I have a Necky Looksha 14’ Sport LV, kayak. It was built in 1999. I need a tear drop shaped rear hatch cover. Necky does not make this cover anymore. Any suggestions?
It’s 15 3/4" x 11".
neoprene cover?
Do you need the neoprene cover that goes under the hard hatch cover? If so, Tom’s your guy. TopKayaker.net
He even has a table that tells you exactly which size fits your particular Necky kayak.
Nate
Hatch cover
Thanks Nate. Honestly, I’m not sure what to do. I live in Florida and only paddle on rivers, creeks and lakes. I’m thinking a neoprene cover would be good enough and hold the cost down. I don’t think I will need a hard cover over it. On the other hand, if I could get a hard cover that fit over the hatch opening I could line the underside flat surface, edge, with neoprene and place a strap or straps over the top. I have been all over the web, including the manufacturer Necky looking for options. I have an email pending with Toms now, waiting to hear back. I contacted them a few weeks ago and they sent me to Necky. They didn’t have one so I am back looking.
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Hatch cover
Heard back from Tom’s. They want $146.00 for the cover. WOW! Not trying to be cheap about this but seems like a lot of money for a rubber hatch cover. Any other suggestions?
Hatch cover
It sounds like you are missing both the hard hatch cover and the neoprene inner cover. Is that correct? For the neoprene inner cover, maybe Topkayaker will come through for you. If not, I recommend contacting Snap Dragon. They have patterns on hand for many & made one for an old Necky that I have, no problem. Half the price of one from Necky, a.k.a. Johnson Outdoors, better workmanship, and much nicer people too.
The hard cover will be a problem. If Necky has no leftovers, you might try emailing Necky dealers to see if they have any left collecting dust in a shed somewhere.
So, you’re meaning the neoprene cover.
I have a '95 poly Looksha Sport. I could make a replacement neoprene cover if I had to, but making a new poly over-cover would be tough.
If you lack both covers, but can buy or make a new neoprene cover, you might make a hard cover by putting food wrap (nonstick barrier) over the neoprene cover, and then laying up the hard cover with layers of 6 oz E-glass and West Epoxy. An alternative might be to carve the top cover out of minicell and stiffen its top surface with hard poly plastic salvaged from a garbage can or something. That would allow you to put your straps over the hatch to hold it and the neoprene sealed shut.
Some trouble, I realize. Hope you hit it lucky on replacement parts.
Hatch cover
G2d, I am taking your advice on making one out of mini cell. I looked around my house and found a dart board made out of that stuff. Made a pattern and in the process of cutting the hatch out of the mini cell. Great idea! I’m planning to glue some type of black plastic to the top side of the foam for durability. Additionally, I am looking for some type of strap with a buckle clip to secure. Probably salvaged from an old backpack or something. Now I need to come up with a u shaped deck mounting eye hook. I’ll probably have to send away for two of them.
Thanks again for your help!
You remind me of the guy
who used pool noodles because he ws too cheap to buy tires for his truck.
When you get done building crap, go out and spend the money for what works.
What works is no longer obtainable.
It is obtainable
– Last Updated: Jul-21-12 8:09 PM EST –
but the OP has to pay 146 dollars for it
No harm in making one
out of old junk laying around the house. I admire people that can make something useful from useless items close at hand. Good luck with making your own.
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I’d go back to the Topkayaker site
I think they have an article for making a hatch cover from fiberglass. I think minicell foam will be too flexible in rough water, but if the boat is not worth $150 in replacement parts then you do what you must and plan to swim more.
Given this situation I highly recommend that you get float bags installed in the boat if you take it out in water over your head. Of course that is another $100 or so but atleast you can use them in more than one boat.
Strap and Buckle
Both the strap and Buckles are available at large Tru-Value hardware store.
Neoprene cover
Snap Dragon has a neoprene cover for $25. That’s more like it! Now I need a hard cover to go over that. If I just use the neoprene one or the $146 one I’m concerned it will fall off during transport. Obviously, the prior owner lost the original one. Don’t want to empty everything out of the hatch, remove cover and store during transport.
I have the same 'yak
I couldn’t find a cover for mine, so I made one with 1/4" marine plywood and part of an exercise ball that was made from tough rubbery material. The rubbery material is held onto the hatch and plywood cover with a loop of elastic cord. It’s not too pretty, and it lets some water leak into the rear compartment if the boat’s capsized or if the rear deck is often awash (probably because I didn’t bother to patch a hole in the rubbery stuff where I cut out an air valve).
If the “real” replacement cost $145–or even $30–I’ll keep the one I made for $3, and continue “building crap”–to quote an earlier poster who believes that it can’t work if it didn’t come from a factory–that works well enough for my purposes, and save the difference to buy food and pay rent, rather than do without until I can afford to buy some manufactured product.
DIY
I decided to make my own hatch cover. Thanks everyone for your advice and input.
Neoprene Hatch Cover
Did you end up making a neoprene hatch cover? Would you be able to send me details on how you did it? I am struggling with the 12 that Ihave to repair for our fleet. Thansk!
Do you have pictures of your cover?
I’d like to try to do the same.
Since the last post on that topic was nearly 6 years ago I doubt you will hear from the contributor you are responding to (always check the month and year to the right if any archived post).
But if it is hepful to you, I have made my own hatch and cockpit covers. You can buy neoprene material and sew it. You just trace the outline of the opening (I stretch the material over the rim and tighten it around the outer lip groove with a bungee cord and then trace the outside edge of the opening top edge with white tailors chalk). Remove the fabric after marking and cut the oval out on the outline. Do NOT add extra for a seam allowance. The material atretches so you want it to be tight in use.
Measure around the outer edge and cut a 3” wide strip of the neoprene as long as that perimeter. Cut 2 and stitch together if your material is not long enough to cut one piece. Wrap tge strip around the outside of the hatch lip and pull snug, then cut to length so it will fit tightly when stetched.
Then stitch the two short ends of the shortened strip together to make a continuous band that you will fold in half the long way and stitch to the oval piece around the edges. it helps to pin or hand baste this seam before machine sewing it since it will be bulky. Leave 3” unstitched so you can run elastic into that opening through the channel in the doubled edge. I have used 4 or 5 mm marine grade bungee elastic for this. A large safety pin can be attached to the end of the elastic to guide it through the tunnel. Don’t cut the elastic until you have it run through the tunnel.
Then slip the assembled cover over your hatch or cockpit opening. Pull the two free ends of the elastic until you get the snug fit you want. You can tie a knot in the two ends and cut off all but an inch if the loose ends (which makes a bulky fit that is better for a cockpit storage cover.). But for a hatch cover it is better to cut the bungee the exact length to fit snugly — before you do that mark where you will cut it and attach a large safety pin and string to each bungee end so you don’t lose the ends when they contract back into the neoprene tunnel.
Sew several times over the bungee ends through the tunnel fabic to fasten them in place and then stitch down the tunnel opening you left. Run an extra line of stitching inside the raw edges of the tunnel to oval sleeve and trim any excess material to make the seam more compact.
You can get the materials on eBay or from Seattle Fabrics. I sew with the heavy dacron thread that is sold for use with outdoor furniture — fabric stores like Joanns stock it in large spools.
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I believe that Brooks will make neoprene hatch covers for Necky kayaks