Whilst we've been cruising in both the UK & France there have been a few locations where we have been slightly concerned about security. When I say security, I'm referring to theft and break-in rather than anything else. As most Heavenly Twins owners would agree the basic security of the companionway door or doors is not very good. As a result one of our winter jobs was to increase the security of the companionway on Drummer.

In principle our solution is based on what we saw on a Prout 37 Elite in the Multihull Centre a couple of years ago. Whilst finances don't allow us the luxury of using stainless steel materials our solution is equally as strong but made of rolled steel as found in the local B&Q (Leroy Merlin for us) with a coat of black hammerite.

There are a couple of challenges we face as HT owners, the first being the doors fold back on themselves lying close to the bulkhead when opened and the other being that there is a large void between the glass fibre bulkhead and the internal plywood panelling.

Whilst the Prout had substantial "U" bolts each side of the companionway, we have substituted these with folding safety eyes from Wichard. Whilst not quite as strong as permanent U bolts they are substantial with a high breaking strain and of course fold flat when the doors are open. Additionally when sailing in boisterous conditions they can be used as a fixture for lifelines.



As for fixing the Wichard eye we used a holesaw to drill two 35mm holes each side of the companionway (make sure you give yourself plenty of room to clear any reinforcing - glassed in boxed aluminium in our case) from the inside through the ash plywood. This allowed us to position a couple of large repair washers and nyloc's on the back face of the glass fibre bulkhead securing the folding eyes in place. Solid ash cover caps (for 35mm door hinges) were then used to finish the installation with a couple of coats of varnish. Whilst obviously not as smart as the original plywood panelling this was the most practical solution we could think of and allows us future access if necessary.



The front of the security bar was formed from 35mm x 5mm rolled steel with a couple of parallel slots to accept the folding eye. Behind this on both the top and bottom edges, 10mm x 10mm rolled steel was welded (thanks for your help with this Barry) and few slots machined in the way of the folding eye and companionway door trim.



Finally a coat of paint and a couple of heavy duty padlocks completed the installation.