Hatch Lifehack 1: Favourable upgrade for small deck hatches against mosquitoes
In many harbours or anchorages on the shore, mosquitoes swarm out at dusk and quickly find their way below deck. Mosquito nets help to keep the uninvited flying guests out and still allow fresh air to enter the cabin. However, suitable nets are often expensive. That's why we looked at outdoor equipment for our small hatches and ended up with mosquito head protection. The nets, also known as mosquito veils, are designed to be pulled directly over the head and are therefore sized accordingly. However, they fit exactly over the flange of our small hatches with the elasticated drawstring. The nets are quick to fit, extremely space-saving and only cost between 5 and 15 euros.
Ralf Becker, by e-mail
Hatch Lifehack 2: No chance for sparks and mould
In winter, we close all hatches and ventilators and put dehumidifiers in the boat. This keeps it dry below deck. For this purpose, we also remove the air scoops to prevent permanent ventilation, especially as mould stains often form in the funnels in winter. The retaining ring remains on the hatch, but we still have two screw rings from the old fans. We use these and a suitable metal plate to close the openings in winter.
Carsten Dubois, Elchingen
Hatch Lifehack 3: Half pipe brings air into the ship
A simple remedy for high humidity is ventilation. However, we don't want water to get into the boat from outside, only the moisture in the air. To keep the boat ventilated while we were away in the harbour, we came up with a rain cover for the cockpit hatch: a piece of PVC pipe was cut in half lengthways and two holes were drilled through it. We threaded rubber bands through the holes, which in turn were attached to a wooden strut. The connection must be tight enough to hold the pipe half in position.
Hayo Koch, Dorsten
Hatch lifehack 4: Cling film seals escape hatches
On our cat, the emergency exits are often completely flooded in heavy weather - the water pressure is then considerable at high speeds. New hatches only provide a brief remedy and cannot fully compensate for the torsion that reduces the contact pressure. We were successful with a "cling film seal". The principle of the crinkled film in between is that of a labyrinth seal, which distributes and reduces the pressure of the water. There should therefore be sufficient crinkled film on the outside of the seal.
Johannes Frost, Kiel
Do you have any advice for other sailors?
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