Companionway Screens
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The fact that we cruise with a cat on board made it necessary for us to be able to conveniently and easily close off the companionway to prevent unwanted feline adventures ashore. After several years of using a set of screens that slid into place in the same way as the "hatch boards," the idea shown above revealed itself. Not wanting to mount anything permanently into the teak boards on the sides of the companionway, we built a set of screen doors that are mounted on their own frame. The frame, which consists of a right and a left half, slides into the channels on the sides of the companionway and links together at the center of the bottom. Although this entire system can easily be removed, we find that we leave it in place the majority of the time, even when under sail. Since we have a dodger, it is not necessary to install the boards, even in inclement weather. The addition of two plexiglass panels that could be latched in place behind the screens would easily make these doors relatively weatherproof. (BTW, I have recently seen companionway screens of a similar design available commercially - I would strongly recommend them.)
This page last modified on Thursday, August 23, 2001