268 Islander Floor Hatch

[tjb22]

I recently had to remove the main floor hatch to install a new fuel gauge sender with associated wiring and noticed the large area where a 2nd fuel tank would be located. Has anyone thought about putting in a hinged floor hatch and using this space? I am thinking that I could use this as a large fish box if I build a fiberglass liner and install a pump to drain it out. Just tossing out the idea to see if anyone has done something similar to this while I wait for the lakes to freeze over so I can do some ice fishing.

 

[BlueFlu15]

Hi- I'm doing something similar on my 228. I have a lot of empty /wasted space under the deck for an aux tank that will be used for storage. It's forward under the 2 chairs. I'm looking at having the deck cut in half, reinforced, and having both ends open up with flush mount hinge in the midle and flush mount fastners. Not sure if I'll have them finish off under the deck or if I'll do something else myself. I need to bring the boat to them (as soon as this snow melts) to finalize the cost. I'll post pics once it's finished.

 

[tjb22]

Hi BlueFlu15
Looking forward to seeing how you do it. I can't get to my boat until May 1st but I have researched the subject. I am thinking about getting a custom deck unit made with a flush hatch and the underfloor compartment as one unit so I can remove the existing deck plate and "drop in" the new one. I have a couple of quotes and I can get it made for about $1,300.00. I haven't figured out the plumbing yet but I don't want it to just drain in the rear bilge so I have to lay that out. I am thinking of mounting the pump in the same area as the stern bilge pump and the wash down pump so I have access to it. My plan is to make it more of an insulated fish box rather than a storage compartment.

 

[ENichols56]

I cut a hole and mounted a hatch in that floor plate on my 228 to make use of that space. My boat did not have freshwater, so I put a 20 gallon water tank all the way forward in that compartment and mounted the freshwater pump in there. Then I built a wood grate to make the bottom of the compartment flat and to keep my stuff off the bottom of the bilge and above the occasional water that might be in there. I bought the 13"x30" Ivory hatch made by tempress. Matches the grady white beige/ivory color pretty well.

Only thing I might do is reinforce the whole thing a little better. It gives some when I walk over it. Not an alarming amount, but I should probably lay down a couple extra layers of fiberglass around the edges of where I cut out the access hole and on the bottom of the whole plate.

 

[tjb22]

Hi,
I was looking at those hatches from Tempress, especially that size. It's not quite big enough for what I need but it would be a much less expensive way to do it. How is the hatch itself, is it flexible when you stop on it or stiff?

 

[FL Marine Plastics]

Starboard makes a non skid version which works well for deck hatches. If you get it in the seafoam it matches the grady gel color almost perfect