: So far, I'm inclined to put a 180 deg. hinge on the aft edge of the day hatch
: so that, when opened, the day hatch can be flipped back to lay flat on the
: deck (out of the way). Then, on the fore edge of the day hatch cover, I
: would put some kind of knob or lever to seal the hatch, but this presents
: the problem of how to distribute sealing tension evenly over the whole
: hatch, as the hinges may prevent the hinged side from tensioning down very
: far. And, of course, there is the problem that a knob/lever will stick up
: from the deck.

Hi Wes, it sounds like you are having a lot of fun. That will be cool if you pull it off. I've played with the wooden hatch closure idea (see attached picture). Also, here are links to some shots Bill Price made of an earlier prototype I did:

http://129.101.15.9/Albums/R2K3-Sunday/P8100116.sized.jpg
http://129.101.15.9/Albums/R2K3-Sunday/P8100115.sized.jpg

I'm working on the wooden hinges (procrastinating really) right now. I can snap a few pics of those if you are interested.

Chip
www.ChipSandresky.com