: Hi All ~ I am in the process of starting my Outer Island build and
: was wondering what others think of inspection ports/deck plates
: to be used as deck hatches? I have one in my rowing shell and it
: works great. I plan to use the OI mostly for day paddles, so
: don't need to store a lot of stuff in the hull. I want the port
: to be large enough to sneak my hands into for deck-to-hull
: bonding. I used Kurt Maurer's technique for holding down the
: hatches on my just finished One Ocean Kayak Sport, and I like
: it, but it sure would be nice to simplify the process!
: I would love to hear others' comments, pros and cons. Thanks for
: your time.
: Kyle

The screw in Beckson style inspection ports work fine, are watertight and fairly light weight. They though require a perfectly flat surface to be mounted, so you'd need to make some sort of recess in the OI's curved deck to mount them. I suspect that this will be just as difficult as making the hatches the "regular" way. Same problem with the rubber hatches btw, they also require a flat mounting surface. These hatches work great if the boat you're mounting them on has flat decks to start with, IMO.

Btw, tethers arn't hard to make for these hatches, the hatch covers definately do not float. I've got a 6" Beckson I installed as a day hatch on my NDK Greenlander, works great. Also have one factory installed on my Cobra Eliminator also works great.

Bill H.

Bill H.