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hi,how easy would it be to retro fit a side hatch, and can you buy them 'ready made'? also is it possible to have a totally 'fixed' cratch  (ie cannot be opened) if you have side hatches to use as secondary escape route?  ive been thinking of doing this and the rejigging the inside to a reverse layout. many thanks mac

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Kedian Engineering, who is a forum member, do them, see the link to their gallery. 

http://www.kedianengineering.co.uk/gallery.html 

They can replace an existing window.

With regard to a cratch without exits, the Canaltime boats used a similar arrangement, with forward mounted side hatches for emergency exits.  Always made me wonder how you would get out if a fire occurred whilst traversing a lock, and the fire prevented access to the rear door.

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i have seen quite a few boats with no access to the cratch but side hatches to assist evacuation,i was contemplating removing the kitchen windows and replacing them with hatches. i think i could still do this but leave cratch as is.

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12 hours ago, mac1 said:

i have seen quite a few boats with no access to the cratch but side hatches to assist evacuation,i was contemplating removing the kitchen windows and replacing them with hatches. i think i could still do this but leave cratch as is.

Another method that gives best of both worlds is like my boat all the double glazed units lift out of the frames in seconds so any of the frames can be immediately turned into open side hatches as it were at any of the window locations, a great benefit on sticky hot days.

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7 minutes ago, Detling said:

If you have a hatch at the front you can still reach the T stud and gas locker from inside, kneeling on the bed maybe but better than perched on the bow.

Not strictly true - my gas locker is accessed via a side hatch! :D

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Boats have been known to sink in locks, the problem with a narrowboat in a narrow lock is that you can't, in an emergency, evacuate through a side hatch due to the bloody Great Wall in front of you. If you want an enclosed cratch make share it has a window that you can open wide enough to climb out of onto the bow in an emergency.

last week I saw a tug boat that had a motorbike on the tug deck strapped down in front of the forward hatch; great that they can take their transport with them, not so great if the stern starts to sink in a lock.

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4 hours ago, Bewildered said:

Boats have been known to sink in locks, the problem with a narrowboat in a narrow lock is that you can't, in an emergency, evacuate through a side hatch due to the bloody Great Wall in front of you. If you want an enclosed cratch make share it has a window that you can open wide enough to climb out of onto the bow in an emergency.

Or a roof hatch.

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On 2017-5-19 at 20:45, cuthound said:

Kedian Engineering, who is a forum member, do them, see the link to their gallery. 

http://www.kedianengineering.co.uk/gallery.html 

They can replace an existing window.

With regard to a cratch without exits, the Canaltime boats used a similar arrangement, with forward mounted side hatches for emergency exits.  Always made me wonder how you would get out if a fire occurred whilst traversing a lock, and the fire prevented access to the rear door.

Given that as far as I know this has never happened, you might as well worry about how to get out if the boat is struck by a meteorite...

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8 hours ago, IanD said:

Given that as far as I know this has never happened, you might as well worry about how to get out if the boat is struck by a meteorite...

OK, point accepted, but what about a sinking in a lock? 

That is an occurrence that happens several times a year, and finding your way out of a flooding boat with debris floating about can be difficult as it is easy to become disorientated.

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Again, think what is likely to (and has) happened in reality -- by far the most common methods of succeeding in sinking a boat in a lock are hanging the stern up on the cill going down and catching the bows on a gate or protrusion going up. In both cases the boat sinks by the bow, so if you're inside the boat you'd want to exit via the stern, and a boat without a front exit will not cause any problem.

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Kedian they look great, but escape windows need a 450mm x 600 mm opening as a minimum those look less, also do you have a ladder to reach. If not then please don't let the boat as they won't meet landlords safety law.

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21 minutes ago, Detling said:

Kedian they look great, but escape windows need a 450mm x 600 mm opening as a minimum those look less, also do you have a ladder to reach. If not then please don't let the boat as they won't meet landlords safety law.

Well that sounds like a Building Regulations requirement, and not applicable to boats. A roof hatch of the sort shown would be a damn sight more use than a mushroom vent in the event of a sinking.

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