"Donal" wrote in message
...
....

That means
hatches were probably dogged.

Hatches are always sealed when a sailing boat is underway.


Wow, your crew must suffer on a hot day. There are lots of boats, and lots of
situations where its desirable and permissible to make way with a hatch open. I
would say that 90% of the time we have a saloon hatch open underway, weather
permitting. Three of our hatches (2 in the galley, one in the head) have been
cracked open for all but a few hours in the last 5 years.

IIRC, the Tartan 37 has a hatch just forward of the companionway that could be
left open in moderate conditions.