Companionway door storage

[USAF M26X sailor]

I've seen several posts on placing the door under the helm seat. I've tried leaning it in, out, reversing the door, etc. The seat won't close all the way. Do I have to trim the door?

[ALX357]

apparently some doors are cut small enough to fit, some others have trimmed them, but then that might mess up the companionway hatch fit, make it too loose or with gaps...
I saw where someone had placed the door with its top behind the seat, facing backwards, and angled forward at the bottom, and installed an eye for the hasp to attach to. I put an extra hasp on the door, so it one on each side right and left, and another eye on the slider hatch to catch the hasp, and two eyes on the back of the helm seat, right and left, to hold with clips to the two hasps on the door when it is placed back there. I use a couple of Home Depot stainless steel clips to clip thru the eyes and hasps to hold the door, and joined the clips together with a bungee. Unclip one at a time, and re-clip before doing the other one, so you can't accidently drop them overboard, and the clips won't get used somewhere else. It works for me, and i think it's the best answer.
Advantage : the door won't escape accidently when you lift the seat.
Disadvantage : you can't lift the seat at all until you remove the door -
(It is not really hard to climb over the seat occasionally.)

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

I've gone through a couple versions. My first attempt was to get it under the helm seat as I'd heard about. At least on my '96 there was no way it would fit, even inclined. I even did a bit of trimming but couldn't get a satisfactory fit.

So I went a different route. I split it into 3 sections, trimmed the pieces matching aluminum like the companionway entrance. This made it much easier to stash below without it always being in the way.





This was fine for a few years, but last year we were looking for better storage organization. This led me back to the under the helm seat position to get some better noise islolation from the motor as well. Turns out the combination of the split hatchway and the user seat area was the ticket. I added a set of slotted rails on each side under the seat. This lets the two upper sections (the largest ones) slip right in under the seat. A bit of stick on velcro later, the small bottom section gets velcroed to the lower one and it's all stored neatly out of the way.





I also had a fabric under seat panel from my Dowsar enclosure. It and the hatchway boards can be under the seat at the same time. I also added studs at the compaionway so I can put the fabric panel at the companionway for privacy when we are at docks without moving the hard panels from the under seat storage.

[richandlori]

I keep waiting to see a putting green on the fordeck of Duane's boat!

I will go for that Mod, but what type of cutting blade did you use to not ding the crap out of the glass hatch?

Rich

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

I just put masking tape on first, drew the line, then cut it with a long fine tooth metal cutting blade in the jig saw. A saws all would work nicely as well with a long fine tooth blade. You want to be able to get through both sides in one pass. One of those carbide abrasive jig saw blades might work even better, but I haven't tried one. From there get some flat aluminum from home depot, add a few holes and bolts sealed up with some silicon. It's a simple mod and it's much easier to find a place for 3 small things than 1 large thing.

[Greg]

Rich,
I have recently been experimenting with different methods of cutting and grinding the fiberglass. My first attempt was using a jig saw blade for countertops (it cuts on the down stroke) and found that it dulled very quickly. Next I tried the Roto-Zip and found the blades dulled quickly. I switched to regular jigsaw blades, first 24tpi and got a smooth cut and the blade held up great. I switched to 18tpi and it cuts much faster but the gelcoat chips out a little at the cut line. The 18tpi also held up great.
For smoothing the edges, the belt sander works well on long straight cuts and the dremel with the sanding drum works really well on the curves and rounding over edges.

Greg

[kmclemore]

Just a note on safety....

Whenever cutting or grinding fiberglass, please, please remember your eye protection and at the very least a good dust mask. No sense paying for years for an afternoon's work. Trust me on this - been there - I've got a burn on my retina from being a foolish welder as a kid.

And if you want to avoid the 'itchies' afterwards, dust your arms, chest, neck and any exposed bits with talcum powder before you start anything... prevents the fiberglass dust from getting into your pores and irritating your skin.

[Pouw Geuzebroek]

I have mine under the helm seat and only needed to trim the edges a little. I have a 99 X and I think I read somewhere that the hatch is somewhat shorter in the 'after 98' models. It fits perfectly now and there is enough room at the bottom for the petrol lines to the engine. It sits slightly with an angle I think about 10. Extra unforseen advantage is less noice of the engine getting thru . I still want to make some guiders, so I can lift the helm seat without having to grab the hatch first to prevent it from falling overboard. (next winter project)

[normo]

Duane: My Tohatsu seems noisy. Did hatch storage under the helm seat provide a noticeable noise reduction?

[Pouw Geuzebroek]

Hard to tell Normo. I think it does but I have not measured it. It might also be just whisfull thinking.