: 2 winters ago I built an Arctic Tern and went witout hatches and bulkheads. I
: got a sea sock from Pygmy and stuffed a 3"-thick minicell foam false
: bulkhead in the end, up against the footpegs, to keep it off my legs. I
: put a float bag in each end as extra security.

: I don't like this arrangement for 2 reasons. One is that sitting in a bag
: isn't real comfortable and you have to do a bit of fanaglin' when sitting
: down to keep the bag from bunching up. The other is that you can't keep
: stuff in the cockpit. This means you have to keep your pump, paddle float,
: sponge, and anything else on deck, which detracts from that nice, sleek
: look you're trying to maintian. My Outer Island that I just finished (with
: bulkheads and hatches) has room between the hip plates and the side of the
: hull to store a pump and sponge on either side. I put my paddle float
: behind the seat. All these areas are inaccessable when you install a sea
: sock. You could go with float bags only and no sea sock, but you would
: still end up with a lot of water inside during a wet entry, and it would
: take forever to pump out.

: Part of me wanted to go without hatches just because it meant speeding up the
: building process -- I got it into the water sooner. But now I intend to go
: back and add the hatches. If you want a clean look, check out Eric
: Schade's business -- Shearwater boats -- for a knob-closed hatch design
: that he uses on his Mergansers. I did the same on my Outer Island, and it
: doesn't mess up the deck much, just a small knob sticking up to throw a
: little bit of spray up. Better than a VCP hatch, in my humble opinion.
: Eric sells the hardware for these knob-closed hatches for $25.

: I guess I rambled off of your question, but I hope this helps, anyway...;-)

: Dean

Dean, thanks for the info. I have just finished an Artic Tern and was trying to decide on bulkheads or not. I think you have help me make up my mind. I was not crazy about the sea sock idea either. I plan on putting the rear bulkhead only in. I was told by a friend that you could raise the bow of an overturned boat up out of the water and dump the front half mostly out if you have a rear bulkhead. That is assuming you have a pfd that has enough flotation. Have you ever tried this? I ordered and have in possesion one rear bulkhead kit. I suppose I can put the rear one in and try it that way first. Thanks again for your comments.