Hey Larry, I mentioned one of your respondant's replies, suggesting that the preasure of his seals was do to air preasure...I just realized who the author of that response was...I'm sure Rob Macks' seals are as tight as he says they are. I hope he's not pissed off at me....I'm building one of his designs.
Bill

: Hi Larry!
: The flush hatches secured by magnets seems to be a hot topic. I've briefed
: some of the other responses, and the bungie straps inside the bulkhead is
: a good idea for me, as the boat I installed them in is touring single, not
: really suited to carry too much gear. I figured my love would be riding
: with the hatch only half or less than half full of gear, most of the time,
: and thought some kind of method of securing loose gear was in order. I
: remember seeing a method of securing hatch covers "internally"
: by a system of bungie cord secured to the inside hull surface of the
: bulkhead, so that the line ran at an angle to the hatch lid, such that the
: line did not interefere with storage space as much. The line was secured
: by pvc pipe that had been cut in half lengthwise, and then cut into short
: pieces. These pieces were then epoxied to the hull and glassed over. I
: don't remember their set up exactly, but I did it in my wife's boat to
: secure the "webbing of bungie cord" as described by one of the
: other respondants in this thread (sorry to not get your name right away,
: but I can't seem to go "back" right now to look up the info). I
: tied off some thin parachute cord to the pvc half pipe pieces to secure
: the bungie cord. You might be able to do the same for your boat, but put a
: pvc half pipe on the inside surface of hatch. I think I saw this on the
: Newfound Woodworks' website (www.newfound.com), but it was a while ago.
: They're friendly folks and if you e-mailed them, I'm sure they would
: respond soon. I saw the magnets in use on Rob Macs' "Shooting
: Star", and he describes installation in his instructions for the
: boats he designs. He'd be sure to get back to you with any questions. Rob
: Macs' company is named Laughing Loon, and the web address is www.
: Laughingloon.com.
: Another of the respondants (Sorry I can't identify you by name, but I can't
: figure out the bulletin board thing without loosing the stuff I've written
: here) mentioned the strength required to pry open their hatches
: attributing that to the stregth of the magnets, but I wonder if it was air
: preasure that made it difficult to open up the hatch. Thanks for including
: me in your discussion, Sincerely,
: Bill