Companionway door improvements

Problem

The companionway doors are very hard to hang back after they've been removed while sailing.

Root cause

Is that the height of the upper and lower hinge-rod is the same. This means that you need to aim both at the same time. A hard job to do, especially if the boat is rocking.

Solution

Cut just a tiny bit off the lower hinge-rod, which means that the door can by aimed at the upper hinge first, to be aligned and solid in that position, and then calmly aim the lower one in place.

It's the lower that should be cut and not the upper. If you accidentally drop the door and it's on only one hinge, you want that to be the upper one. If it would be the lower, then that hinge-rod would easily bend, due to the weight of the upper part.

Problem

The companionway doors are banging in waves when at anchorage or while moving.

Root cause for "bang in waves"

The doors are loose when open and can swing freely.

Solution

Mount simple hooks to be able to lock the doors open.

Considerations when doing this:

• Make the installation snug so the hook has to be forced into the mount on the bulkhead. This to ensure quiet installation, but also so the hook do not work itself up by movement.

• Hardware should not interfere with the premium space so you hurt your back leaning against the bulkhead. So minimum hardware there.

• Mount it so the hook will not free hang (and make marks) in any position (open or close). So we've put a parking position on the door itself.