> It's really simple. My flush hatches sit on a lip. The lip is
> 1/4" plywood which I epoxy under the deck with squeeze clamps.
> It protrudes out about 3/8" all around. It bends into the hull
> shape. The hatch cover fits into this. I suppose you could do it also
> with the Chris Culzicki type of hatch that overlaps the deck

> I drill a hole in the center of the hatch cover. I run 1/4 x
> 20 threaded rod through the hole that goes into a piece of 1/2"
> maple doll stock thats about 1/2 inch longer than the opening on each
> end. A wing nut is epoxyed upsidedown on the bottom of the doll stock.
> I put a block of close cell foam on the back of the opening to prevent
> the doll rod from turning. The doll rod positions itself in a bow
> to stern direction.

> I use a stainless bolt which I cut off the thread section (stainless
> threaded rod is hard to find.)On the end of the threaded rod, I epoxy
> a knob. I use a maple toy wheel that woodworkers shops sell for toys.
> Once the rig is loose, You just slide the hatch cover and rod assembly
> forward, and lift it out ...and you put it on the same way ( sliding
> it on and then positioning it and tightning the knob. The doll stock
> won't turn since it hits the foam block just to the side of the back.
>

> I cut three pieces of inner tube rubber to the size of a quarter
> and puncture a hole in the center. I stretch these on the threaded
> rod below the knob and above the deck to seal the entire thing. First
> time I used one of these, air was hissing out since pressure developed
> from the heat. Nick witnessed this in amaizement. I now drill a tiny
> breather hole in my bulkheads. Seal all holes with epoxy by first
> drilling a larger hole, filling it, then drilling a small hole in
> the epoxy. If I every learn how to sent a drawing, I would send one.
> Good luck.

Could this do as an illustration to the description of your hatch hold-down construction?

I forgot one text "bubble" ,though. The black dot's between the hatch and the lip should illustrate some sort of hatch seal. I would also suggest some sort of reinforcement of the hatch around the bolt hole.

The drawing was made in corel-draw, then converted to JPG, uploaded to my home-page-aerea using a FTP-client and linked to this posting. There's also a copy in your mail-box if you want to keep it, Jay.

To save this picture, right-click inside the image, choose "save picture as" and save it in your computer.

Totto