I just came across an interview with Aled Williams by Simon Wills. Aled was the original designer of Rockpools kayaks and is now the the current designer and principle behind the new In-Uit boats.
It makes for interesting listening.
http://web.mac.com/simon.willis/iWeb/SeaKayakRoutes/Podcasts/406497BA-06DD-42CD-9DE0-F5CA4EB71CA8.html
the 4th hatch–the wave of the future
it was 3 years ago that i paddled in NZ and discovered the 4th hatch…came back to the states and at that time found no USA manufacture producing kayaks with this feature…wrote to several of the big names suggesting such–never got a response. So its good of In-Uit to see the future and embrace it.
Since then I discoverd Lincoln Canoe and Kayak and got one of their Eggemoggins-still my favorite Brit style kayak and yes it has a fourth hatch though nowhere near as big at the one pictured on the In-Uit kayak.
I was thinking of a Cetus next year for their 4th hatch, maybe now I’ll be thinking In-Uit?
One thing def. nice about the Cetus is that you can order it in ‘clear’ coat.
4th hatch
I used to have an Azul Triumph (barge) a couple years ago for a loaner - and it had a watertight compartment in front of the cockpit accessible from the exterior too. Kind of hand for keys/wallet/etc but not too much storage for obvious reasons.
I just question the need for the day hatch if you have the fourth hatch on the front deck - seems redundant and besides, I hate dayhatches as they are tough to access and sometimes hang up on my pfd when rolling. Also, seems it would allow safety lines and decklines too. Just a thought…rambling.
Scott