INVESTIGATOR 563

As I mentioned in the ”mooring” thread elsewhere, I’m putting my hatch repair here in a separate thread in Tech for future reference. I have finally found the pictures I took yonks ago.

I reinforced the centre front hatch lock after removing the “hopper window” catch originally on it . The “L” shaped slot for the original hatch lock had broken out. I bolted an adjustable clamp style lock onto the frame. I then constructed a dam of modelling clay I got from the reject shop either side of the hole and filled the space with resin around the bolts shown to reinforce the weak spot and the new lock. I also created a fillet on the inside underneath the lock plate to stop stuff catching on it when I was passing stuff out through the hatch. To stop the wet resin sticking to the hatch when I closed it (in order to get it shaped to accommodate the hatch edges profile ) I coated the hatch in a thin smear of marine grease. All worked ok. The bolts going through the hatch to hold the wooden backing plate hold a small handle to open the hatch . Hopes this helps anyone still wanting to replace the hopper style lock which was a bit weak from a seakeeping perspective. The clip is just a secondary safety thing. As this this style of lock is a pressure clamp which can be adjusted I think it would hold well in very rough weather but anyway hope I never get to find out.

Lock I used is similar to this but I didn’t see them listed at WW anymore but similar ones are available at most places

Thanks Ozzie, it's nearly at the top of the to do list.