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Anyone built one?
i know that structurally I will need to reinforce, especially under the galley, but I am more concerned with waterproofing.
Don’t want to just install a marine hatch. Would like to keep the wood look.
Thx
chewy in Berkeley CA
Have not built one into my camper, but designed some for ocean going ships. You need some gasket between your hatch cover and the coaming, I assume that’s clear. Then you need to apply sufficient pressure evenly across the whole gasket area to prevent water ingress. On the CLC kayaks, they use small toggles, but I doubt they will be able to sustain highway speed and vibration. Depending on the purpose of the hatch, I believe the design can become quite complex. How do you want to use it? Escape hatch? Additional ventilation? To be opened from the inside, outside, or both? So many questions 😉
Just for loading stuff easily from the outside. Sleeping bags, duffle, and to make it easier to clean out.
I was thinking of cutting a square opening then building a rim and using some kind of weather stripping on the door that compress with locking latches, hinged at the bottom?
Sounds good! I would fit a rim to the hatch cover in order to reinforce it, and to have a ‘pressure edge’ (non-english writer here, so I’m not sure about the exact term) that creates some interlocking with the seal. I doubt that an all-flat cover would be waterproof for long.
Yes. I thought a reinforcing rim, to stiffen the piece, would be needed
i will post pix if I get the nerve to do this.
thanks!
Were you able to work out a system?
I am thinking about making a door in transom as extra galley space: water and such. We are short and don’t need as much foot room.
I did not cut the extra hatch. Figured there was enough access, and I didn’t want to effect the strength.
I did, however, make a box underneath, similar to the one they sell, with marine hatches on the side, which really provides lots of extra storage space.
Thanks for sharing. How do you access your boxes? I don’t see doors or hatches in the side. I assume drawers in the back, but…
Do you have floor access?
How well has yours sealed?
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