Securing hatch covers

I just bought two NDK Romanys that do not have secured hatch covers. (I was spoiled by the P&H system). I’ve lost two already and need to find a way to secure them.



I thought about bungee cords through the inside tabs secured by a wad of JB Weld inside the deck on the bow and stern hatch. The day hatch cover, however, does not have an inside tab. I’d prefer to secure that one from he inside also but am stumped.



TIA

Yes, same problem with the Pilgrim.
So I copied someone else’s solution: tied thin bungee cord around the outside of the hatch cover. There’s a channel around the rim the cord can fit into. Secure with a knot. Then tie trailing end of bungee cord to nearby perimeter line.

Good luck!

G in NC

hardware ?




http://goo.gl/DyyqOd



no glue…drill holes for the Attwood type fitting, try Seattle Fabrics …seal the edges with Superglue if your hull is fiberglass. Or use a red hot nail held with vice grips for plastics. Screw down with stainless phillips heads 8’s or 10’s into SS nylocks over a fiber or rubber washer under a metal washer for waterproofing.



Bringing into focuss a significant question ! Is there a genius invention shock cord device cinching a shock cord tightly without fail…with one hand behind your back ?

Same as Gingernc

– Last Updated: Oct-07-14 8:45 AM EST –

Just use thinner bungie cord around the hatch covers - there will be an opportune recess. Then tie thin static line to that with the other end clipped or tied to your perimeter line.

Have had an NDK boat since 2004 and another for at least 9 years. Haven't lost a hatch cover yet including in surf.

2nd this. also

– Last Updated: Oct-07-14 10:15 AM EST –

make sure your hatches are properly sealed. They seal along the inside edge of the hatch, and where the outside edge of the hatch meets the edge of the deck opening. If this outside edge isn't sealed, your hatch cover isn't sealed.

Not implicating you, but I see this all the time and suspect it's how people lose hatches. I've never lost a hatch in over a decade of regular cartopping.

What I did
On my NDK Greenlander Pro. I glued in with epoxy L brackets with whole in it. Got them from Home depot. There small about 1/4 inch high then put line threw and to hatch cover tabs.

Pictures: http://www.dc9mm.x10.mx/hatch3.jpg

http://www.dc9mm.x10.mx/hatch2.jpg

Very easy addition
Thin bungie line (buy it by the foot from kayak shops or West Marine). Cut it long enough to wrap around the hatch cover plus enough line to reach whatever deck cord you attach it to, PLUS an allowance for knots. No need for a separate line when you can knot each end. I used two half-hitches at each end, but there are other knots that would work also.

Great answers
Thanks all! Bungee cord purchased. Will try some of these suggestions.

I’ve been kayaking for about 7 years and these were the first two I lost (2 w/in a week. I lost the first on the water while accessing the day hatch. The other perhaps on the road since I’m not used to placing them inside the hatches instead on on the hatches as the NDK’s seem to have a history of over pressurizing in the sun and cracking the gel coat.



Expensive lil’ things

To fix over-pressurizing thing
Drill a small hole in the bulkhead just behind the seat, about halfway up and centered. NO water will come in - we’ve had our boats upside down and dragged around in surf many times, mine for most of a day given my (not) talent in surf. The air pressure that is in the hatch is plenty to keep the water out. It can be a very small hole.



The reason that the NDK boats get the mushroom hatches and others don’t is that some manufacturers do this befoe the boat leaves the factory. NDK/SK never has.

not
round rubber hatch covers ? Try thin cord with 2 loops with cord ends tied to a cleat both ends long hatch diameter parallel hull centerline…as one each running off the 2 short diameter sides, one lee one port.



get a safety line glue stitched to the covers.

Get out the sail awl
I secured the dayhatch cover on my NDK Pilgrim with bungee cord around the outside connected with a length of thin line to the perimeter line of the kayak. To keep the bungee from pulling off the hatch cover, I took a sail awl & punched 4 small holes (2 on each lip about 1/4" apart), then sewed a loop of 3 thicknesses of sail thread between the lips through the holes, on the outside of the bungee. That way if the bungee does pull off the hatch cover, the sail thread will hopefully hold it. If you’re in conditions where that thread loop fails, you have more problems than a lost hatch cover!



I’m careful to keep my hatch covers 303’d so the rubber stays tough & flexible enough that the thread doesn’t slice through it.



I also drill small holes in the outside tabs on the front & rear hatchcovers to secure them, then loop the line through a button on one or both sides of the tab to keep it from pulling through the hole.