4788 Cockpit Ladder

[Guest]

Is there a hatch cover or door available for the opening at the top of the ladder that connects the cockpit and the bridge deck? Fiberglass? Lucite? Wood? Plastic? Vinyl? Canvas? Has anyone fashioned one?

[mmichellich]

My solution since new in 2005, was to cut a piece of that plastic cutting board like material (1/2 inch thick), in the shape of the hatch edge with rounded corners. I then use 3/4 inch velcro with self adhesive to hold it in place, but still easily removed in an emergency. We can see no use for the ladder anyway as we always move from bridge via pilot house and stairs, a much more enjoyable trip whether at the dock or in rough water. Allows storage of life jackets, emergency throw device, and large fire extinguisher on or behind the ladder.

[MerlinV]

I think most 4788/490 owners use a sliding cover. I have seen many covers built from Starboard, but in our case, we elected to go for a clear polycarbonate which is around 1/2" thickness - this at least allows more light into the cockpit area.The sliders are not difficult to make, and are a nylon material that has a degree of self lubing property. They are sized at approximately 2" x 1" with grooves for the polycarbonate routered into the wider side. These are then bedded and screw mounted to the top deck, and have grab handles mounted to the top and bottom to prevent the sliding cover fom sliding right out. This cover is safe to stand on, although I avoid this if possible, as like many other dangerous things, it's slippery when wet

[img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/662086=25172-Cockpit Hatch-bb.jpg[/img]

[playdoughted]

When I had the cockpit enclosure installed, I had the canvas man make a canvas cover. Does well as a temp. Low budget, not perfect but a 1000% better than nothing. Use two slats of starboard to keep it from pooling rain or sagging with snow. Guess I'm different as I use the cockpit ladder all the time. Ted Rob - your's looks great.

[AndrewF]

Hi

I had a custom hatch made by Taylor Made. I sent them the exact measurements and a scribed copy of the radius of the corners and they made the hatch.

Fitted in perfectly and I just glued it in.

The catch is you have to get a stainless guy to modify your pipe work at the top of the ladder to enable it to swing open it was not hard.

I cant believe they made thes boats without a hatch there in first place. Cockpit good and dry now and ladder stays dry to hang your towles over to dry also.

Good Luck

Attached files [img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/663588=25361-good and the bad 006.jpg[/img] [img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/663588=25359-Hatch1.JPG[/img] [img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/663588=25360-Hatch2 (2).JPG[/img]

[ksanders]

AndrewF wrote:
Hi

I had a custom hatch made by Taylor Made. I sent them the exact measurements and a scribed copy of the radius of the corners and they made the hatch.

Fitted in perfectly and I just glued it in.

The catch is you have to get a stainless guy to modify your pipe work at the top of the ladder to enable it to swing open it was not hard.

I cant believe they made thes boats without a hatch there in first place. Cockpit good and dry now and ladder stays dry to hang your towles over to dry also.

Good Luck

What a great idea!

I have the sliding type and never thought to have one made to fit.

[plane2sea]

AndrewF wrote:
Hi

I had a custom hatch made by Taylor Made. I sent them the exact measurements and a scribed copy of the radius of the corners and they made the hatch.

Fitted in perfectly and I just glued it in.

The catch is you have to get a stainless guy to modify your pipe work at the top of the ladder to enable it to swing open it was not hard.

I cant believe they made thes boats without a hatch there in first place. Cockpit good and dry now and ladder stays dry to hang your towles over to dry also.

Good Luck

What was the cost?

[Guest]

plane2sea wrote:
What was the cost?

Looks great

i wud also like to know the cost

bryan

[AndrewF]

I did this job in 2009 and cant find the actual cost quote from Taylor Made but from memory it was about AU$800 odd and I had a stainless guy making a support for the sattelite TV dome at the time and he modified the stainless for aroun AU$ 200 while he was there.

All you have to do is cut the two hand grips from each side and then create two new bends from the left over no longer required hand rails to reconnect the rail , now the hatch can swing open without hiting the rails. See my pics in previous post.

When open it sits upright on its gas strut next to the extended rail next to the tender.

[islandhopper]

Would love to see pics of this if still available. The old links are no longer working.

[MerlinV]

This was one of the hatch pictures I posted in 2012

[higgins_jr]

I had a similar hatch to Andrews manufactured by a company in New Zealand as Taylormade ceased/were closing down their Australian factory back then (how time flies). As he said, the railing need slight modification to facilitate the hatch closing! Taylormade used to do custom work in their US factory, but became prohibitively expensive. It is one of the better mods to the sliding Perspex alternative.

[islandhopper]

Great, thanks guys. Both look good. John, did you have to modify the railing?

[higgins_jr]

Great, thanks guys. Both look good. John, did you have to modify the railing?

Yes, like I said in my post, the railing needed adjustment/modification.

[drewhaas]

Is there an advantage to hinging it towards the dinghy? I would think it would be more convenient to hinge it away (I’m too much of a weenie to walk on that side of my bridge) and it seems like it might impede access to the dinghy. Is it strong enough to stand on?

[higgins_jr]

Drew, I thought about that and figured the railing on the left wouldn’t be moved and that would leave the RHS more open. The railing is there behind when open, (about the same height) so there is no real impediment. Yes it is strong enough to stand on (1/2” perspex) but the mfgr put a piece of right angle rail in the center for extra support. Cheers