I'm real happy with the pawl latches I installed to replace the leaky nylon straps. It takes about 2 seconds to open the four latches and goan entry to the hatch, and they are watertite. I got them from the McMaster catalog at $5 each. I installed aluminum plates on the hatch lip so they would not wear the epoxy/wood. Next time I might use adjustable compression latches but its not a big deal the pawl latches work fine.

: I have just cut the hatches on my Spring Run and need to give some thought as
: to how I want to secure the hatches. Looking for some personal web pages
: showing details. Methods that seem most interesting are the inside straps
: (I can't really figure this out), magnets (how best to cleanly bury the
: steel in the cloth) and I'm still considering external straps.
: If there are some good pages out there with lot's of photos on this subjet
: please pass on the links.