: Hi Kyle,

: I was wondering what the black reinforcement material is that is shown
: in the picture running between the port-starboard latches. Also why the
: peculiar cutout in that material at each end. An artifact of some experiment?
: Or does it serve some purpose? Why did you choose to use that particular
: material rather than an extension of the same plywood used for the mounts?

: And is that the same material you are using around the hatch openings
: to which the foam is attached and that the latches clamp against from
: underneath?

: --
: Ogata (eric)

Hi Eric,

This set of pictures was from my first installation of the Moby Latch system. It was added to a kayak that was already using the bungee cord system. The odd shapes in the ends of the original cross supports were to hook the internal bungees. I had to add material to raise the pivot point of the Mobys. Those supports were originally clad in carbon fiber because I had some handy. The hatch lips were made from the same carbon fiber.

The carbon isn't necessary but it looks cool. The price of the carbon fiber went up significantly since that boat was built so I don't use it any more.

This was actually the second set of Mobys I installed because the first set didn't extend out past the edge of the cover. That made them difficult to get my fingers on them to manually rotate them while installing the lid. All subsequent Moby installations have looked exactly like this one. With the exception that the cross braces didn't have the unusual cutouts that you asked about at the ends.

Kyle T.