Door for head

[sassea]

The door for the head has stuck itself closed. The hatch in the head is dogged down because we were sailing. When we got back to the dock I tried to open the door. It is stuck shut. The door knob will only turn about 20 degrees to the right or left. No one was inside. I don’t recall a way to lock the door from the inside. Any ideas? My boat is a CSY 33.

[Matthew Balch]

Would it be possible to remove the pins from the hinges on the hatch and lift that side up enough to reach the dogs, or in the alternative, unscrew the hatch spring to enter from above?

[Matthew Balch]

You can only lock the door from the inside.  There is a screw on the outside handle that you could loosen and apply a crescent wrench to the shaft if you think the latch is jammed.

[sassea]

Thanks Matt, I was able to take off the hinges on the hatch. It doesn’t open wide enough to get my hand/arm inside to unhook the hinge or the dogs. The screw on the door know turns  but not enough to get the screw out. Can I use a drill to drill out the screw on the doorknob? When this opens you can be sure the whole door is coming off... this is crazy.

[Matthew Balch]

My guess is that it depends on if the door is stuck from moisture/humidity, or if it got locked somehow from the inside.  I would hate to use a flat bar on the frame to find out.  You could drill out the brass screw on the handle. I just tried this on my boat.  Taking the face plate off the door will not give you access to the lock.

[sassea]

Silly me. Yipe I am the culprit for door sticking. It was a stupid mistake. For details see my blog:  sasseasails.com.
Thankfully, my sailing go-to friend, Mike, ground the hinges off the door. Anyone want a door? Really a curtain will work just fine, weigh less and might even make the boat interior look a little softer.
I appreciate those who made suggestions...I did try to undo the hatch but my hand isn't small enough or long enough to reach across the narrow amount it opened.