I notice that a neighbors 86 Hunter 31 has a fixed port on the starboard side. They say it allows light into the aft berth. My boat, same year/model has the aft berth on the port side, and no window. Did Hunter make some of these boats the mirror image of others? Were the ports an OEM installation at the factory, or is the aftermarket?
Fixed port
- Thread starter wufibugs
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Aftermarket is what I thought, Steve. Really nice idea, though I am always leery of cutting holes that close to the waterline. Probably wouldn't do it unless I got a window out of a 747.
Richard:
If you want to do something like this I would put an opening port on the stern. It would also provide some flow thru ventilation. This would give you light and ventilation too. Much less chance of a leak and I would think that it would be a stronger portion of the boat.
If you want to do something like this I would put an opening port on the stern. It would also provide some flow thru ventilation. This would give you light and ventilation too. Much less chance of a leak and I would think that it would be a stronger portion of the boat.
The way the aft berth is laid out, it wouldn't be too useful, other than light, to have a port in the stern. It would be a pain to open and close since it's at your feet with very low clearance there. Also could be disastrous if left open in following seas. It would be great to have a fixed port where you could actually look out a few feet above sea level while lying in the portside aft berth. It would have to be right behind the hanging locker that is aft of the nav station. It would have to a port that was as structurally sound as the hull itself, like an aircraft window or the old style brass portholes with a very large rim.
wufibugs-- I probably shouldn't say this here, but do you know what a 747's windows are held in with? Anyone? Anyone?
5200. No lie.
(and there are no other fasteners... just the 5200. Happy flying.)
5200. No lie.
(and there are no other fasteners... just the 5200. Happy flying.)
re: Steve, and Wufi--
I made a Dorade box for the aft end of the cockpit to provide FTV (flow-through ventilation). A blower hose comes forward to the toe end of the q-berth. The second cowl is for the bilge blower.
I wouldn't put any opening portlight in any hard-to-get-to place such as the foot end of a berth in the transom. In the weather in which it would be a problem, imagine trying to crawl back there FAST and dog it closed. (Also, by then your sheets would be wet.)
I have been thinking about adding a portlight in the cockpit for that q-berth but I think I have decided on a deadlight, just fixed plexi mounted in 4200. I'll wait to see how the FTV is in like South Carolina first
I made a Dorade box for the aft end of the cockpit to provide FTV (flow-through ventilation). A blower hose comes forward to the toe end of the q-berth. The second cowl is for the bilge blower.
I wouldn't put any opening portlight in any hard-to-get-to place such as the foot end of a berth in the transom. In the weather in which it would be a problem, imagine trying to crawl back there FAST and dog it closed. (Also, by then your sheets would be wet.)
I have been thinking about adding a portlight in the cockpit for that q-berth but I think I have decided on a deadlight, just fixed plexi mounted in 4200. I'll wait to see how the FTV is in like South Carolina first
Operable Port lights
The Hunter 28.5's from the mid '80's on have an opening port light from the aft end of the quarter berth into the foot well of the cockpit; very nice ventilation with another opening port light up above the hanging locker at the forward end of the quarter berth. Other boats have been able to add port lights into the side of the cockpit. obviously they need to open inward and have a rain lip on the top edge.
The Hunter 28.5's from the mid '80's on have an opening port light from the aft end of the quarter berth into the foot well of the cockpit; very nice ventilation with another opening port light up above the hanging locker at the forward end of the quarter berth. Other boats have been able to add port lights into the side of the cockpit. obviously they need to open inward and have a rain lip on the top edge.
As does the 31, Stewart. Very nice having the opening port at the entrance to the aft berth, but the view, as you say is of the floor of the cockpit. A port opposite that would have a sea view. Actually, Diana, it isn't so much how a 747 port would be bedded, as the overall strength of the thing. Certainly has greater structural integrity than the hull of the boat.
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