Just saw this today on the shelf… AWESOME PIC!
Where is the picture??
I couldn’t find the pic online – but it’s the March issue. Funny story, the guy at Westmarine today was impressed I had a BCC and Teresa had a Nor’sea… as I was checking out, he said “hey this just arrived today… check out the cover!” Then he said I could take the magazine for free… cuz “you got a cool boat!”
He also has a blog (who doesn’t these days!):
http://theincrediblehull.blogspot.com/
Anyway – here is the cover shot…
I want to get a pic of my boat on a mag cover – new goal!
I believe the photo was taken when Bernie and Kat helped Drew deliver BCC Surprise to Maine after Drew purchased her. Attached is another picture of Surprise.
Rod yeah - I dunno drew and Rogue, is he on here? Your pic is great. Do you have a hi rez version of that?
Yes, I have a higher res scan.
Rod
gtod - good one! 
Cover is here if you can see it – I think its free online for all…
http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/fd638fef#/fd638fef/1
Gee, Gosh , who would go sailing their BCC with the scuttle hatch, removed ?
Scuttle hatch is there, just that it’s raised a tad. Must be expecting calm conditions.
Many Thanks Bil , on closer inspection of that “Cover” photo, I can see , that you are correct, but , you would not catch me, at sea, with the scuttle hatch open, as it is in the photo!
Maybe the reason that the scuttle hatch can also open from the aft, but just the same , I can’t even imagine a time when I would be caught out sailing, with that scuttle hatch open even in calm flat water conditions.
Even when sailing in San Francisco Bay , with the hatch closed and dogged down, and even a canvas sun cover over that hatch, My BCC took on water, up over the scuttle coaming, and through the neoprene seal.
That event made me take a closer look.
First discovery was that when green water coming aft over the bow, hits that verticle fwd scuttle coaming, that green water goes verticle, too.
To be continued ,
I also take water in thru the scuttle hatch. I thought it was because I shortened my sunbrella cover to just cover the wood top/hatch. Was going to add onto the cover again for full coverage down to the deck to help avoid water below when offshore.
Not happy to hear Douglas still took water below even with a cover like that.
Any good solutions,and do others face this problem too? Perhaps a thicker neoprene seal might do the trick?
We experienced the same problem motoring dead into 3-4 ft chop.
The late Eric Hiscock in his tome, Cruising Under Sail, has a picture of a hatch with a double coaming. The hatch fit about half way into the second coaming. I believe something similar could be fitted to the forward part of the raised scuttle either using lumber or brass strapping. Another option is to install a water deflection plate on the forward part of the scuttle just below the seam line between hatch and the scuttle. The design would be similar to the eyebrow strip installed around the cabin house.
IDUNA
Great shot on the cover.
As for the forward scuttle taking water even when closed…well, we never have short of submarining the entire bow under. And that is very rare.
We were San Francisco Bay sailors before going cruising and it is true we never opened the forward hatch there…but often did at sea on nice days when winds were light and/or running downwind. We did once get baptized in the v-birth but it was worth the cool breeze we enjoyed most of the day.
We built our own hatch for the scuttle (as we did most everything else) but there is nothing fancy about its closure. If anything it is a bit sloppy once past where the hatch edges touch the fiberglass combing. In fact I seem to recall Herreshoff or someone commenting about leaving some space behind the initial hatch seal so the water pressure is dissipated or drops once the initial squirt get through.
We keep the bow very light with chain and rodes kept aft of the bits. I think this helps to keep the deck dry a lot of time in a seaway.
I definitely had a problem with a lot of water coming through on a 2500 mile sail in nearly continuous close reaching in 20 kt winds and 6-8 foot seas. I thought my seal was pretty good till I got into those conditions for an extended time. My solution was lots of duct tape all around the outside of the hatch. For the return voyage I retaped.
Ron Thompson
Ho’okahiko 97
Shaula’s forehatch used to leak when we had serious water landing on the foredeck. When we got to Australia, I redid the gasket. First I used gasketing about 4 mm on both of the hatch’s horizontal surfaces. When that didn’t result in stopping ALL incoming water, I went to some 2 mm gasketing, on top of the 4 mm.
You can detect where there’s no seal with a 1" strip of newspaper. Lay the strip across the gasketing, close the hatch and dog it down, and then try and pull the strip out. If it pulls, there’s a gap.
Because there’s 2 gaskets to stop the water, the first one slows down the velocity (or stops it), and the 2nd one does the job. Shaula came from SLM with only one gasket (the inner one I think). You need to accept the fact that the distance between the wood and the fiberglass is not exactly constant.
I guess whether you sail a BCC with the forehatch open, even partially as in the picture, depends on the sea state and how likely it is to change rapidly, how hot and humid it is down below (and whether there IS anyone down below)? Shaula never felt the need (or had the nerve?) to open the hatch offshore, but in settled conditions, we sometimes removed the hatch board if we wanted more air. At the first hint of challenging wx, we put the board back in. We don’t have the aft hinges for opening the fore hatch towards forward, although I like the idea for when anchored. (We kept the hatch down and the board in when we sailed in San Francisco Bay!).
Dan Shaula BCC 59 (1981)
We have regasketed too, but maybe Dan’s additional 2mm gasket in places would help.
I also used duct tape on a couple of passages but the sticky residue is a real pain. Then I read about a delivery skipper that would wrap windlasses with clear plastic food wrap. So we tried that; 3-4 rounds would do it, and cover the lip as well as the entire washboard. That worked, without the sticky mess. I don’t like wasting the plastic, but that’s probably among the least of my environmental sins in this kind of life…
Tom
Galatea
Ben , it was the scuttle hatch canvas cover, that came with the boat, that caught the upshooting green water, held it , then that water pushed through under the fwd scuttle coaming seal.
You can see in the top photo, that the cover just covered the wooden hatch and down to the hinges.
I think I already sent you a photo of my newer canvas cover, that goes down almost to the deck, and completely covers the drop board, and with this cover, I haven’t had anymore leaks.
