> My Cape Charles was retrofitted to bungee hold downs. So far I am pretty
> happy with them. It is not hard to open the hatch, I just reach in and
> unhook one side. I have not yet tested for water tightness but it is
> better than the nylon web hold downs that were there. The only problem I
> have had is that at 65 mph the wind catches the hatch and lifts it up. It
> cracked a hatch cover. I was lucky not to lose it... I like the watertight
> bulkhead and am hesitant to put holes in it.

Three of us built Cape Charles Kayaks and we've built hatches three different ways. I built mine by building up an inner coaming around the opening 3/8 high and matching an outer coaming 3/8 thick on the plywood hatch. Three nylon straps hold the hatches down very tightly and they are very water proof. The problem with them is that they stick up and ruin the line of the boat and they were very time consumming to make. The second guy made his hatches as described in the CLC directions. The problem with them is as laid out in the plans they are way to small for loading gear. The third boat we cut flush hatches that look very sleek and have the advantage of using the part of the deck that you cut out. The other two methods require throwing away that piece and using another piece of plywood. The flush hatches very easy to make just mark out the shape and carefully cut with a saber saw. We then glued in 4 mm strips of plywood under the edge of the hole to hold the hatch and cut small curved beams to bend the hatch to the shape of the deck. To hold down the hatches we used plastic Zeus 1/4 turn connectors. These really hold the hatches down flush and are easy to install. The only disadvantage to this type of hatch is I don't think it will be to waterproof but that's what dry bags are for.