[C38] Forward hatch leaks, Victory at Sea

[Les]

The Victory at Sea reference and the tightening of the dogs reminded me
of my Navy days.  Then the frightening thought, "Am I really that OLD?"

 As it turns out I am.  Anyway the point of this note is that on ships,
the dogs are like "L" shaped handles.  At each hatch there are two small
"L" shaped bits welded to the bulkhead one pointing up and a longer one
pointing down.  Placed on these is a short length of steel pipe,
commonly called a "dogging wrench".  You slide the pipe over the longer
one at the top, and continue pushing up until the lower end can go over
the lower one to stow the wrench near the hatch.

  The doors have a gasketed area on their rim which holds a 1/2 or so
wide strip of fairly dense rubber.  Dogging down the hatches means to
close the door, rotate the 6 or 8 dogs to hold it closed, then tighening
every other dog with the wrench. going around two times to get them all.
The hinges are dual pivot to allow the door to close perpendicular to
the hatch.  

	During battle or in heavy seas, a ship can be lost if a hatch comes
free.  Battening the hatches means a bar wider than the hatch is
fastened from the opposite side with bolts (through bolted so that the
bar can be loosened from either side) and spanning the opening to
further restrict the hatches movement.  This is generally done only on
cargo compartments and takes some time to apply and remove.  You can
"batten down the hatches" on small craft using a bit of lumber to hold
the hatch down or in place during really bad weather (think hurricane).
I suppose some of you who do long distance cruising have some method to
securely fasten the companionway in such conditions.

	One of the problems with battened hatches is that provision to somehow
remove the battens quickly is a requirement for fast egress should the
unthinkable happen.

Regards,
Les H

On Wed, 2010-03-17 at 10:42 -0700, D. R. Strong wrote:
> We have not attempted to replace the original hatch; it's cold up here
> and the hatch is opened only a couple of times a year. The leak
> problem was solved by new gaskets and very severe tightening of the
> dogs. We are dry up forward even in Victory at Sea conditions (I can
> hear the music from that black and white series of my youth!).