My last boat had a Beckson inward opening port in the cockpit, like what you're describing, but it was mounted a bit higher so I never caught a shoe or otherwise even was aware of its presence. I got lucky one day at a West Marine store that was closing and clearing stuff out for cheap, and found a louvered screen unit that replaces the existing bug screen. I was able to leave the port open all summer without rain getting in. BIG help in ventilation, for sure. Made that stern berth livable in hot weather when I opened the other port in that berth (which had a door, so it could get stuffy fast without open ports), which opened to the outside (well above the rub rail).dive4it wrote:I have small opening ports with screens on them in the aft berth of my X....one on each side. They open inward and have some fairly strong compression dogs on them. They open inward and exit at the calf area in the cocpit, several inches above the floor so water won't come in, they also have a lip that would prevent it (although it can catch your shoe heel if not carefull). They work really good to ventilate inside, they were installed by the PO....not sure if I'd have gone through the trouble but I'm sure glad he did.
It's a little hard to tell in this pic, but it's a pair of louvers, open at the bottom, with a screen behind it. I got it for something like $5, and they list for around $60.
Pure, dumb luck, a la right place at the right time, and it happened to be the right size.
I think adding one or two of those ports in the cockpit is a good idea, but I'm concerned about the gas tanks being right next to them.
). I made cut outs in the far aft section ceiling area, and replaced them with plywood covers. You cannot see these in the finished boat but when you pull out all the bed sheets and mattress pads, crawl back and look up, there’s just enough space to remove the panel covers and work back there. I installed my water lines, fuel lines, and propane there and used the access to mount my hot water heater and stern rail seats all from the underside so there are no external openings in the boat. Here is a link to that modification: 
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