Anyone make a watertight cover for the cubby?

pat earing

Can't we sail the Capri instead?
My capri has a large and a spacious cubby (not the storage area of the later boats) and I would like to know if anyone ever made a cover; like a kayak spay skirt, to cover it so if one turtles it stays dry? My current cover is a wooden door that doesn't fit well so I am open to any thing.


Cheers

Pat
 
I have an older Capri (80's) that had a plywood cover/door with a little thumb lock for the cubby that really didn't seal very well. I built another door and installed a new rubber seal which works pretty well but it is not totally water tight. I am in the planning stage of building a door out of hard plastic (not sure just what it is) that I have had laying around the shop for a few years. The material is around 3/8" thick and white (like that maters...) and is very rigid. The material is often used as a cutting board in the kitchen and is tough as nails. I plan to make a pattern that leaves around 1/8" around all sides and then bond a rubber seal to the "plastic", or whatever. I plan to put a thumb lock on the four sides rather than just one so as to compress the soft rubber seal all around the door. It is my belief that this will finally totally seal the door.

If your door is in good shape fits well and is not warped; you may consider finding a soft seal thick enough to be compressed when your door is installed and latched. That may be all you need to seal the opening -worth a look...

I have thought about making the bulkhead between the cubby and the remainder of the boat water tight but not sure this is worth while or even advisable. This will add weight but it would also provide two separate water tight chambers in case I managed to punch a hole in the bottom. I suspect a complete seal of the bulkhead would create a hard spot in the bottom of the boat which may create a problem. This would be a great idea if I planed to sail 100 miles out off shore... :p

I have never seen an original door that was not weathered, worn/damaged and worked like I suspect it was originally designed so I have no clue as to the sealing capability of the original part.

Keep in mind that the whole inter hull shares a common space so if water gets into the hull anywhere on the boat the water/dampness will make its way to the cubby. If you come up with a better idea please post it before I get too far into making my new door.
 
I fabricated a cover that I think is watertight. I cut a piece of plywood to fit over the outsde of the cubby opening and a piece of 1X2 that fits across the inside of the cubby opening(horizontally). The 1X2 slips into two brackets I glued to the inside of the cubby. I use two 3/8" bolts double nutted to the 1X2 to hold the plywood cover against the outside of the cubby opening with wingnuts and rubber washers backed up with metal washers. I will post pictures if some one can explain how to post them.
 
My capri has a large and a spacious cubby (not the storage area of the later boats) and I would like to know if anyone ever made a cover; like a kayak spay skirt, to cover it so if one turtles it stays dry? My current cover is a wooden door that doesn't fit well so I am open to any thing.


Cheers

Pat
Go to sams and get a large plastic cutting board.
Cut to shape, sand edges, install original hardware
Mount bag with ss sheet metal screw s.
Perfect!
 

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