: Thanks for the Outer Island pics Ken. Also like the your take on the Ross hatch. JJ.

I have tried a number of hatch hold down methods and gaskets in the past. On
: my latest Shooting Star project I wanted to keep it as simple as possible
: and decided to try Ross Leidy's clever internal bungee method. My only
: problem with this method was that the hatch cover would slide around a
: litle over the opening. I doubt it would ever slide enough to cause a
: serious problem, but it made me uncomfotable. I did have a little leak
: which may have been corrected with more tension on the bungees than I
: wanted to use.
: I made the coming lips 1" wide and recessed them 1/8" below the
: inner surface of the deck to allow the lid to sit flush when the 1/4"
: thick x 3/8" wide gasket was compressed. The gasket is secured to the
: lid. So far pretty standard. The change that I made which seems to work
: very well is the addition of an inner coaming. I bought some "P"
: shaped tack on vinyl weatherstripping at an ACE hardware store. It was
: contact cemented down on the inner edge of the lip. I changed the hatch
: lid gasket to 1/4" x 3/4". The hatch lid gasket fits in the
: channel created by the outer edge of the hatch opening and the
: "P". Now when I put the hatch lid on the deck, the gasket on the
: hatch lid snugly fits against the "P" material and cannot slide.
: The hatch gasket and the "P" compress together and create a
: great seal and also lock the lid in place. This arrangement has proven to
: be very watertight with less bungee pressure than the original set up. I
: had the foreward hatch submerged numerous times in waves and after a
: number of rolls the inside of the boat was dry.

: Here is a link to some photos of my SS and a couple of Outer Islands as well
: as the hatch gaskets.

: http://www.shutterfly.com/my/os.jsp?i=67b0de21b3199cf8051e

: Ken