Companionway Lock

Until now, we have been using a long metal pole jammed up between the underneath wooden trim piece on the companionway hatch opening and the back of the sliding top to basically lock ourselves in at night and keep someone from opening the hatch.  The bonus is that the pole is also an handle for our emergency Oh Shit hand bilge pump thus making a long handle that allows for proper Oh Shit pumping/bailing of unwanted water.  Have you seen the standard handles?  They are no longer than 12 inches long.  Given the placement of most Oh Shit pumps, that does not work well at all.

Above is our handle for the emercency Oh Shit bilge pump.  Below is the standard handle.  Which would you rather operate for a couple of hours?......hopefully it's only a couple of hours or less!

Anyway, the pole is ok for securing the companionway but we have been thinking and searching for a better or additional solution.  Tom final found the right one for us.  He took off the underneath wooden trim piece (the one we grab as a handle to slide the hatch open and closed) and put a new longer one on.

Of course he sanded and finished it off properly  Then he had Chag Fab here in Trinidad make up a new catch for a barrel bolt lock.

Now we can lock ourselves in at night easy-peasy and save the pole for a real the Oh Shit purpose.