: Bill sez: While Etienne sez: Hmmmm. Boys, I'm afraid y'all ain't helpin'
: much... (said with slow Texas drawl)
: Seriously, it hasn't been anything like an easy decision, and still isn't
: carved in stone either, for that matter. In my view, rubber hatches are
: too ugly, too heavy, and too expensive. But woody hatches have become an
: irritation to me as a never-ending source of nagging little problems of
: every description. And just for the record, I paddle pretty much every day
: and my boats take a terrific pounding from the daily grind. Repair and
: refinishing is at least twice a year per boat, and I am getting very
: interested indeed in making the process as easy as possible. Here are a
: few advantages I'm seeing, at least in theory: I've gotten my flush
: hatches to leak very little, but these rubber ones don't leak AT ALL.

: They're familiar to other paddlers, and that can come in handy.

: They're totally unaffected by the R&R sessions, not subject to epoxy or
: varnish buildup problems, no gaskets to screw with, really eliminate a
: time-consuming part of refitting.

: Repeat: that's the theory. Man, now I need to holler at Hansel, thanks for
: that Bill! That dude has proven exceedingly helpful more'n once, and
: that's a bona fide fact!

Well I can add yet another possibility to further cloud the waters

You could use flush wood hatch lids with neoprene internal covers. It's done with pretty good sucess on many production boats.

Bill H.