> Are you referring to an internal bungee? You hold the hatch over the whole
> clip on the bungee's coming up from the inside and let the hatch snap down
> in position? If so - how does this affect gear storage - do the bungee get
> tangled up in the stuff? I used an external bungee last year but due to
> poorly curved hatches (didn't match the deck curve well) I've scrapped
> that and I'll try something else this year.

> Mark

Yes, these are internal. I made oversized hatches by putting 3/4" strips of 3mm ply around the perimeter (two layers). Then the cover goes another 3/4" outside that and foam seals it to the deck. Originally I had nylon ties, but they needed a lot of tension to hold the hatch down.

I put two hardwood hooks in at the chine, and ran two bungees up to the hatch. Each bungee is hooked at both ends on the hatch, and looped in the middle over the hook inside. As the bungees do not go through the middle of the storage, they dont take up as much space as they might. I have not actually stuffed the boat with gear, but I dont think the bungees would be in the way at all, they would go up the sides around the gear. There is nice tension on the covers now, but as I said they do not do too well on the freeway. The hatchs look a lot better, no external hold down shows at all. With flush hatches, you'd need a recessed loop to pull the hatch cover up with.