: I'm still fairing, so have plenty of time to think about this. I've been
: considering expoying in a series of "D" rings inside of both
: hatches so that I would have a means of securing a partial load of gear,
: in order to prevent it from tumbling around in rough water or during
: rolls. Also, I was thinking about a couple "D" rings in the
: cockpit, probably behind the seat, to act as security rings so that I'd
: have a place to run some cable through a "D" ring and thus lock
: the boat to a pole, tree, truck or whatever.

: Any thoughts on all these "D" rings?

Any way you mount those d rings you'll leave some area of fabric -- glass or nylon, saturated or not -- open to being slit with a sharp knife or razor blade. Then a tug on the cable will pop the d ring free.

I like the idea of 1/2 inch nylon webbing, or 1/8th to 3/16th inch nylon rope loops for holding down gear -- with no D ring installed. They are soft, stay out of the way, and won't rust, corrode, or make noise. You can buy those cheap carabiners sold as keychains (marked "not for climbing use") to quickly connect to those fabric loops when you want to tie down your gear.

For security, consider eyebolts. You can put in an impressive looking eyebolt made from 1/2 inch stock which will deter someone merely by its massiveness.

Another thought is to have a small inspection port in your bulkhead. When this is open you can pass a cable or chain though, and bring the ends up through cockpit and hatch, thus looping the chain around a substantial area of the deck. When the chain or cable is removed you can close the access port to seal the area. A suitable port cna be made by drilling a 1 to 2 inch diameter hole in the bulkhead and covering this with a 3 to 4 inch diameter disk, whcih cna be secured with a gasket and two thumbscrews or bolts. Removing one bolt will allow the cover to revolve around the remining bolt and uncoer the port.

A third thought is a pair of chain lassos. Have a welder make you 2 circles of chain which are the circumference of your boat at a distance about 1/3rd from each end. Attached to these are "tails" of the same chain. Slide one circle on each end of the boat and use a padlock to connect the tail from one circle to the middle of the other circle. (you need two padlocks for this) This creates a chain harness around your boat.

If you have a single chain with one formed circle, a longer "tail" and a single padlock, you can slip the loop around one end, run the chain to the other end of the boat and make a loop which you secure with your padlock.

Nothing is going to stop the determined thief, but if you make it appear difficult, then the thief will probably look for something easier to steal.

Just a few thoughts.

PGJ