Wadudu came out of the water last Wednesday. Was on the boat this morning doing odd maintenance on the deck forrard. Standing up, I stepped backwards onto the closed perspex main hatch, cracking sound, and suddenly the hatch disintegrated. I half fell into the cabin, one leg down the companionway, one leg on still on deck, and then fell backwards into the cockpit. Ended up on my back on the cockpit sole with feet in the air. Necessitated a visit to the local Minor Injuries Unit, and now have seven stitches in one forearm gash, and Steristrips over two others. Not sure if these were caused by the edge of the hatchway, or possible broken perspex still on the hatch slides as I fell (all the bits of the hatch were in the saloon when I regained my feet).
Questions:
- I have always stood on all the hatches, considering the thickness of the perspex to be more than adequate to take my weight. Have I been wrong, and one should not stand on the hatches?
- Has this happened to anyone else? Have searched the forum and can find no other post on this subject.
- Does the perspex become brittle with age, exposure to sunlight etc? Wadudu is a 2012 build, if it does become brittle, how long does this take?
At least it happened ashore, and not out on the water, and when I cannot get back to the mooring until the flood tide.