Annie Hill wrote:BTW , drop in was boards leave a lot to be desired, not in the least finding somewhere to put them.  Might I suggest hinged ones?  If you look in my profile, you can see the ones I made for the Raven.  I've used the same idea again.

One of the many things I miss about Arion are the hinged washboards that fold down onto the bridgedeck.  There is no way to do something similar on Blue Moon unless I completely rebuild the companionway.  I remember a wild day at sea when an unexpected wave broke and filled Arion's cockpit to the brim.  I was sitting on deck watching the show, and just reached forward and flicked the folded boards up.  Less than a cup of water got into the cabin.

I also have a drop down fabric screen for Blue Moon's companionway, like David, for the days when wind against tide puts the stern up into the weather, and strong winds drive the rain through chinks in my cockpit roof screens.  Usually, though, thanks to the solid cockpit roof and screens, I can leave the top board out even with the wind astern.  When lying head to wind, I can leave all boards out.  When mosquitoes are prowling, I replace the fabric screen with one made from netting.

You can always put an extension on the cabin top, to extend it so that it keeps the rain out. My Raven had one and it worked well.  I was going to do the same with Fanshi, but as the back of the cabin was shorter, I reckoned it would catch most people in the back of the neck.

BTW , drop in was boards leave a lot to be desired, not in the least finding somewhere to put them.  Might I suggest hinged ones?  If you look in my profile, you can see the ones I made for the Raven.  I've used the same idea again.

I would make it vertical for sure.  In my opinion, a sloping companionway bulkhead is not to be recommended.  It makes for comfortable sitting when leaning back against it in the cockpit, but unless you have a substantial dodger of some sort, water will get in.  Blue Moon has a sloping companionway and there was rot in the plywood interior when I bought the boat, because of continual rain ingress.  I now have a plywood shelter over the front of the cockpit with drop down fabric screens, but until I fitted it I could not keep the aft end of the cabin dry in wet weather, even with the hatch boards in place.  And it was stuffy with the boards closed all night.

Building a new boat I try to determinate all issues. In the plans there is the forward sloping at 20deg bulkhead with sliding wash board and a roof/deck hatch. Modern constructions often utilise inclined bulkheads and when the only way in and out  is the large hinged door/hatch makes sense to me.  But what sense makes a washboard in the forward sloping bulkhead, except being source of instant water ingress? Has anyone experience of sailing the boat with alike companionway? What would you recommend for a small yacht- traditional two part (vertical washboard + sliding hatch) or sloped bulkhead with a single door /hatch. If the second - how big the door should be and at what angle the bulkhead should be sloped?