Adding/moving port windows

[Carl Stone]

I am about to do the last task before sailing season starts........when have we heard that before?....Anyhow, I need to reset and/or relocate or add some new portlights to my cabin. the construction appears to be two layers of ply with a gap between, totaling about an inch.. I am sure I can figure out the existing ports, but if I wanted to add new fixed glass to certain areas, mainly to add more light, not ventilation how would I approach that work given the cavity? The ports would have to withstand some pretty agressive seas at times. Any ideas?

[paladin]

Tinted Lexan....at least 1/2 inch....

[Bob Cleek]

It is generally imprudent to start cutting into a boat without knowing what you are going to hit inside. If you think your cabin sides are made of two sheets of plywood with a space in between them, a highly unusual construction practice, you'd better know what is holding it all together before you cut into it. You may hit a spacer or brace and knocking it out could seriously compromise the strength of the cabin side. If you are expecting some "pretty serious seas," I'd think that the 1/2 inch lexan Paladin recommends (standard practice) would end up being the strongest part of your cabin if it truly is built as you say. I really don't think a cabin built out of two sheets of plywood with a void in between is suitable for serious seas... sorry.

[Carl Stone]

Bob, perhaps I worded my description a bit erroneously. The boat is a 45' Lunnenburg ketch that has been back and forth to Bermuda almost two dozen times. She is rock solid, but actually has two layers of ply (3/8", I believe)with a cavity the entire length of the cabin. I was told that she was built that way because the multiple bends would not be possible in solid 3/4" sheet or plank construction. I agree with using Lexan, but that was not my question. What I could use help with is how to bed the lexan. Do I cut a smaller opening on the interior wall and caulk and frame the exterior so in a wash-over the port can not be dislodged? This past year we gutted this boat rib to rib, and have refitted her completely. As I said before, we want some extra light in the cabin, so fixed ports are acceptable, I just need them to be able to withstand any amount of water thrown at them.

[paladin]

Carl....give me a couple of days and I will make some drawings for you...do you have a fax?????
Chuck

[Scott Rosen]

Maybe some experienced boat builder has an easy answer, but it seems like an unusual construction method which cannot be dealt with like solid lumber cabin sides.

I have one light at the front of my cabin. My cabin sides are 1 inch teak. The light is a round piece of 1/2" lexan that's set into a 1/2" rabbet cut into the exterior of the cabin. It's held in place with a bronze ring screwed to the outside of the cabin. It's bedded in some kind of goo in a tube. Since it doesn't depend on the bedding for strength, it doesn't much matter in my case what particular goo I use. It doesn't leak and never has.

If I were you, I would examine your existing ports and see what the builder did. I assume your existing ports are sound and don't leak. Once you figure that out, you can determine if the method could be adapted to adding a light.

My sense is that you won't be able to simply cut a hole and stick in some lexan. You'll probably have to buy a bronze port and install it the same as your existing ports.

[Carl Stone]

Paladinfo - 212-686-1976 if the fax. Scott - my forward cabin wall is the same as yours - solid. the problem with adding other bronze ports to the cabin sides is that my ports are Perkos that have not been made for 30 years, so I cannot match them. We have painstakingly tried to maintain the original lines and flavor of the boat, so an unframed port is acceptable to me, where an unmatch bronze is not. Call me crazy, but then again , I do have a wood boat..........One of the reasons I have grown to love this chat room is the variation of answers one receives can be amusing, but the eventual good advice is invaluable. I do not believe I would have been able to rebuild the Sea Witch to the extent we did without everyones very generous sharing of exsperience. The comfort factor of many items I have learned through the chat room cannot be measured in dollars, but restful sleep instead.

[Donn]

How about deck prisms overhead instead of more portlights?

[Bob Cleek]

There's hope. Old scuttles never die... It may take some scrounging, but there are various salvage yards around that have piles of old funky hardware, including "portlights," "portholes" or whatever else they are calling them these days. They often need cleaning up and even a new glass, but the prices are reasonable. I'd expect if you searched the various specialty houses, you'd find a pretty close match, if not a knock off of the old Perko casting. You might also ask Perko if they know who's making one close to theirs. They may have passed on the patterns. From what you describe, the boat would be happier with real bronze scuttles instead of a hunk of lexan googed on to her.