: I think two wooden fingers, each about 1/3 of the way across the hatch would
: be better, safer.

: ........ A longer length of pvc pipe will be epoxied to the underside

: Instead ....How about two pipes, again located about 1/3 of the way across ,
: containing much much shorter (6") dowels , each spring loaded with
: bungee cords... to force them into the PVC ... and a line led back to the
: cockpit which is pulled to bring the dowels back to clear the pipes. a
: small plastic jam cleat in the cockpit area could hold the cord when you
: want the dowels retracted to open the hatch. Say one inch PVC on the
: hatch, 4 inch PVC as a guide for the dowel, and 6 inch dowels , , long
: enough to get some pressure from the stretched bungee cord.

: I guess I do not wear both belts and suspenders, but with something as
: critical as hatch covers. LOL I might.

: I want redundancy, and absolutely firm closure on both left and right sides
: of the hatch lid curved covers. I would also worry about a long dowel all
: the way back to the cockpit breaking, or jaming in the PVC pipe with sand
: or dirt .... hence two wooden fingers,and two dowel /PVC pipes . As well,
: careful slant cutting the one inch hatch pipe, and the dowel ends might
: make it possible to "snap" the hatch closed from the
: outside..... maybe ...

: But its all just a matter of engineering refinements.

: Its still a fantastic idea .. Congrats !!!!!!

I had thought about this kind of latch but decided two things, it would take too long to build and I wanted to launch the kayak, and it was a little complex and that generally leads to things breaking.

An idea I had that is a bit easier (actually have the hardware that I've not used yet) is West Marine sells a cabinet latch, brass with stainless springs so no rusting, that uses a stainless ball spring loaded (adjustable tension) to capture a brass detent. It's pretty simple and relatively light and small, maybe 1 1/2" long by 1/4" wide. Then the other side of the hatch could be hinged. Anyone interested I'll look up the part numbers.

Bill H.