Brass Porthole Questions.

[popeye2818]

I just recently bought a Endeavour 37. Boat needs some work but price was great and it came with a whole garage full of brand new parts .I just finished sanding and painting the deck and cockpit ,removed all windows prior to this.I have a complete set of brass portholes, very nice and heavy .Two questions
(1) I have a concern that they will bleed green onto my white deck ,am I rite or wrong.
(2) Do the handles go in or out ,looks like there scoop drains and the handles shoud be inside,but do people switch some the other way .If im at anchor and its raining I would like to open two ,but the handles would be outside....thanks

[roverhi]

They didn't bleed on my old boat and still look green and great after 40 years.

The ports are almost always installed to open to the inside. if you have them open outward the dogs will also be on the outside and grab ankles, sheets or anything else that will gravitate to them like bees to honey. If you want to be able to leave them open in light rain, there are/were plastic shades that you could buy. Have also seen people glue wet suit material to the upper lips to do the same thing. Both look kind of ugly but probably help. Best thing is to have an awning you can stlretlch over the cabin. It will keep the rain and sun off making for a much more pleasant experience in hot weather.

[resilientg]

If you polish the portholes whilst there out, then coat them in a few coats of good quality uv stabilized clear they wont turn green and you just add the re coating to the clear with your other maintenance.

For lips (eyebrows) on the top of the portholes, and so as to stop the ingress of rain, an idea could be to get some end caps for large diameter pvc pipe and then cut them into eyebrows for the portholes (painted to match your hull.

Find a diameter that is larger than the port hole (if possible) use the flat end of the cap as a packer between the porthole and the hull (so the the open end of the cap protrudes outwards, then trim to suit your particular eyebrow style.

or just bend up and polish some brass sheet to do the same thing.

Matthew

[popeye2818]

Thanks Pete ,I thought about the problem with catching the lines but hitting my ankles seems more painful .Thanks for the info.
Aaron

[zeehag]

bronze ports do not bleed onto anything.patina is patina, not dye.
bronze ports open inward, with hinge up.
have fun. i love mine.

[onestepcsy37]

first, congratulations on buying an endeavour 37. we have friends who lived aboard one with their two BIG dogs for more than four years. we also looked at them when we were buying, and, although we eventually bought a csy 37, i think we would have been equally happy with the endeavour. we felt the csy sailed better, and that made the difference.

i'm thinking your 'brass' ports are actually bronze, but maybe i'm wrong. don't worry, they don't bleed. and they should open inwards. we have nine of them. and like the other posters, try to find a water diverting solution to your problem or just close up when rain threatens. we close them.

[popeye2818]

Sorry ,yes bronze.Im a welder and I should know that ,brass always comes to mind first for some reason.Thanks for the input atleast I wont have to worry about pettina on my white decks now and people asking me why my portholes are backwards at the dock.lol.
Thanks.....Aaron