Escape Hatches: One Opened While Sailing, the Other Leaking

[David M]

Originally Posted by svcattales

I lost lots of sleep about my escape hatches being about 3 inches above the waterline. With any kind of sea, they were underwater and both leaked a little. The weak link in my hatches were the locking handles and the catches they latched onto. The catches were attached to the hatch frame with rivets.

My modification replaced the lexan with 1/4" aluminum plate. I used the lexan as a template to cut the aluminum and mounted the aluminum in existing frame with 5200. I put four 3/8" bolts through the aluminum and used aluminum angle iron as a strong back to hold the hatches closed.

No leaks and I sleep better. See pics:

PS. We have friends on a Lagoon 37 with same problem. They had serious leaks on a rough passage so they hauled the boat, removed the hatches, and glassed over the holes. Very nice repair also.

It looks like you did a great job at making it much more secure.

It always freaks me out a little when I see these cheaply made and not very strong hatches so close to the waterline.

For a commercial vessel I could never imagine the Coasties allowing anything that fragile and insecure...that close to the waterline. What is essentially a lightweight plastic deck hatch with two dogs holding it down in a place like that, just looks like an accident waiting to happen.

I would think something like an aluminum hatchway that goes through a bulkhead with 6 to 8 dogs like you see on ships would be the minimum for something like this.

[Randy]

Originally Posted by svcattales

I lost lots of sleep about my escape hatches being about 3 inches above the waterline. With any kind of sea, they were underwater and both leaked a little. The weak link in my hatches were the locking handles and the catches they latched onto. The catches were attached to the hatch frame with rivets.

My modification replaced the lexan with 1/4" aluminum plate. I used the lexan as a template to cut the aluminum and mounted the aluminum in existing frame with 5200. I put four 3/8" bolts through the aluminum and used aluminum angle iron as a strong back to hold the hatches closed.

No leaks and I sleep better. See pics:

PS. We have friends on a Lagoon 37 with same problem. They had serious leaks on a rough passage so they hauled the boat, removed the hatches, and glassed over the holes. Very nice repair also.

I've wondered about the hatches that have been reported on a lot of cats. So thanks Svcattales for posting some photos. Honestly I can't believe a designer thought that would work. Those look like standard deck hatches. There's just a huge amount of hydrodynamic pressure as witnessed by the leaking. At least you fixed that problem.

[cat man do]

Lewmar hatches

Pffft

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...51&postcount=3

[Jeannius]

Greg... I can understand your concerns about the original hatches! Later Privileges use a much more solidly constructed escape hatch with big, strong, aluminium handles that are locked in place by a bar that is supposed to fall off (!!) in the event of an inversion.

[imagine2frolic]

Imagine's escape hatch is on the sole of the salon, and forward. The hinges are also forward, so the strongest part is taking the brunt of the pressure. Once while sailing beam on in some nasty weather over the banks of the Bahamas. The hatch was like a snorkle mask. We could see the bottom plain as can be in less than 20ft. of water. Besides the 2 locking handles there are also 2 very sturdy pins that go through the handles.

I am not the designer, but since Imagine is all wood with forward collision bulkheads. I am thinking she is designed to have the hatch above water if ever turtled. From the topsides up the whole boat has 1 1/2" of insulation. My thinking once again is that this will help her to float high up on her house. Of course I have no intentions of testing my thinking............i2f

A view from the hatch aft, and you can see the hatch centered while she waits to be lifted from the water

[sandy daugherty]

I believe that escape hatches are a CE requirement on multihulls over something like 40 feet.

The selection of a hatch is more likely the builder or the buyers's decision than the designer. I wonder what hatches the big charter fleets use? That's one way of determining a minimum base line.

[Southern Star]

If you are in the main saloon when a cat capsized, you would be immediately submerged. The thought of swimming up to one of the hulls in hope that the hatches functioned as advertised, bearing in mind that you would be otherwise trapped there, just doesn't make sense to me (fans of the Poseidon Adventure be damned). I would either exit through the companionway, or one of the large hatches at the forward end of the coachouse.

On the other hand, if you were in one of the hulls at the time of capsize, they would be a nice option. The real question, in my view, is whether they create more problems than they are apt to solve.

On the issue of positive flotation while inverted, it is absolutely true that the foam core alone will be insufficient. One must either rely upon the air trapped in the inverted hulls (and for which holes in the now inverted hulls would be detrimental), or water-tight collision bulheads, both fore and aft. Fortunately my boat and many earlier cats have the latter; sadly, many of the newer designs where the diesels have been moved out of the accomodation and aft of the rudder posts, do not (or at least, they do not have very large flotation areas aft). That also explains the picture posted here on another thread of a holed Lagoon that was afloat only at the bows.

Brad