Making Hatches?

Has anyone tried or seen a homemade forward hatch? - the large square hatches in the bow of the boat?

Mine is a tinted translucent fiberglass and the PO cracked it and made a crappy repair. It is for a Hunter sailboat and the shape of the hatch is a trapezoid(sp?). I was thinking about sandwiching some thick plexiglass between some mahogany - the mahogany would act as the perimeter frame which would rest on the deck when closed.

Just wondering if anything like this has been tried.

Thanks!

 

It has for quite a few centuries. Look up any traditional book like "boatbuilding" by Howard Chapelle or "The Common Sense of Yacht Design" by Herreshoff.

 

I am also in the process of re-building my front hatch, and with a sim. shape. This is my second attempt. At first look it appears simple, but you will be dealing with compound curves with difficult courners to miter, especially if you want a radius to the wood, and if you want a curved top to match the curve of the deck it gets even more difficult, because now you will have to bend 1/2" plexi. It is a good project and I wish you luck.

 

m looking at building a hatch for my boat (17' shantyboat)

 

Try this

I used teak slats. I stood in the center of the hatch and laminated the teak in place with wax paper between the deak and the hatch. If you want more info let me know.

 

jbassion, that multi laminated mortise & tenon effect looks sweet, well done, nice teknic. Regards from Jeff.