Here are our musings on bay boat deck layouts, hatches, and storage compartments. You can skip my ramblings in the first paragraph if you’re some kind of monster that doesn’t like kids or sentimental stories. Below the ramblin’s we dig into our thoughts on decks, hatches, and more.
Ramblin’s
When I was younger, I never gave that much thought to the deck layout of my previous boats. As long as I had a flat deck as high up as I could get it, I was good. I like the visibility that comes with being at a higher vantage point. Then I had kids. I’ll never forget taking my 6-year-old out for a day of fishing. It was February here in North Carolina and the high was about 50 degrees the day we went out. The water temp was in the 40’s. It was one of the first trips out on our 17’ aluminum jon boat that I had spent the winter turning into a micro-skiff of sorts. Big deck on the front and back, tiller steering, and a cooler/grab handle in the middle. I was on the front deck running the trolling motor and he was on the back deck. All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I watch him do this half-pirouette spin and go sailing off the side of the boat. He was wearing a life jacket, so after disappearing beneath the surface for a minute he popped right back up and I grabbed him and pulled him back in the boat (minus his fishing rod, of course). It turns out that he forgot to open the bail on his spinning rod before casting. The surprise and momentum of the lure not launching towards the shore was enough to throw off his balance and send him into the drink. Could’ve happened to the best of us. He was terrified and frozen like a popsicle, but otherwise unharmed. It was enough, however, to end our day of fishing early and got me thinking that maybe I should rethink my deck layout requirements.
Deck Layout
Built for fishing in both shallow back bays as well as the occasional offshore runs, today’s modern bay boats are pretty versatile. When you look at the deck layout, the vast majority will have a raised casting platform up front and some in the rear as well. These casting decks are a natural carryover from the flats boats that preceded the bay boat. The raised platform makes sense when you are drifting across a shallow grass flat as you want as much height as possible to be able to see the fish you’re after. Also, in that scenario, the water is generally calm. However, if you are bottom fishing a local reef or drifting through a choppy pass or inlet it is nice to have a little more protection around you to keep you in the boat. Also, if you bring kids or other landlubbers with you, higher sides go a long way to ensuring they have a safe, positive, experience. On the Atlas Boatworks 23F, we do offer a raised casting deck option. However, we’ve found that the flat deck is the more popular option. Those who want additional height will use the console cooler as a casting platform. By doing that, you get the best of both worlds; higher sides for comfort and safety and a (re)movable casting platform when you want the increased height.
The Hole Story
As an overall guiding principle we believe that you should drill as few holes in your boat as possible. Take a careful look at the deck of your modern flats boat or bay boat and you’ll see literally hundreds of holes drilled through the fiberglass. There are holes for hinges, struts, handrails, cushions, drains, drink holders, backrests, cleats, and the list goes on and on. Each of those holes is an opportunity for gelcoat to crack or for water to enter and expose the fiberglass. So, while our design for the 23F may not offer wireless phone charging on the front deck, it does offer a cleaner, less compromised, deck that we believe will result in years of maintenance-free enjoyment.
Hinges and Struts
Friction hinges are not a new invention, but we feel like they are under utilized in the modern boat-building world. It might be that they are more expensive than regular hinges and if you are putting 25 hatches in your boat, they add up quick. Friction hinges use friction in the body of the hinge to hold the open hatch lid in place. Using them eliminates the need for gas struts or springs to hold the hatch open. Now, they do have weight limits and aren’t for all situations, but for small to medium hatches, especially in the floor, they are a great option. Next time you are at a boat dealer or show, take notice of the attachment locations of most struts. You will see that they are often precarious, at best. If it wiggles as you open and close the hatch, you’re asking for trouble down the road. It goes back to drilling as few holes as possible in your boat.
The Gutter life
To wrap up the conversation about hatches we are going to talk about gutters. Hatch gutters are the raised lip that seal the hatch closed and channel water away from the hatch opening. If you truly want a dry storage compartment, gutters are mucho importanto! As you look at your hatch gutters, pretend you were a stream of water. Where would you flow and where would you ultimately end up? To be truly effective, the water needs to flow away from the hatch openings and out to the deck somehow. With a flat deck, it is a challenge to have deep, effective, gutters as there is nowhere for them to drain to. Some companies will drill a detain hole in the gutter and attach a small hose that runs down to the bilge. We’ve opted not to do that. For one, we just ranted for a whole paragraph about not drilling holes in your boat. The other reason is that those little hoses often get clogged with sand and other gunk. So, now you have an ineffective gutter and a clogged hose. That brings us to the Achilles heel of gutters. While they keep the water out of the hatch, they also collect all kinds of stuff like sand, seaweed, baitfish, and cheetos. They can be a mixed blessing at times. One thing that can be done to aid with cleaning is to put the gasket on the lid side vs the deck side. Then when you open the hatch, you have a surface that is easy to hose down without gunk getting trapped in and around the gasket.
Shameless Plug
With the 23F, since it has a flat deck, we’ve opted not to drill the extra holes to drain the gutters. We, instead, have a shallow gutter with a gasket to keep out the vast majority of water that splashes on the deck. In the name of full transparency, we’ve designated the in-floor storage boxes as mostly dry storage. It is great for castnets, anchors, snorkel gear, swim ladders, floats, insulated fish bags, soft-sided coolers, and drybags. Anything that must stay totally dry we keep in the console or coolers.
