It looks like a sweet, simple little boat, but I know just how much work is involved nonetheless.  It's very brave of Annie to commit to this project but I am sure the reward of having the sort of boat that suits her future cruising needs will be ample reward.  In my dotage (not, I hasten to add, that I think Annie has reached hers!), I think I might like a small, shallow draft boat like this myself, but I cannot imagine building it.  Well done to the Sib Lim team!

David Tyler wrote:So ... just who is checking in on a regular basis? How many followers of the SibLim project are there? Don't lurk, post a comment or two in this topic!

Just wanted to drop in and say that I'm super excited to see that the two of your are doing this together. An open-source, community-built boat if you may. Love it!

David Thatcher wrote:

Paul Thompson wrote:

Annie Hill wrote:

    I have never met anyone who, hand on heart, can claim the sliding hatch didn't leak in extremis - just when you don't want it to leak.  Driving rain from astern can be an issue, too.  As well, they tend to be either so stiff as to need brute force to open them, or so slippery that you need to secure them open or shut.  As I see no reason for a larger entrance than I will have, I see no need to risk a sliding hatch!

I'm with Annie on this one, sliding hatches are a monumental pain in the butt. Inconvenient to use as they are slow to open and close. Worse is they all leak... you can make them water resistant but never waterproof... and I cannot abide water inside a boat. LC has a door, it is inconvenient at times but it never leaks and entering or leaving is quick when you need it to be.

LC's door

Now, I have to disagree on this one!! I have always had sliding hatches and as long as they are well built and have a cover over the forward end which the hatch slides under then they should be fine. I did have one sliding hatch that leaked but that was a forward facing companionway and the hatch did not slide under a cover. I find the current arrangement with the companionway on Footprints to work extremely well, that is the sliding hatch with washboards surrounded by the solid dodger which is only just wider than the companionway and extends aft of it by about 400mm. On our trip back from New Caledonia in heavy seas with waves washing continuously across the deck and the cockpit well a third full of water most of the time, not a single drop of water found it's way into the interior of the boat. We left the lower washboard in place and were able to sit on the top step of the companionway and have a good view all round whilst keeping dry. Because of the dodger we were able to leave the hatch open which allowed very welcome light and air into the interior of the boat. The hatch slides easily and each washboard fits into a storage slot on either side of the dodger. The only way I can think of to improve the arrangement would be to replace the washboards with a door each side which clips back when open - one project I have not gotten to yet.

Re the forward facing companionway, once I had fitted a solid dodger to the forward end of that particular cockpit and built a cover for the hatch to slide into that companionway never leaked again through 3 years of living onboard and 6 ocean crossings. The one thing against sliding hatches is that they are a lot more time consuming to build well.

Horses for courses :-) I'll standby my remarks and for me, it's undoubtedly the way to go.

Paul Thompson wrote:

Annie Hill wrote:

    I have never met anyone who, hand on heart, can claim the sliding hatch didn't leak in extremis - just when you don't want it to leak.  Driving rain from astern can be an issue, too.  As well, they tend to be either so stiff as to need brute force to open them, or so slippery that you need to secure them open or shut.  As I see no reason for a larger entrance than I will have, I see no need to risk a sliding hatch!

I'm with Annie on this one, sliding hatches are a monumental pain in the butt. Inconvenient to use as they are slow to open and close. Worse is they all leak... you can make them water resistant but never waterproof... and I cannot abide water inside a boat. LC has a door, it is inconvenient at times but it never leaks and entering or leaving is quick when you need it to be.

LC's door

Now, I have to disagree on this one!! I have always had sliding hatches and as long as they are well built and have a cover over the forward end which the hatch slides under then they should be fine. I did have one sliding hatch that leaked but that was a forward facing companionway and the hatch did not slide under a cover. I find the current arrangement with the companionway on Footprints to work extremely well, that is the sliding hatch with washboards surrounded by the solid dodger which is only just wider than the companionway and extends aft of it by about 400mm. On our trip back from New Caledonia in heavy seas with waves washing continuously across the deck and the cockpit well a third full of water most of the time, not a single drop of water found it's way into the interior of the boat. We left the lower washboard in place and were able to sit on the top step of the companionway and have a good view all round whilst keeping dry. Because of the dodger we were able to leave the hatch open which allowed very welcome light and air into the interior of the boat. The hatch slides easily and each washboard fits into a storage slot on either side of the dodger. The only way I can think of to improve the arrangement would be to replace the washboards with a door each side which clips back when open - one project I have not gotten to yet.

Re the forward facing companionway, once I had fitted a solid dodger to the forward end of that particular cockpit and built a cover for the hatch to slide into that companionway never leaked again through 3 years of living onboard and 6 ocean crossings. The one thing against sliding hatches is that they are a lot more time consuming to build well.

Great photos, really coming on this week.  Very envious of the shorts and T shirts, it's pretty awful over here in the UK, got stuck in Bergen on Friday night and was kept awake by the hail all night!