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Hi everone,
Can anyone please help with a suitable idea for retaining the rear hatch of my MK1 GRP (sorry it’s not a woodie !!). At the moment it is held down by the original turnbuckles and plates, and I am not sure they will be up to a capsise in the Solent, heaven forbid.
Thanks.
Laurie W1858
I am in the process of replacing the parachute band solution Porter uses. (I usually refer to it as “the Mickey Mouse” solution). Through the Internet I found this T-bar hatch fastener in the USA:
When I was at the International rally I bought four of them at Hamilton Marine in their Portland, Maine store. The people at the store ensured me there should be no problem sending parts to Europe. I have not put them on the boat yet so I can’t say how they work. I’ll report back after I mounted them on the hatch.One of the reasons I waited with mounting is that I am considering using only two, together with two hinges similar, but much smaller, to this:
As you can see this hinge has a quick release pin that would still allow me to remove the hatch completely. I haven’t made up my mind yet.Thanks for the advice. I would like to see if the base plate of the fitting is narrow enough for the lip of the hatch. Good luck with fitting them.
Laurie
W1858Recent boats don’t have a lip. The fastener shown above fits perfectly on my 2006 Plus-S. If you have a slightly older boat and if you like these screw fittings the fastener shown in this thread may fit: http://wayfarer.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=602
If your boat is aft mainsheet rigged beware it snagging on these clips – I like a clear hatch top – a snagged mainsheet is an easy way to capsize!
RobertWhat makes you think anything will be sticking out? I have selected these closures because they allow me to put the wing nut down, not up, at the bulkhead. And the rear closure will be a hinge, again nothing sticks out.
Could you please explain how you get the clips facing down or have you a Mark 2? On a Mark 1 the aft deck is different and your fixings will have very little clamping effect to compress the seal
Protex Fasteners do a new latch called “Prolatch” (stainless) which claims to compress a neoprene seal when mounted as per rear hatch Wayfarer Mk 1. You need to speak to Howard Cook 01527 63231 who is very helpful and will send glossy catalogue. I’ve just found this and it looks very useful but you need to talk to him to arrange it correctly. They are approx £8 each
RobertI have summarised below what I have done with my aft hatch cover. In brief I could not find a device on the market which was suitable for both security of contents and ensuring that the aft hatch cover did not come off.
I therefore bolted 2 small D-rings with backing boards and washers to the deck on either side of the hatch. I purchased a steel bar which was drilled at either end so that it can be connected to the D-rings with either a padlock (for security on a drying mooring) or quick-release shackles for use at sea. I drilled 3 holes through the bar and the hatch lid which were also reinforced by backing plates and Sikaflexed to avoid water ingress. This arrangement gives security and by opening only one end of the bar at sea there is, hopefully no danger of losing the hatch lid overboard. It also appears to apply an element of pressure on the lid, thereby helping to ensure it is well sealed around the edges.
I also drilled out some of the metal plates under the hatch clips and replaced with thicker plates in order to apply greater pressure around the edges.
I was initially concerned that this arrangement might cause problems with the main sheet, which is aft-mounted, but I have since done 5 day sails and it does not appear to be a problem, even after attaching a boom strap 18 inches in from the end of the boom to avoid the main sheet catching on the engine, when mounted, or the corners of the transom.
Overall I am happy with the end result. A bit Heath Robinson’ish you might think but it doesn’t look too bad – and it appears to achieve my multiple objectives.
Mike
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