinery in the COST very bowels of the boat.
The finished article needed to look right, be waterproof and bear the weight of any crew who disregarded my request not to stand on it, and it soldiered on happily for 10 years or so, proving up to the job – except for the fact that it was made of softwood.
I stood on it one day, it wobbled a bit, and I discovered that the wood had gone black and rotten.
During the last winter season ashore I decided to remove it and rebuild it in hardwood to smarten it up. My ability to understand the perils of measuring tapes and ruler has come on well over the years, and I used the existing hatch design as a format.
The winter months were not the best for undertaking work in situ so I retired to the garage at home, which proved to be no warmer – but I did have electricity and a workbench. The hatch took shape and, better still, fitted very well when offered up to the afterdeck, so I bedded the frame down with Sikaflex and then drilled the side pieces for the dowel pins to be glued in. The new hatch differed from the original in that I needed two ‘spacer bars’ which lined up to the through-bolts, and as I tightened up on the bolts I was pleased to see the excess sealant ooze out.
I can now stand on the hatch with impunity. I steer under sail standing on it. It keeps the rain and odd wave from getting below decks, and it cost me very little!