Cockpit sole - engine room doors
Plan for today was to vacuum the whole boat in preparations for varnishing tomorrow. And to install cockpit sole (engine room hatches) locks.
Due to sudden family emergency I managed only to install locks before I was called back home.
As often with boat work the final effect is barely noticeable but it took a fair amount of time to prepare all parts and fit them in place.
These hatches were long on my list of improvements. I made them new just after I bought the boat - old hatches got damaged with age, contaminating partially cockpit structure. I removed everything (and used this opportunity to remove the engine and repair frames underneath) a few years ago. My new hatches are built same way as the old ones: they cover engine room but they just lie on top of these wide openings. I added rubber seals around them so that rain water does not reach the inside of the hull and is drained from the cockpit directly to sea. However - should there come huge amount of water instantly into cockpit it would lift the hatches and flood the hull, possibly sinking the boat.
Now, on boats one cannot rely on gravity as a main force holding things. Some positive way of holding stuff in place is needed. In case of these hatches I decided to lock them in place with 8 bolts protruding into cockpit walls.
To accept these bolts - and to keep cockpit walls waterproof - I fabricated plugs from brass.
A fair amount of fitting was needed to mount them in exact position so that latching bolts enter them at proper level. Finally all was in place: brass latches screwed with bronze screws, bedded in Ettan to water-seal exposed wood.
Eight latches for two hatches. They slightly press them down in place, deforming rubber seals underneath for water seal. They ain’t go nowhere!