The plans are silent as to how you are to close up your boat. I suppose I could have enclosed the companionway with canvas the way the original slotted walk-through was to be closed over. Instead, I opted to make hatch-boards similar to what you see in small sailboats. However, what you don't see in a design just may kill you. More on that later.

If I were thinking ahead, I would have put in a slot on the back outside edge of the helm station while I was building it. I made the slot first trying my grinding wheel, as my router could not fit within three inches of the top of bottom of the companionway. I then tried the router, and finished with a chisel and a rasp.

The hatch-boards are going to ride in two slots, one to the left and one to the right. I added a stop at the bottom of the hatch travel.

The left slot is assembled and epoxy glued.

Inside view of the left slot. The hatch-boards are 3/8th-inch, so the bottom piece of the slot assembly is 1/2-inch wood.

The completed companionway entrance before sanding and painting.

The companionway as it looks today, with the hatch-boards in place. I have yet to decide on a design to close up the last five inches.

So what was I alluding to about the heavy topic of death? In my own backyard, I was inside the cabin with the hatch-boards in place. I had placed some tape around the edges of the hatch boards because I found that they had rattled a bit during high-speed sea trials. They went into the slots nice and easily. However, there was a point when I wanted to get out of the cabin and I could not, the hatch boards were wedged in place. I could just imagine what would have happened if I were anchored out on the ocean and had to get out of the cabin fast....

I exited the boat by the hatch at the top of the cabin, and went to look at the companionway hatch-boards. I then realized the design flaw: my companionway is rectangular, making it easy for a hatch-board to get stuck in the slots, while a sailboat that uses hatch-boards has a companionway entrance that is wider at the top than at the bottom. That type of design would not get the boards wedged in place even if you tried to remove them at an angle.

My solution was to cut the hatch-boards a half inch narrower, round their corners, and remove the tape. They are still great underway for keeping a "swamping-type" wave out of the cabin.