A while ago I did an article on building new hatch boards. As a couple of weekend and summer cruisers, we enjoy having attractive hatch boards that are also screened and tinted, windows. Quite a few folks have a replacement drop in window and in some cases a drop in screen, all this in addition to their original boards that they still use for securing the boat. Cruisers typically have a problem with storage so as cruisers; we wanted one hatch/door that would do everything. We wanted some light in, but yet still offer a degree of privacy. We also wanted fresh air for those hot muggy nights, but also have the ability to close up for weather, and for those times when you need the hatch in place but are frequently going in and out, the vertical saloon type doors seemed to be the ticket. I decided to take a shot at building vertical type doors for our 1977 Hunter 33 that would meet all of our criteria. These doors are ideal for boats that have a recessed hatch opening or in other words an aisle before the hatch opening. When open, the doors can lay against the walls of the aisle as opposed to sticking out into the cockpit. Building replacement drop boards is fairly easy but this type of door is quite a bit more challenging as the fit is critical. As usual, I chose mahogany because for me at least, it is more readily available than teak (and cheaper). I started by measuring across the top and bottom of the opening followed by measuring the height in at least two locations (either side and middle). Armed with these specs, I headed for the old wood shop. I allowed an eighth of an inch clearance for each side as well as the center, so three eights was subtracted from the total width measurements (top and bottom). These measurements were then cut in half to make the two doors. I used one-inch thick mahogany that we planed down to approx seven eighths. After final sanding, the doors are close to three quarters of an inch thick. For approximate dimensions of the doors for our 1977 H-33 refer to the drawing. I might point out that the width of the pieces is not critical because the lexan windows will be shaped to fit. Only the outer dimensions of each door is important because they need to fit nicely in the hatch opening. Note the tops are taller than the bottoms to allow for cutting the arch to fit the contour of our sliding hatch. Building the doors is simply like assembling a picture frame (non-mitered), but because of the taper, getting precise angle cuts is important to achieve good glue joints. After all four sidepieces and all four tops and bottoms (two tops and two bottoms) are cut and test fitted, I glued and clamped both assemblies. When the glue is dry, I simple, drilled deep three eighths inch holes, and glued in dowel pins (see drawing) to add strength to the joints. After the doors are glued up, doweled, and dry, I sanded all faces and sides, being careful not to go overboard, especially on the inside face. This surface must remain flat to “seal” against the outer runner that the old pin boards slide in. With everything sanded, the next step was to route a step in the exterior face (window opening) to accommodate the quarter inch thick “smoked” Lexan. This step is a lot easier than it looks, just route a quarter inch step around the inside perimeter. Actually, the quarter inch should be the exact depth of your Lexan, so check your plastic and adjust the depth of your router so the plastic will be flush with the surface of the doors. Quarter by what you say? Make the step one quarter inch deep by approx three eights of an inch, what ever size router you have that’s close to three eights of an inch, should work fine. The Lexan will be cut and sanded to fit this “step”.

New Hatches

”. Now I decided to tackle the screen part of the doors. I decided I would make the smoked Lexan, removable and therefore the screens could be permanent. The best and easiest way I know to build a screen, is to run all sides of the interior faces of both doors through the table saw with the blade sticking up approx one eight of an inch. This will make a grove that will accept the screen piping. If your saw blade is not wide enough, move the fence a little and run them all through a second time, (or use a “dado” blade). These grooves should be at least a quarter of an inch from the window opening. This process leaves you with cuts on the interior face that look like a tick, tack, toe game. The “over-run” part of the cuts can now be filled with small strips of wood, glued, and when dry, sanded flush. Test fit the screen material and piping and then set it aside until after finishing for the final assembly
There are several ways to secure the plastic windows that come to mind. What I chose was to cut a small strip of lexan (same material the windows are made of) that I screwed to the top of the window opening creating a lip that the window would slide up under. To hold the bottom and sides in, I made spring-loaded “L” fingers that hold the window in tight. The stem of the fingers sticks out on the inside with a nice little small knob. To remove or install the Lexan window, you just push in on the knobs and rotate a quarter turn. The fingers are made of one-eighth inch brass rod bent in the shape of an “L”. See drawing.
To mount the doors on the boat, I placed eighth inch spacers between the doors and then taped them together. Then using similar spacers, I positioned the doors in the opening tight against the outer runner that the old boards slide in (yes, this means we can still use the old boards if we so desire). I used the West Marine Stainless “Take-Apart” hinges to mount the doors. This way, when not cruising and the boat is resting in it’s slip, we can use the old hatch boards and store the nice doors where they will stay nice. When we go for a cruise, we can leave the old hatch boards in the trunk of our car.
My doors reside under the dodger, so weather-tightness is not too much of a concern, but for those that might not have a dodger, a groove could be cut on the edge of the door and a strip of rubber inserted that would swipe/seal against the edge of the other door. A film/gasket of silicone sealer could be applied to the step that the Lexan seals against. It should be allowed to dry however, before installing the Lexan windows…we don’t want to glue them in!
I believe most cruisers would be surprised (as we were) at how convenient it is, to have this type of hatch/door. This project has truly made our 1977 Cherubini Hunter 33…even better!
Don Bodemann

doors open

Im hoping you can see the dowel pins in this rough- not to scale drawing

rough drawing