Companionway doors

[beachlvr0168]

One thing about living on a boat I don't enjoy is taking the hatch boards in and out a million times a day. So when we went to the boat show earlier this year we looked at companionway doors. I really loved them but did not love the price, so my hubby decided to try and make a set for us. He went through many drafts of the plans for them and finally came up with one very similar to the ones we looked at. Here is the work in progress ( we are still waiting for the acrylic and some hinges we ordered):




This one still needs the windows cut out



Gonna be so much nicer to not have to deal with hatch boards!

[izzy1554]

[David_Old_Jersey]

Self stowing washboards (51 secs) .

Seadog - self-stowing Washboards - YouTube

Clearly in the 1960's they weren't all smoking pot .

[rebel heart]

I have some nice louvered teak doors on pintle and gudgeon hinges. Opening is easy, closing is easy, and removing is easy. We have a plexiglass drop board as well.

I think I'm going to have a metal grate made up as well, with track for mosquito netting. Something we can drop in at night to keep the bad guys (of all sizes) out.

[goboatingnow]

The big issue with swing double doors is the lack of support at the centre, if you take a wave over the back. Single door is best if you have the opening room. I would ensure that the washboard can still be used at times when you need it.

Dave

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

The big issue with swing double doors is the lack of support at the centre, if you take a wave over the back. Single door is best if you have the opening room. I would ensure that the washboard can still be used at times when you need it.

Dave

Ours have an overlap (one side rests on the other), and then the bottoms rest against a bottom from as well. The companionway is pretty small as well. Not as tiny as some boats, but certainly not the massive gaping hole that some newer boats have going on.

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Self stowing washboards (51 secs) .

Clearly in the 1960's they weren't all smoking pot .

"Ah, that's me axe"...pretty funny.

Nicely done, but not all boats have that much space to put in a "pocket". I think it might be easier to make a "slide board" that slid into a box laterally, but then you'd be working uphill if you wanted to open it on the wrong tack.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by S/V Alchemy

"Ah, that's me axe"...pretty funny.

Yer never know when Pirates might strike - I like to leave an axe in the cockpit to give 'em a fighting chance .

[S/V Alchemy]

That's very sporting of you. I like to pour two fingers of rum for guests for every three I pour for myself...equally sporting, I think.

If there's talk of axe-location at some stage in the evening, begin to dilute the rum.

[zeehag]

if my boat takes a wave that large over the back my least worry would be the freeking doors.lol i have just about 6 ft freeboard astern, easily. a bot like mine was pooped by a sea that came over one of these from astern--he lost a set of davits, a dinghy , and some decorative teak in the mayhem.
i do not have the extra stuff astern he had--i have no davit nor dink on transom.
my boat usually takes seas over the quarter, and they go directly overboard at the waist.

lol i have 2 gaffs in cockpit for making the odds more even for intruders, as well as no ease in access topsides from a swimming situation...LOL