Day 446

Another job that I have been putting off was to add a gas cylinder to the entry way hatch. Because we will have this open most of the time while at anchor or underway, the little hatch stay seems inadequate and somewhat dangerous. The last time we were out in Vancouver, I picked up a nice cylinder ( car ones don't work as they are all too high torque) and 3 different mounts.
I managed to make 2 of them work. They are the ball style made of stainless. Now it magically goes up once lifted more than a couple of inches. Great! While I was in the area, I decided to continue finishing up the entry. The upper door needs a handle so one can pull it closed without having to climb up the ladder and grab the top. I always imagined a leather strap would work well but couldn't find my old hand made purse to steal the strap off it so used a belt instead. ( photo right) Being a girls belt, it promptly broke after the second pull! Guess that wion't work. I took the two stainless clamps and welded some 1/8" rod with a drilled out length of oak dowel. It worked fine, and somehow looks better too! The flip down, although still not supported, was filled with some of that plastic wood that's shaped like C-channel. I glued it in with PL-200 and filled between the cracks with silicone. It's still pretty heavy but easily liftable. I have tried various gas cylinders and springs on the tab of the door to allow for pulling up and holding down, but nothing seems to work. The gas cylinder needs to be long enough that it becomes a real trip hazard, and a spring makes the door bounce. The ideal thing would be a fold-and-lock arm, like the ones used in some cupboard doors, or flip up doors. Problem is, they are all straight steel and would rust by the next day in a marine environment. If anyone has any ideas, please contact me via the forum or at f r e s h @ f r e s h n e l l y . com ( no spaces ) with your thoughts.
Below is the lower latch and other "lollypop" latch. It works well on the lower door and seems pretty close to the other one. I must locktight the hex bolt as it keeps loosening off after time.

Day 446 :
7 hours - Put gas cylinder, last latch, handle and plastic wood stuff in entry way. Finished and mounted anchor roller assembly.

	Gena wanted to clean up the anchor rollers and put the remaining rollers in when she noticed the one hadn't been polished yet. Ooops! My fault. She spent the better part of her day smoothing and polishing it, probably cursing my name under her breath all the while!
	Some drilling needed to be done as well. It seems the stainless bolts are just slightly fatter than their galvanized counterparts. Go figure? Guess I had better get some wood on the pulpit floor. No excuses now!