> I am nearly finished with a osprey standard and was thinking of putting a
> plywood bulkhead aft and a minicell bulkhead foreward and not putting
> hatches in until later. Is it a bad idea to put the bulkheads in without
> having hatches?

Make a bulkhead with a hatch in it. Cut a hole in the bulkhead about the size of the hatch you want. Cut another piece of wood to overlap that hole, and sandwich a strip of foam weatherstripping between them.

Secure the cover to the bulkhead with thumbscrews or wing nuts. When you store it, you back off the muts a few turns to allow some air circulation. ( or remove the hatch completely)

When you paddle you tighten the bolts a bit more to seal the compartment watertight. Or, don't tighten the bolts all the way, and the hatch will 'breathe' a bit, but not flood when the cockpit fills with water.

If you later decide to go with deck hatches you can just leave the temporary bulkhead hatch bolted down, or, remove it and epoxy a piece of plywood over the hole in the bulkheads. It is not in a real visible location, so neatness counts, but perfection is not required.

With two hatches -- deck AND bulkhead, you get more access to the gear, and by leaving them both off you get more air flowing through to help dry out the compartment if it gets damp.

Hope this helps.

Paul Jacobson