Fitting Inspection Hatches

[Rich]

On the old Phantom I'm restoring there is some movement in the side decks in the area where you would normaly sit. Rather than re-deck, I have decided to add a couple of inspection hatches and to effect a repair from inside. Has anyone any tips on marking out and cutting nice neat holes for the new hatches?

Cheers

[jpa_wfsc]

Phantom side decks always give a little - its a light boat designed for heavy people to sail. Do you really need to fix it? Personally I'd wait till the decks need to be replaced (which probably will not be very long anyhow if they have started to flex a lot).

I used a school-boy compass to mark where, and did it like this.

1 - mark for the center of the hatch.
2 - Measure the hole diameter you need.
3 - draw circle for the hatch (most plastic ones have a rebate - you need a clearance hole for this, but not too much bigger).
Then check that there are no structures inside that you are going to cut through. (look for screw-holes, filled holes or nail heads fastening the panels on to the internal framework) where the circles are.
4 - Drill a 3/4" hole to just touch the inside of that circle, at four places (top, bottom, and each side).
5 - jig - saw around the hole, keeping inside the circle.
6 - File out the hole to the inside of the second circle that you drew
7 - offer up the hatch ring - you can use it as a guide to mark where the fasteners have to go. Drill pilot holes (wood screws) or clearance holes (screws and nuts).
8 - varnish or otherwise, seal all the exposed wood.
9 - assemble.

My phantom had double thickness side decks where you sat - may have been an earlier repair by sticking a patch on top, I do not know. But they still flexed - as did the rest of the hull. So I just did not worry about it and got on with enjoying sailing!

[Nessa]

I'm not sure that my side decks flex that much, but given the age of the boat they may well have been replaced already. Also, on one side there is a strip of wood glued to the side just at the top edge where it joins with the deck, which I have never been able to work out what it's there for. (sorry about that truly awful sentence construction but I have been drinking white wine )

How old is your phantom Rich? And where is it?



Phantom K88
I14 K869
Contender 620/473

[Nigel]

Hi Nessa,

is the strip big enough to act as a grip for roll tacking? Someone could have been experimenting.

Nigel

[Nessa]

Interesting idea - in my case it's more likely to be there as a support grip for when I am stumbling around the boat - but I don't think so. There is only a strip on one side and it is rounded so wouldn't give much of a handhold.

[Rich]

jpa - Thanks for the tips.

Nessa - My Phants 499, not sure of the age but I'm guessing mid - late 70's, when finished it will be sailed on the Thames @ Reading.

Rich

[ACB]

If fitting a hatch into a new bulkhead, in thin ply, I add a backing piece of the same ply, about 2-3 inches larger than the hatch, epoxied on, with the hatch going through both. Gives the hatch screws more to bite into and reduces local weakening.

[Ancient Geek]

You are soo right! It's also better if fitting a new bulkhead to cut the hole certainly even fit the hatch before fitting to the boat.
"Bed in" on Araldite or similar stiff epoxy!

[ACB]

Absolutely! Well worth getting something on the invisible side (priming paint/ epoxy) and a coat of thinned varnish or whatever on the visible side before it goes in.

I use Sikaflex to bed the hatch surround in, it adheres well to the plastic (Sikaflex adheres to everything!!!) and I tell myself that the plastic hatch surround is going to flex slightly as people screw up and unscrew the hatch.

[Ancient Geek]

No matter what you do on what boat the bloody things leak, take em out to allow to air but do not forget to put them in before you go yotting!
Heres a true short story from a tall yachtsman! :-
The scene is the 1969 Merlin Rocket Championship at Whitstable.

Having won the previous three Silver Tiller Races all at sea in light moderate and distinctly blowy conditions we were I guess amongst the favourites. Also there was Alan Warren in the first of the WOT boats designed by Tony Watts built by Alan Freeman, and Mike McNamara in “Flower Child’s sister ship a Mike Jackson Superstition built by Andersen Rigden and Perkins of Whitstable.

Flower Child won the Crews race sailed by my crew of the championship Stewart Broughton and crewed for in that race by his brother in law John Houghton who had the original Superstition as his boat in the Championships proper.

I declined the practice race not just out of superstition (No pun intended.), but because the Merlin Rocket class were hosts to a contingent from the Irish Dinghy Racing Association (Jackie O’Reilly and Bill Piggott.) and Tim Hockin the class chairman had prevailed upon me to collect the boat they were to sail from Bob Hoare.

A steady start to the weak left the top three contestants levelish on points. The Wednesday it was lightish and as I crouched in the loo of the club I heard Alan Warren and Mike McNamara talking, the compliments they paid to my ability with wind shifts and Flower Child’s ability to climb out to windward whilst keeping speed, only boosted my confidence.

After the first beat and two reaches, Mike McNamara was leading and we were second a comfortable way ahead of the fleet, again Flower Child did her thing of out footing and climbing out from under Mike’s lee. (A RAE made (Early Carbon fibre.) and profiled centreboard that also “gybed” and that in those days of no maximum board weight was ballasted with 20lbs of lead did help!) We rounded the windward mark sped to the wing mark and gybed to begin the run. Stewart simply did not move and we capsized! Not lethal, enough wind to be able to sail the boat dry and not lose our lead, except that we had forgotten to put the hatch in the bow tank, I can still see the bloody great bubbles as the tank filed and we sank. At one stage the hull was on the bottom and Stewart not wearing a lifejacket was clinging to the mast at the hounds! I was speechless eventually we unwound the thing and were towed to shore slowly backwards, to be helped ashore by a very concerned Pat Blake!

The week went from bad to worse we didn’t finish another race, Stewart and I were “non speaks” after the sinking, at a fancy dress party the driver of the rescue boat a fisherman from Herne Bay came up started demanding salvage! The situation was only defused by Geoff Worsdale and Spud Rowsell escorting him outside! I had to return the borrowed boat to Bob Hoare on the Saturday to return to pick up my own boat to get caught speeding.

The only good thing to come out of the whole thing was an unforgettable return match at the IDRA 14 week in Ireland and a lifelong friendship with Jackie O’Reilly and Bill Piggott, oh yes and my son was borne nine months after the championships, whether or not it’s because of the circumstance of his conception or not, I do not know, but he hates sailing, and devotes his time to climbing in the Himalayas!

[ACB]

Splendid yarn! There is something about the image of your crew clinging to the mast, and the safety boat driver demanding salvage at the fancy dress party, which takes me back to that more innocent age...