PROJECT
Seal
and latch Coaster Lazarette Lids.
DANGER Note:- Petrol fumes should not be allowed to accumulate
in the Lazarette. If the lids are sealed, either fuel
should be carried on deck or separate provision should be made for ventilation.
The first two photos show two
solutions one from Appuskidu and one from Tom Colville’s Whisper of Sunart. My hinges leave the top clear for sitting and are
easier to source but Tom Colville’s are easier to fit and also look strong and
seamanlike. Both of us have needed to use plastic packing pieces. Slim pieces for mine and thicker pieces for Tom’s.
Appuskidu
Whisper of Sunart
The
project below describes the thoughts and processes leading to the sealing of
the lids on Appuskidu.
PURPOSE.
a)
To prevent ingress of water when heeled.
b)
To replace the tie down cords with a local securing method for ease of keeping
the lids secured at sea.
c)
To enable separation of the Lazarette bilge from the cabin bilge (May require
additional work depending on your boat)
d)
To stop the cords from interfering with storage in the lockers.
e)
To stop the cleats and cords from interfering with access and storage under the
bridge deck.
f)
To prevent loss of the contents of the Lazarette in the unlikely but possible
event of capsize.
BACKGROUND.
I
have always regarded the aft locker as a potential bouyancy
tank, and I am a firm believer that the locker is not serving its purpose if it
doesn’t keep the contents dry. (As well as my sandwiches, the "ammunition" for my cannon lives in there and I
have to keep my powder dry!) I was very happy with the locker lids on my mark
one Lugger after I sealed the locker. When I got the Coaster however, I quickly
grew exasperated with having to keep diving into the cabin to gain access to
the fixing ropes. I also got fed up with the way that the route of the ropes
interfered with storage in the lockers. I saw too, some teak turnbuckles
securing the locker lids on a Dutch Coaster that was visiting the
I
discovered too, that on the Coaster, when the lee rail is down, water on the
side deck inevitably finds its way into the locker. At that point, this project
moved to the top of the priority list.
PARTS USED (2003
prices)
Stainless
Steel Hinge 15 x 15 x 50mm A4 #04253 - Qty 4
www.sea-screw.co.uk (Under:- General
Chandlers, Hinges & Catches, Hinges Aqua)
Price
£2.49 each + Carriage
Stainless
Steel version of Protex Prolatch
641-1000 SS - Qty 2
Price
£7.19 each
matching catch plate to suit 001-1000SS - Qty 2
Price
£.0.89 each
All
plus £2 Carriage plus VAT
www.protex-fasteners.com (enter and then search for product code 641-1000)
These
are a bit bigger than I first had in mind but their special feature is the way
they pull the lid down. Also, the pattern of fixing holes straddles the new
seal and the deck surface that it mates to.
Their
"safety" latches make them an absolute dream to
use, and they will take a small padlock. For me they are the key to the success
of the project.
Self
Adhesive Foam hatch seal
I
used self adhesive seal 3mm x 25mm - Qty 4 metres
from Compass Marine of
Price
£1 per metre.
At
the time of writing this product is NOT on their web site www.compassmarine.co.uk
To order, phone 01803 835915. For other
sizes ask for a catalogue.
An
alternative supplier is www.sealsplusdirect.co.uk
At
the time of writing they don’t list any self adhesive ones but have a much
wider range of seals. (The self adhesive solution might not be good if you sail
in the tropics)
½"x 4mm C/Sunk head Bolts (A4 stainless
steel set screws) for the latches 3 each = 6 off
1"x 4mm ditto for the catch plates 2 each
= 4 off
Nyloc nuts for
above = 10 off
Washers
for above = 10 off
3/8" x No 8 C/Sunk screws for the hinges 6
each = 24 off (Or
bolts to choice- see text)
All from Sea-screw. You might like to have more
washers and nuts available so that you when you drop them, you can recover them
in one go rather than every time you drop one.
Rubber
"Corks" to seal the now defunct rope tubes - 2
off. From most chandlers that stock dinghy parts.
Suitable
material to pack out the hinges - see text.
Suitable
Material to mount the catchplates - see text.
CONSIDERATIONS
This
project will make access to the lazerette much easier
when on board but a little less easy from land when the boat is on the trailer.
When you reach into the locker from over the side, you may now have to stand on
the trailer to reach around the raised cover. When sailing
(according to your mainsheet arrangements) you may need to push the main sheet
out of the way for access to the Port locker.
The
sealing of the lockers will mean that either fuel tanks will have to be stowed
on deck or some form of alternative ventilation will be required to stop
dangerous fumes from building up in the lazarette.
This
project requires drilling holes in the locker lids and the deck. Plan and mark
up then check twice more before drilling.
The
lids on my Coaster are already higher than (proud of) the deck. This puts a
limit from an aesthetic point of view on the thickness of the sealing foam that
can be used. With 3mm foam I hardly notice any difference.
The
gap under the lids on my coaster is not consistent all around. The lids rock
slightly athwart‑ships.
I overcame this by having a good fit at the hinge edge (gunwale side)
leaving the unlatched lids slightly raised at the inboard edge. The "Prolatch" latches pull them down to give a good
seal all around.
PROCEDURE
Foam
Best
to have a second person to hand whilst carrying out the first two processes (Particularly
the second) so that they can summon help if you fall into the locker!
On
a sunny day, take a mirror and stick your head into the locker on each side in
turn to look under the closed lid on the opposite side to get a feel for the
amount of daylight under the lid before deciding what thickness of sealing foam
to order.
