A simple portlight maintains airflow
Issue 55 : Jul/Aug 2007
I’ve built a simple portlight vent into the companionway hatches of several of my boats and wouldn’t cruise without one. They help maintain a flow of clean air throughout the boat at all times, especially in the galley area where every little bit helps get rid of moisture from pots of steaming clams and boiling pasta, especially during rainy spells and autumn days and nights when things are apt to get closed up too much. Located at exactly the right height, these openings do a good job of relieving the feeling of separation from the outdoors that meal-getting can occasion.
Obviously, these little portlight vents can be of any size; my present one is fitted to a 4 1⁄2- by 8 1⁄2-inch cutout. The acrylic overlaps the wood by about 3⁄4 inch. Stop the outside piece about an inch short of the sill and make sure the inside piece extends at least 1 inch above the lower edge of the outside piece. Bevel the sill of the cutout to ensure good drainage. Use roundhead wood screws, even though in the vent shown in the photographs I used some flathead brass screws set in cup washers. (I must not have had any roundhead screws handy.) Don’t fit the screws against the acrylic too tightly. I wouldn’t counter-sink the heads. Bed in a good silicone compound.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
