deck plates /inspection covers

Just got back from a big A cat/F16/F18 event. The majority of people just drill a hole in the lid, stick a small 2mm line though and tie a knot on the outside then attach the line to the inside of the hull in various ways. Most didnt even bother sealing the hole the line went through since they are race boats and are not on the water long. But a small dab of silicone in the hole would fix that problem.

I'm going to attach mine but instead of drilling a hole I'm just going to scuff up the underside of the lid and just epoxy the rope on with a like 3 knots in it to resist pulling out.

I've lost a 6" hatch we forgot to screw back on in the surf right before a distance race once. Tried duct taping on a plastic bag but that failed pathetically. Luckily we werent heavy enough to bury that hull when double trapping down the coast...but it was pretty scary to look at the whole time.

The deck plates on my Hobie 18 are Beckson (I think). Anyway, the inside surface of the plate had a small molding protrusion that I was able to very carefully drill a small hole through and then tie off a lanyard to using some thin batten tie line. This way there was no hole going through the outside of the plate. Otherwise, I have gone the epoxy route too before and that works- just mix up some marine tex, put a blob on each end of a string, and stick one end to the inside of the deck plate and one end inside the hull.

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After you attach the line to the cover, look at the mounting ring and see if you can remove one of the nuts underneath and add a nylon loop to tie the line to. If your mounting ring is using screws, then replace one with a bolt and nylock nut.

Great tip Bob. 😉

Here's the kind of loop I used:

Be sure to make the line from the mounting ring to the lid long enough to allow the lid to be used as a paddle in no air conditions.