Wood Duck 12

What method(s) are used to lift the flush hatch?

The manual doesn't address this at all.

Has anyone used finger grooves, if so, where are they located??


6 replies:

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RE: Wood Duck 12

When built as specified in the manual, doesn't the weatherstripping pop the hatch off when the latches are released?

Laszlo

 

RE: Wood Duck 12

 

A related question:  To avoid losing the hatch overboard, do most builders apply a tether of some sort?  What's the best way to connect it?

Thanks

RE: Wood Duck 12

I put a finger groove on one side of the hatch opening, about midway on one side. I also have made the hatch to take a tether. I drilled a hole in my wooden "hook" attached to the undersied of the hatch cover. The bungie will attach to the hooks, while a tether will go from one hook to the bungie attachmet points I made for the inside of the hull.  I just haven't tried the whole thing out yet as I just put another finish coat on the hull this week end.

Ralph 

flush hatch cover lifter

I am experimenting on my Wood Duck with a hiding a 3/4" rare earth magnet (in a steel cup so its field is concentrated and focused one direction) attached to the underside of the flush hatch cover.  A companion, smaller magnet will be hidden inside the rear bungy cord knot.   Move the knot over the hatch cover and it leaps up, as if by magic.   The magnets are powerful enough that they do generate sufficient force to overcome the internal bungy tension, so long as  the larger one is buried only one layer of plywood deep.  They are available from Lee Valley Tools. 

 

CAUTION: would the magnets throw off a compass?  My experiments indicate a hand-held compass is not affected unless it is within about a foot or two.   But one of those big deck-mounted compasses might be more sensitive.  I would not recommend magnets for a front hatch. 

 

DOUBLE EXTRA CAUTION: Sit your laptop on the hatch cover and the hidden magnet might erase your hard drive.  It might also mess up microchips inside a GPS, or a cell phone (I speculate).  So there you are, lost, unable to call for help, and you decide to paddle south to get home only the magnet is fooling your compass into thinking north is south.   I begin to wonder about this idea. 

RE: Wood Duck 12

Magnetic fields of that size won't mess up modern electronics. Your GPS & cell phone will be fine. The hard drive could get messed up, but does anyone really take their laptop kayaking?

As far as the compass goes, that depends on the exact location of the magnet and compass. As long as both are in fixed locations, you can correct for that by adjusting the correction screws and, if necessary, making up a deviation card. My concern would be that the magnet in the bungee cord is mobile and may not line up the same way each time, thereby messing up the correction.

On the other hand, if you're not going to be going out of sight of land, it'll probably be good enough, especially since the GPS should still work (unless it's one with a built-in magnetic compass).

Good luck,

Laszlo

 

RE: Wood Duck 12

You don't need a magnet to screw up a compass. Even placing a screwdriver next to one will have you going in the wrong direction.

For those with deck mounts, careful when loading up what you stuff into the cockpit for your trip.

For the hatch handle I used a piece of webbing. Didn't want to cut (file) grooves or drains [don't care for that appearance], just the clean look of an almost invisible hatch and a finger loop made from webbing is what worked for me. My double stacked 3/8" waterproof weatherstripping doesn't let any water in anyway. The 'kit supplied' weatherstripping that does not work on Shearwater hatches went in the trash.

 

 

 

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