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GILow · 09-01-2014, 13:50

Hello cruisers,

I have a pretty tired old set of deck hatches and after much reading and thought I am thinking of replacing them rather than trying to refurbish them.

I need three and they all need to be large enough to climb through. Two of the current hatches are about 500mm square the other is much smaller, too small to climb through so I would like to enlarge it to the same size as the other.

All will need to be "blue water" capable though the decks on the boat have proven to be pretty dry. All need to be strong enough to walk on. I am not particularly fussed about clever mechanisms to keep them open, I prefer simplicity to cleverness any day however I note some have options to lock them in the vent position.

Security is not a major concern as we are unlikely to go anywhere very exotic and the boat lives in a secure club.

Whitworths offer the vetus and Lewmar hatches but I am seeing mixed opinions of these on CF.

Any recommendations and if the source is not in Aus a recommendation of a reliable online provider would also be gratefully accepted.

Thank you,

Matt

natew · 09-01-2014, 15:07

Having spent a lot of time recently trying to find ocean quality hatches that fit existing holes in the deck I can say that your options are rather limited.

There are only a handful of companies who manufacture deck hatches. I believe the list is: Lewmar, Vetus, Maxwell, Bomar, and one other that I cannot remember.

Believe Maxwell is based out of New Zealand though they are just a subsidary of Vetus now so the product is essentially the same but you may find the prices are cheaper since it would be manufactured closer to home for you.

Jimbo485 · 09-01-2014, 15:15

My old man always had his hatches made to his specs out of stainless steel in a machine shop. Depending on how many you need to replace, using gal and with no rush, that might be cheaper than the commercial alternatives.

GILow · 10-01-2014, 02:26

There's something to consider. Hadn't thought of home made... Might try with just the rear hatch and see if my SS welding is up to scratch.

(oops, that was harsh. My darling wife pointed out I have not been unable to find a persistent leak in the pool for the last couple of weeks and wonders what implications this has for the leak resistance of any hatch I should fabricate at home. Might be prudent to stick to commercial at this point. Sigh.)

GILow · 10-01-2014, 02:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by natew

Having spent a lot of time recently trying to find ocean quality hatches that fit existing holes in the deck I can say that your options are rather limited.

There are only a handful of companies who manufacture deck hatches. I believe the list is: Lewmar, Vetus, Maxwell, Bomar, and one other that I cannot remember.

Believe Maxwell is based out of New Zealand though they are just a subsidary of Vetus now so the product is essentially the same but you may find the prices are cheaper since it would be manufactured closer to home for you.

Hey thanks for that list, very helpful. I did not spot the Bomar brand, and yes there was another, and almost Italian sounding name from memory.

Which did you choose in the end and did you like them? Any gotchas you found in your searching?

Ziggy · 10-01-2014, 03:45

Atkins and Hoyle is another

GILow · 10-01-2014, 03:46

Ta! One you have used?

Ziggy · 10-01-2014, 04:02

I have A&H on my boat. They are very well made. I dont know if they have a distributor in Aus--you might have to mail order from Canada

GILow · 10-01-2014, 04:03

Thank you I will see if I can find them in Oz

CarlF · 10-01-2014, 05:50

In choosing a brand, ask how difficult/expensive it is to change the acrylic when it starts to craze from the sun or is scratched.

Here's a place in the US that does a good business in hatch repairs. It gives you a sense of what goes wrong.

http://www.selectplastics.com/index..../view,idoblog/

sharpey · 10-01-2014, 05:56

You might also check with Manship out of Taiwan.

GILow · 11-01-2014, 04:00

Another good lead, thank you. I even found an Oz distributor.

SimonV · 11-01-2014, 04:43

GILow. I was at this place not long ago, they do some one offs on the side and what I saw looked quality. If you are in Brisbane it may be worth a look. http : / / www.austmarinewindows.com.au /

GILow · 11-01-2014, 05:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by SimonV

GILow. I was at this place not long ago, they do some one offs on the side and what I saw looked quality. If you are in Brisbane it may be worth a look. http : / / www.austmarinewindows.com.au /

I wouldn't mind being in Brisbane this week. We've got five days over 40C coming up in Adelaide.

But I'll give 'em a call and see what they have.

Ta,

Matt