Securing companionway boards

[Prime Time]

Has anyone developed a system to modify their companionway boards to:
1. Secure them in place in case of capsize
2. Be able to open them from above and below decks?

I'd appreciate any information and pictures.

Thanks,
gary

 

[Ed Schenck]

Your question makes me think the boards on your boat are different from what is common. The companionway slider normally secures the boards as it closes over top of them. And I have not known a boat where you could not easily remove them from either side. So I think that I do not understand your query.

One winter years ago I made a single board so that I could take the hatch boards home to varnish. It was so convenient when going in and out, especially with heat or A/C running, that I have been using that single board exclusively for years.

 

[tommays]

We have one different lower board for off-shore races that locks in place to make more of a bridge deck like function BUT allows the crew to pass

 

[Prime Time]

ISAF Regulations

These are the regulations that offshore races are conducted. If the hatch slides open, the boards can fall out. If the boards are secured from the outside, how can they be openned from below? That is what I am trying to figure out.



3.08
The main companionway hatch should be fitted with a strong securing arrangement that can be operated from above and below. All blocking arrangements (e.g. washboards) must be capable of being secured in position with the hatch open or shut and should have provision (such as a lanyard) to avoid loss overboard.

 

[kloudie1]

Prime.. read carefully.. the 3.08 says that the main companionway securing device has to be able to be operated from above or below.. the washboards have to have a way to secure them but that device does not have to be operable from both sides.. also note the word "should" .. generally in national codes and standards, that means not mandatory.. "Shall" is mandatory. I don't know if the guys that wrote the rules you are referencing maintained the national conventions.

 

[tommays]

We use one different short board with a "lanyard" that secures it in place and unless your upside down it keeps the water out of the cabin

At some point if it got bad enough you would need to close it up compleaty and thats why you have to have a manual pump in the cockpit

If you put in a full set of 3 boards nobody is going in OR out of the cabin

 

[walmsleyc]

As noted above, I also have an alternate washboard that I have to conform to offshore racing requirements. It only is a high as the shear line of the boat. This allows crew to be able to come in and out of the boat, but still prevent the inflow of water in case of a cockpit swamping etc.

I use a simple arrangement of a lanyard to accomplish this. Mine has a clip to ease of use, but the lanyard has enough of a tail to allow you to knot it manually. This system can keep any combination of my washboards in place, is simple, can always be cut with a rigging knife.

The main hatch can be open or closed and they will stay in place. I installed a small eye just out of the way, on the inside below the companionway. Each appropriate washboard, if it didn't already have one, then received a similar eye, or in my racing washboard, a small hole (nothing to snag, or break).

From inside, the lanyard can be untied to cut (with the sliding hatch open or closed). From the outside, the lanyard can be untied or cut by sliding the hatch open an inch or two.

Chris

 

[Joe]

The simplest way is to fix barrel bolts near the top of each board so they could be easily reached from either side. The bolts slide into the frame of the companionway to lock the boards in place.

 

[zeehag]

The simplest way is to fix barrel bolts near the top of each board so they could be easily reached from either side. The bolts slide into the frame of the companionway to lock the boards in place.

i have seen this in many boats i knew in my past lol...seems effective--also keeps intruders from easy access whether you are at home or away!

 

[sailingdog]

Instead of a barrel bolt, I drilled a small hole through the interior companionway rail the dropboards drop along and the dropboards and use a 1/4" fastpin to hold them in place.

 

[Joe]

Instead of a barrel bolt, I drilled a small hole through the interior companionway rail the dropboards drop along and the dropboards and use a 1/4" fastpin to hold them in place.

cool idea... that sounds even simpler and better looking too.

 

[sailingdog]

The other issue with the barrel bolts is that one person had used them on her dropboards and companionway slider and in the rough seas the pounding caused the companionway to lock and locked her out of the cabin IIRC... fast pins will not install themselves regardless of what the seas are doing... they have to have human assistance to lock—barrel bolts usually require human assistance but in rare instance can self-deploy....

cool idea... that sounds even simpler and better looking too.

 

[Prime Time]

Thanks

What I am currently thinking of doing is adding a block to each board and then adding a deadbolt lock with push buttons on the outside and a twist handle on the inside. I would attach a block of wood to the inside of the companionway for the strike plate. I would do the same to secure the top board to the sliding hatch.

 

[sailingdog]

Why add all that weight, expense and complexity, especially since those locks probably won't last all that long in a marine environment.

What I am currently thinking of doing is adding a block to each board and then adding a deadbolt lock with push buttons on the outside and a twist handle on the inside. I would attach a block of wood to the inside of the companionway for the strike plate. I would do the same to secure the top board to the sliding hatch.

 

[Ross]

Why not just build a door and put a turn button on it to secure it.