1988 CPII Companion way hatch

[davidsilb]

Hello forum followers.  I am in the process of building a new companion way hatch for my 16.  The old one is a teak laminated plywood like thing!.  It has lasted since the birth of the boat so no complaints I guess.  The bottom is now de-laminating.  My thoughts were to use Starboard plastic wood but the color does not excite me.  The other thought was to use a Trex/ Azek like plastic wood in slat configuration with walnut color being close to the existing wood in the trim locations.  Any thought or experience would be appreciated.  I have the winter to complete.  a great basement project.

[Finbar Beagle]

Howdy,

I have same issue.  I am planning to use sea-teak boards from west marine.  I have only fitted the bottom board, and I mounted my compass to this board.  I have not needed it yet, but I think the single board will help keep water out of cabin in knockdown.


I also like to check the compass from inside of cabin, so I just reverse board.  The previous compass position did not allow us to comfortably lounge against the cabin facing aft.  We don't use compass much in daylight, but we can mount in seconds if needed.

The other 3 boards will be connected together with a backing board of similar teak.  I hope to find a leg/pedestal solution to enable this to double as a cockpit table.  Winter project...

Regards,

[davidsilb]

Sounds interesting.  I thought about a thicker board were I would route the edge to a 1/2 inch to fit in slide.  I also thought about cutting the length at a 45 degree both sides to create a seal.  There is more weight this way but the strength of the boards is greater.   I am land locked up in Greenwood lake NJ so knock downs are not my concern.  Thaks for the ideas.

[Gerry]

Thanks for another great idea for a winter project.

[deisher6]

Here are three sets of drop boards that I have made for our ComPac's. 

Two are for C-27's they are both made from glued up 3/4 inch teak, routed on the edges to fit in the slides on the cabin. Both were cut into two pieces.  The one with the stained glass was made in 1987. I see that I installed a dead bolt latch on it.  We recently spied the boat in Oriental and took the picture.  (We would like to hear from the present owner of Wind Dancer!)

The C-16 drop boards were made from clear pine planed to fit the companionway slides.  It is in four pieces because that was the width of the boards.  It was pretty handy at times having the smaller boards for stowage.  However it did not rain much in eastern MT.  The short time that we had the boat in NC we had some problems with rain getting in the cabin especially if we did not prop up the front end of the trailer.  If I were to make another one for a NC C-16 I would probably make it in one or two pieces.

All the joints between the boards are cut at 45°.  The C-16 boards were varnished.  Our present C-27 boards are natural.  The boards on our original '86 C-27 boards appear to have been varnished at some point.

Hope the pictures help.

regards charlie

[Salty19]

On our 19 I used white 1/2" Taco Marine Starboard (HPDE Plastic) material then installed two 9"x5" vents and a small handle to lift and maneuver. The vents help in keeping the boat a little fresher inside. I transferred the teak trim piece at the top of the original factory board to give it a little more bling, and to better match a similar piece on the sliding hatch itself.   That trim piece is totally optional. toI like this material since it's impervious to rot, strong, easy enough to clean and doesn't splinter, ding, or otherwise appear to show any signs of wear. If you do scratch it up over time you just sand them out--no "refinishing" work.   It's still one piece but have thought about cutting it into two for easier storage.   I have read that some folks have had problems with this material warping but no problems here in the 6 years I've had it here in the sometimes very hot and very cold but not extremely bright sun midwest.

The downside is the material is heavier and more expensive then similar size plywood, and perhaps a little harder to cut/shape/sand than wood,  but not having to do much maintenance on it is a plus--there is enough work to do without adding something else.    I think you can get it in white, black or tan.

I tend to do projects and little changes, so this winter I'm making a lower half board out of Meranti marine ply and kevlar fabric for use underway some of the time. In fact I just epoxy laminated the two 4mm panels today.  There will be a flush mount compass along with holders for an iphone and another gadget or two on the board for easy viewing.   The jury is out if I'll stow it separately or use it in tandem with another half for the upper area.  Leaning towards just keeping the one piece Starboard hatch and stowing the compass/gadget half board separately, then mounting when needed.  I figured this way I won't have to drill a bunch of holes for a large compass (Richie BN-2-2- Navigator) and some gadgets-and they will be very visible front and center.   I can probably step right over it and into the cabin on the 19 as well.

There should be a pic of the starboard hatch somewhere in the link in my signature if you're interested to take a look. The white board is not for everyone, but I like how it looks and love the low maintenance factor.

[Duckie]

I have used  a whole lot of HDPE over the years on various outdoor projects.  I like working with it because you can work it with woodworking tools quite easily.  It is everything that Salty says it is, but it will become brittle from sunlight over time and the color will fade somewhat as well.  Having said that, I am also thinking of new hatch boards for my 16, and am considering using plastic for it.  If I do, I probably will dress it up with some teak slats over the bottoms of the individual boards to act as rain  barriers as well as break up the featureless white boards.  If anyone decides to try this stuff, try looking at plastic wholesalers or supply houses for off cuts or scraps.  Buying a 4X8 sheet is pretty expensive and will hang around your shop forever. 

Al

[MHardy]

I had to replace the board on my '83 16 several years ago. I was replacing a teak plywood board and that's what I used for the new one. It's a single board - stores easily down below. In my opinion, Com-Pac sailboats deserve teak!

