Side Hatches

Brief description – Waiouru has two!

I think we agreed Waiouru would have side hatches after slowly cruising past a row of moored boat on a summer evening and observing a lady leaning out her side hatch feeding mother duck and her ducklings.

The first big decision was how many side hatches.  We settled on one pair either side.  That way it didn’t matter which side of the boat was moored against the bank we would always have one side hatch facing the water.  The second decision was where to position them.  If they went in the galley it would be possible to stand at the bench and look out the open hatch. However the bench would prevent someone from actually leaning out the hatch.  Moreover they would be shut on an inclement day potentially making the galley very dark.

In the end we decided they should be almost opposite each other and be positioned at the end of the saloon adjacent to the galley.  You can see in this next photo that the hatches are slightly offset.

Finally, we specified at least one hatch had to be sufficiently wide to allow all of the major galley appliances (oven, fridge, washing machine) to pass through it.  This was a precautionary measure as we are unsure whether it is possible to manoeuvre the appliances through the boat and out the bow or stern doors.

We have also specified glazed, timber framed inner doors so we can still have a view and light on cold or windy dry days.