Stowing companionway hatch boards on an H23?

[Mike Kenny]

Does anyone have any good ideas for stowing the companionway hatch boards on an H23 while underway? I have solid Oak boards sealed with Cetol. They're fairly heavy and the finish scratches very easily. I have been thinking about mounting rabbited slides (similar to the companionway slides) to the front of each interior seat. Any suggestions will be most welcome.Thanks,Mike Kenny'Debbia'

 

[Steve Dion]

board bag

Mike:We made a bag out of a couple of old pillow cases. We sewed partitions into each case so the boards do not rub on each other.There are also some that are made out of sunbrella that have an eye in two corners so they can be mounted somewhere.

 

[Wanderer138]

Here are a couple of inexpensive ideas

If we are going out for a daysail, I stuff 'em under the seat cushions in the cabin. Behind the seat backs is another quick and easy spot.I saw one neat idea in a magazine that had to do with Velcro on the back of each board and mating velcro on the boards below and in front of the seats. Don't know if that would prevent them from getting scuffed if things started moving around below though. Good luck.PeterH23 "Raven"

 

[Tim]

Storage for slats

Mike,I bought my h23 used, and the previous owner came up with some very innovative ideas for this problem, mast stepping, etc. For storing the companionway slats, he mounted a piece of teak about 18" long with two grooves in the top of it, against the side, near the bottom edge of the inside of the wall above the cockpit sole on the starboard side just aft of the companionway (inside the cabin), and two other pieces against the underside of the coaming just above it, each with one groove in the underside of it. The bottom of each slat (mine has two) sits it the bottom groove and slides aft into the top block's groove, leaning slightly away from the wall at the top. After attempting to write this, I can see that I really need to take a picture of it and post it on here. I will attempt to do so as soon as I can borrow a digital camera from work for a weekend. This system really works slick, however the bottom and top edges of the slats do tend to get scuffed a little after a while from being slid in and out. Mine are teak with Cetol. I hope this helps.best regards,Tim

 

[Tim]

Pictures

Mike,I took some pictures of my setup last weekend. If you would like me to email them to you, let me know. I couldn't see a way to post them on here.-Timfullsail5@home.com

 

[Tim]

Posted pictures

I can't believe how complicated I'm making this! After checking this site out a little further, I discovered how to post the pictures. If I did this right, you should be able to get to them with the link.-Tim