: I have noticed that the hatch locations for my kayak are very close to the
: bulkheads. Since the hatches are close to one end it seems like it would
: be very difficult to get stuff into / out of the pointy ends of the holds.
: I am guessing that the reason for this is that you can make the openings
: bigger nearer the bulkheads and so you can get bigger stuff in. I haven't
: put the deck on yet and I am thinking of moving them. What I was wondering
: is: 1. If you move the hatches nearer to the ends/centers of the holds,
: what criteria do you use for resizing them? (ie. How much deck do you need
: to have on the sides of the hatch opening?) 2. Is it a good idea to move
: the hatches closer to the centers of the holds or is it not necessary. (I
: have given up on trying to design a retractable skeg for now and may
: install a CLC through-the-deck type later).

: Thanks for everyone's help so far.

: Jimmy

If you put the hatch too close to the middle, you won't be able to put long things into the compartments! (Things like tent poles and decadant full size camp chairs tend to be a little on the long side.) Hatch openings tend to be as close to the bulkhead as feasible because that is where the boat is widest.... and unless you like the challenge of trying to squeeze drybags in & out of small hatch, bigger is better. Hatch size, rather than compartment size, is the real limiting factor on what you can fit in there.

As far as getting little things out of the compartment ends... by lifting that end of the boat up, whatever you've got tucked in there will slide down to where you can reach it. The ends are the most inaccessible spots, so you won't be able to get at the stuff in there until you've unloaded the rest of the boat....and there's not much room there anyway. I generally tuck a fuel bottle in the end, then load envelope style dry bags... I minimize the amount of loose gear I take along... there's always a certain amount of "tuckables", of course, but they get tucked in after the dry bags are loaded...because the "tuckable" stuff usually includes things that one might need during the course of the day (but that doesn't need to occupy prime real estate in the cockpit or deck bag.)

Unless you're planning a major expedition, or are building an extremely small kayak, you'll probably have plenty of room. I did an 8 day trip this summer with a friend... using my Artic Tern & my Prijon Yukon Expedition... we had plenty of "real estate" to work with.. and we packed extravagantly... two full size folding cloth camp chairs (both in the Tern's stern), tent, full length thermarests, full size towels, etc... we had space left over (we'd decided we were bringing those seven-pound-each chairs & the wine, no matter what! My friend happily carried those chairs on a 3/4 mile portage around a dam!)

Julie