Back into the
locker again with a chinagraph pencil and mark the
perimeter of the hatch hole onto the underside of the
lids so that when the lid is open you will be able to see where to put the
foam. This is a difficult stretch and you won’t be able to reach the corner
furthest from you. If you can mark a good bit of the sides that point into that
corner you should be able to project those lines to where that corner must be.
Stick
on the foam. As it stretches slightly, cut each piece after fitting the
previous one rather than cutting them all first. Beware,
the self-adhesive foam has a very aggressive adhesive - make sure it is in the
right place before touching it down and peel off the backing as you go.
Hinges.
Jam
some scrap ply or similar into the gaps around the lids to keep the lids
centralised. You will see that when the lid is centralised, the gap between the
outboard edge of the lid and the corresponding edge of the deck is greater than
the thickness of the closed hinge. I used some 2mm plastic sheet from modelling
leftovers (Source - high street model shop) to pack the outboard flap of the
hinge. Any crush and salt water resistant material will do.
Since
this area is frequently in contact with the seat of my trousers, before fitting
the hinges I took a file and rounded off the edges of the hinges in the area at
the ends of the pins.
Marking where
the hinges go along the edge is not a problem but marking the vertical position
for the hinges is not easy and is critical. When fitting a wooden door in the
house, you can move the screw positions by putting matchsticks into the holes.
That doesn’t work with fibreglass. If you fit the hinges too low, the lid may
bind against the deck at the outboard rear corner. If you fit them too high
they will interact with your posterior. If they are too high also, your hinge
fixings on the outboard side will go into the deck edgeways instead of through
the vertical surface facing the side of the lid. This might throw a chip off
the gelcoat or worse.
Your
mileage may vary but the height that worked for me was determined by first
marking the position of the hinges on the lid by butting the pin edge of the
hinges up to the underside of a straightedge laid across the top of the lid.
After fixing the hinge to the lid, the position for the deck side was
determined by seeing where the hinge lay after applying slight pressure to the lid
for partial compression of the foam seal.
After
careful drilling of pilot holes and offering up I fitted just the central screw
of each hinge and then used the straight-edge to
ensure that the pins of each pair of hinges were in line with each other before
committing the other holes. I used screws to fix the hinges on the basis that
if I had got it all wrong, the screws would pull out with less damage than
bolts. As the installation is successful I plan to replace the screws with
bolts. If you want to do the same, then when
positioning the hinges, check that you have clearance behind for the nuts and
washers. When using screws, remember to countersink the hole to prevent the gel
coat spalling and if the screw is too tight, don’t
force it - drill the hole a half mil larger.
After
fitting the hinges, the only adjustment possible is to change the thickness of
the packing or elongate your holes!
Latches
These
are considered in two parts. The Latch and the catch-plate.
The
Latch has three fixings. Two are obvious, the third is
hidden when the latch is closed. I determined the fore and aft position by
first marking the centre of the inboard edge of the lid and then moving the
latch aft from this until it was as far back as it would go whilst still
looking reasonably central to the eye. This is also to benefit the seat of my
trousers as I frequently sit with my back against the mizzen.
The
athwart-ships position was determined by placing the latch as close to the
inboard edge of the lid as possible whilst still having clearance for the nut
and washer beside the lip underneath the lid. Offer the latch up again together
with the Catch-plate to ensure that the catch plate fixings will be central in
the strip of fibreglass deck that lies between the lid and the rudder trunking woodwork. This is to ensure that there will be
clearance for the nuts and washers under those fixings too. With the latch held
in position it is easy to mark the position of one hole, complete that one
fixing then mark and complete the others.
The
final Catch-plate position is determined by the latch. When you first offer
them up together, you will see that the catch plate is floating in free air and
jutting out over the gap around the lid. However, with the fixing holes
positioned over the centre of the fibreglass strip alongside the rudder trunking woodwork, the amount by which the plate juts out
should still leave lots of clearance for the lid to open and close. For
vertical positioning, little mounting blocks will need to be made that are the
same size or a little larger than the catch plate mounting face with a
thickness to suit your installation. Mine ended up at about 5mm thick but yours
will be different. I had some small scraps of teak to hand, but mahogany or a
little piece off granny’s discarded oak dresser will serve. Planing these down
adjusts the tightness of the seal. After settling down for a couple of weeks
mine needed a couple of shavings taking off to tighten up.
To
complete the fixing, I had to clear away some lightweight filler from
underneath the deck by the side of the rudder trunking.
Then to offer up the nuts I used a small socket set and put two nuts on top of
each other in the socket so that one was protruding and would "start" more easily. I then removed the second nut before
tightening up. Screws would be an easier option although in this position less
secure.
Odds and ends
When
you are happy with it all and sea (and seat) trialed
your work, you can get some padlocks (I leather mine to prevent rattles), un‑reeve
the fixing ropes to the cabin and put the dinghy bungs in the ends of the tube.
You have also "won" two plastic cleats that can be removed
from the cabin. Don’t cut the ropes away from the lids though. Instead, shorten
the ropes and fix the free end inside the top of the locker under the aft deck
to make a soft end stop for the lids. On my McNulty Coaster I was able to adapt
one of the fixings of the mainsheet horse slide to anchor the cord but if you
have the tubing horse you will need an alternative anchorage - perhaps to one
of the bolts that secures the capping of the rudder trunking.
It
worked for me.
Douglas
Hopwood
Coaster
Appuskidu
June
2003