Ever Heard of Catamaran losing its escape hatch in a seaway?

[caradow]

Thanks AquatiCat for posting this very important article.

I cannot imagine ever loosing an escape hatch in a real seaway!
My hatch is located on the galley floor and I used to open it routinely when at anchor for not only ventilation but it also served as a convenient place to throw food out.
And when it came time to leave I always went around and personally closed all ports and hatches especially making sure the escape hatch was locked.

One day while sailing in the relatively protected swimming pool water of the BVI's I started sailing with a gentile 12-15 kt. breeze and witnessed a tremendous amount of water flooding the cabin floor because unknown to me my daughter had come behind and reopened the escape hatch to throw out food and forgot to close it.
This of course was simply remendied by stopping the boat and closing the hatch with the 4 locking handles that Lewmar supplied with it.

However the amount of water that entered left such an impression on me that no one is allowed to touch that hatch other than myself and I never open it anymore other than for careful inspection.

After reading this article I am seriously thinking about building some sort of emergency repair kit to have on hand if I were to ever have a catastrophic failure while in a real seaway.

The first thing that comes to mind would be a thick piece of plastic or wood over a large rubber gasket that could be quickly screwed in place using a power drill. However will give this more thought .

Anyone have a good emergency kit idea?

[Palarran]

The door from one of your cabinets and a bunch of long screws?

[boatsail]

Plastic like lexan or plexiglass with a price of rubber on one side...imagine a board across the inside of the opening and use a tourniquet like device to draw in the glass...requires less than a screw gun in regards to coordination in a bad situation

Hope I explained OT clearly

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Kashmir cat

Placing hatches on the bottom of a boat is probably not the safest thing to do. On the other hand, they do provide great rain free ventilation and fish viewing.

It's another ridiculous CE requirement.