Forward Hatch Fantasies...
I have considered the idea of having a sheet of lexan cut appropriately and bent (I need to read more on how to do this) in order for a one-piece hatch to be crafted. While not initially water-tight, the addition of a thick (neoprene?) gasket to the raised area of the deck (coaming?) for the hatch to be secured to does seem, well, pleasant. I've also wondered if I could do the same kind of thing for the compainionway slide hatch, kind of a "moon roof" effect.
I acknowledge that lexan may not be the best choice of material... but seeing it made into bulletproof enclosures in banks and post offices does tend to leave a lasting impression and seeing firemen w/ axes whacking at the lexan windows on the telco building in the NYC central office fire back in the 1970s kind of made it look like the next best thing to a Niven-ish "General Products" hull material.
Now if only it can be painlessly kept safe/stable from UV...