[Craig Weis]

All of my WOOD [no plastic] drop boards through the years have been Skill-Sawed port to starboard on the 45 deg to shed water.

The wood drop boards on the CP-19 have been teak plywood [original ?? ], pine, clear coated cedar, and the current set is teak ply stained Marlowe colour and clear coated with a center vent of wood slats and screen'. The inside vent half's have been sanded flush so that doesn't stick up.

The drop boards and vent half's have three coats of White Glossy Rustoleum on the inside.

Either half will span the foot well of the cockpit if a table is desired.

And boy do these store nice between the quarter birth mattress and the bulk head.

The top one will 'lock-up' and stay in the upper position leaving the bottom open for some light and air and privacy with the hatch slid shut.

Works both ways. Bottom in, top out, hatch closed.  Super good idea IMHO.

Pulled the boat on the last Saturday of October. Have not put it in winter storage yet as I had very little time, Tuesday was my last seasonal day at the aeroport and wouldn't you know it it was 65 deg F in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.

My Raytheon  ST-40 Bi Data unit shows 4367 miles over the years. That's about 1600+ hours of wasting time having the wind [and iron wind] push me and my tub through the waters of Green Bay and Lake Michigan at a crawl of maybe ... ? Two.seven mph average.

Drop boards only last a few years before they become patterns and then firewood.

Craig Weis, Listening to 'The xx' song.
And yea Chicago Cubs. Well done me boys, well done.~!

The song; https://youtu.be/3gxNW2Ulpwk

Found this song on a Starry Night Speed Paint ....
See if you agree.

The painting; https://youtu.be/oDZzRUYbxSU?

[davidsilb]

Well I am now faced with a dilemma.  Traditional wood or that new fangled composite stuff?    I actually like traditional wood but my last companion way door soaked up water at the bottom and split.  I did my existing teak trim over this past  season with Sikkens Cetol.  It came out amazing and no UV breakdown all summer that I saw.  So I have that option for a teak board at least.  I do like the no maintenance idea though.  I am going to try a piece that I have left over from my Azek deck.  If I can get it to fit I might look for a color match that might work.   Keep the ideas rolling.  It is a long winter ahead.  Any thoughts on motor mounts to replace original from 1988.

[Duckie]

I had to replace the motor mount on my 88 CP.  When I did, I found that I couldn't tilt the motor up without it hitting the transom.  Because of that, I had to mount the new unit away from the boat a bit.  I used two oak blocks shaped to fit the curve of the transom so that the mount would be square to the centerline of the boat.  The blocks are  2 1/2 inches wide and roughly the same thick.  I painted them to match the hull, and now they look like they belong there.  I also added stout new backing plates on the inside of the hull, so that now I feel pretty confident in the new installation.

Al

[Craig Weis]

No need to replace the outboard engine [engines are 'gas' motors are 'electric'] mount.

I took mine apart but left the main channels bolted to the transom and went over to ACE Hardware  for new nylon bushings and flat spacers.

Put her back together and the manufacture claims that this particular motor mount is good for twenty hp.
Mine holds five hp. Plenty strong enough.

I did add four~two inch rubber blocks to a new plate and cut four new and longer arms holding a new aluminium plate that allows everything to be two inches lower.

This places the engine off the transom enough to lower the O/B handle down all the way without rubbing on the transom.
Additionally this modification lowers the O/B into the water a bit more for those of us who have short shaft O/B's.



Craig Weis.

[davidsilb]

Well the project has not started yet but I am down to Seaboard sandstone color plastic wood or exterior teak ply.  Buck wood craft had the easiest site to source from so far.  But anyone in NJ with a good marine plywood source I would love to hear from you. Just a before picture to give some interest.

[MKBLK]

Been following this post for a while. I assume the hatch size for an 88 is the same as an 81 (you know what they say about ASSUME). Anyway, my 81 came with a non-original hatch board which is pretty much done. I was wondering if anyone has or could make a paper/cardboard template that could be mailed to me. I have a really nice chunk of plywood looking for a home on Pegasus but would rather not mess up the fit by making a "misteak" in cutting it out. Thanks!

Marty K.
81 CP16 Pegasus

[Salty19]

Been following this post for a while. I assume the hatch size for an 88 is the same as an 81 (you know what they say about ASSUME). Anyway, my 81 came with a non-original hatch board which is pretty much done. I was wondering if anyone has or could make a paper/cardboard template that could be mailed to me. I have a really nice chunk of plywood looking for a home on Pegasus but would rather not mess up the fit by making a "misteak" in cutting it out. Thanks!

Marty K.
81 CP16 Pegasus

The problem with using another boats' hatch template is the consistency of location/fit of the teak rails is a little inconsistent, which is why Hutchins sells the boards without truly cutting them to plug and play size.  Also the area moves around a little bit and settles from one boat to the next.

You could just loft out the dimensions by using two lengths of thin wood strips and two clamps.  Essentially extend the two strips 'tween top and bottom of opening, extending into the slides and take the bottom of strip measurement. Use the corner of the sliding hatch as your upper baseline, map out a trapezoid without the arc at the top.  Then measure the height of the arc from top of the strip to the sliding hatch and interpolate the heights along the length of the trap.  From there you just plot out the dimensions of trap and arc on the board and cut/plane/sand. Easy...

If you to cover up the corners and make ears, you're probably going to need to cut that area out rough and do some on-the-boat cutting/planing. It might keep the boat a little dryer.