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?
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