hatch cover grumbles

[clif high]

my crew consists of a couple of 'at risk youths' as opposed to their skipper, an at risk old fart. We are repairing and upgrading a couple of old tiki 21's. The boats are quite different even though from the same plans...as can be expected.

 

But  the point is to ask, since we have to replace them, what grumbles do you have about the way you  did your  hatch covers (especially aft ones) and any ideas on how you would do it  differently? 

 

one tiki has flat profile hatches and the other arc profile. The arc profile  were sliders and they leaked, so that is out...any ideas? new hatch designs that make sense  you can refer us to?

 

thanks.

[Rogerio Martin]

Post some photos...

 

[Rory McDougall]

Hiya Cliff,

I built very simple hatches for Cookie and used Wharrams suggestion of string led through interior bulkhead to tighten them down. Didn't work at all once green water came over the bows - which is pretty often in the Tiki 21s!!! So I fitted bulky hinges to the fwd edges of hatches and screw down clamps to the aft edges. hatches seal down onto self adhesive foam tape seals. They work so well that I once had to break the air seal opening the hatches again after a passage! Photos below.....

Hatches still working well after 20 yrs!

[clif high]

merci bou coup Rory. Just the kind of thing i needed to hear. These tiki 21's we are rebuilding had also hatches near to specification. These failed and water was allowed in, thus our rot issues. Anyway, it looks great, simple, and best of all, water tight. Will follow this idea.

 

A couple of  other quick questions. What  is your non skid?  is  it a fabric ? and your beam in the background appears to have  only the  top section on the hull....is that the case? beautiful work by the way. Most admirable.

 

thanks much mate. If you are ever in Puget sound....

clif

 

[Rory McDougall]

Hi Clif,

The non skid was track mark or treadmaster type stuff - I got offcuts cheap at an auction. They lasted 18 years and then had to be scraped off and now gone to sand in the paint method.

The beams are normal spec and land on top of the deck like normal, but I built up the coach roof all the way to the bow so the cabin top is actually built up either side of the beam and creates a trough for the beam to sit in, lashed on the inside and pinned all the way through with a 1/2 inch s/s bolt on outside.

Hope that helps

Cheers Rory

[Ann and Neville Clement]

The hatches on the Tiki 46 do not leak at all if built according to design even when huge waves crash on deck during storms.  Our very reliable home built Wharram hatches are elegant and simple but they do embarass the fancy and expensive store bought metal hatches again and again.