Quality Deck Hatches?

[martini]

The only deck hatches I have found so far are either cheap plastic thingys that you wouldn't dare stand on for £20-30, or ultra pricey aluminium and GRP workboat type hatches that cost £700-800 upwards. Is there anything in between?
I'm looking for around 400mm sq or there abouts, just needs to be strong enough to last and watertight rather than just showerproof!

It is to actually go into the deck, for my anchor locker.

[Pete7]

Vetus, Lewmar and Bomar are 3 names worth searching for, still not cheap but perspex type material strong enough to walk on. Sort of thing you would see on a yacht but with external opening handles.

Pete

[Limey Linda]

Originally Posted by martini

The only deck hatches I have found so far are either cheap plastic thingys that you wouldn't dare stand on for £20-30, or ultra pricey aluminium and GRP workboat type hatches that cost £700-800 upwards. Is there anything in between?
I'm looking for around 400mm sq or there abouts, just needs to be strong enough to last and watertight rather than just showerproof!

It is to actually go into the deck, for my anchor locker.

Hi there
I think once you go water tight as apposed to " may leak a bit" the price goes way up. A compromise is to partion off the anchor locker and put a drain thru the hull. You can buy a ss hull fitting for this. This is the set up I have. The nice part is I can lift the lid and hose the contents of the locker down with fresh water.

[martini]

I've seen quite a few ribs with the perspex escape hatches in but never been 100% sure of them. I've spent hours looking on the net in recent weeks but just had another search on ribnet and come up with a couple of aluminium ones.
http://www.imsupplies.co.uk/product....&cat=66&page=1
IBS have them too but no prices, apparently theyre not cheap either.
I'd like to go for an aluminium one, quite in keeping with the military look!

The high end bomar hatches are supposed to be good but all except the largest only have one catch, 2 would be better.

[martini]

Originally Posted by Limey Linda

Hi there
I think once you go water tight as apposed to " may leak a bit" the price goes way up. A compromise is to partion off the anchor locker and put a drain thru the hull. You can buy a ss hull fitting for this. This is the set up I have. The nice part is I can lift the lid and hose the contents of the locker down with fresh water.

It's a huge space I have in the hull, so I'm going to put a false floor in the bottom with a drainage hole into the void below. there are drainage holes leading all the way to the bilge pump in the stern but I don't want too much going in as all the foam buoyancy restricts the flow.

I'm also going to divide the space into two and fit two hatches. The forward half will be for anchor and warps, keeping the other half free for dry storage of other gear.

[Limey Linda]

Originally Posted by martini

It's a huge space I have in the hull, so I'm going to put a false floor in the bottom with a drainage hole into the void below. there are drainage holes leading all the way to the bilge pump in the stern but I don't want too much going in as all the foam buoyancy restricts the flow.

I'm also going to divide the space into two and fit two hatches. The forward half will be for anchor and warps, keeping the other half free for dry storage of other gear.

This is my set up, perhaps it will give you some ideas. No w/proof hatch needed. The forward anchor locker drains thru the side of the hull and the aft one drains back to the stern sump just like yours.

[martini]

That looks really good, loads of space

I wanted to use something like this:
http://www.cygnusmarine.com

I could glass these in and flowcoat them with the rest of the deck for a nice, clean finish, they also have a drain trough around the perimeter of the sealing edge.
But a bit too expensive for me plus there is limited sizes.

Here's a pic of the hole I've got

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by martini

I've seen quite a few ribs with the perspex escape hatches in but never been 100% sure of them.

Had one on a Pacific 22 used for diving for 5 years an other than the catch fell off it's still working well. Just get one you can claim down through. Used some large cheap plastic boxes under deck rather than ply to hold all the coding stuff. Easy to clean out and tough. Lemar have twin catches. You need to have them mounted with hinges forward if you want her coded (presuming your regulations are similar to ours).

Pete

[Searider]

I have a Lewmar hatch in my deck. Aluminium frame with Perspex. Seems OK. A little water gets in - the locker needs sponging out a couple of times a season - but not convinced the water is getting in through the hatch anyway.

Perspex OK to walk on.

Not £30 - £40 but not £800 either!