Side ports for 2007 26M?

[jhiltibr]

Hello,

In two weeks I will be taking delivery of a new 26M. Right now the dealer is rigging the boat and is having trouble locating a suitable side port.

Has anyone installed opening side ports on a 26M (there is wood trim around the inside of the ports on this model year)?
If so, would you please give me the make model number and place of purchase.

Godspeed.

[tangentair]

Someone will suggest you spend some time searching the site for previous discussions along this line, if you click on the search icon in the middle just under the advert at the top, enter "side ports" and select 'All Terms' you would find 27 posts like this one http://macgregorsailors.com/phpBB/viewt ... side+ports

Hopefully you will also read one of the previous threads regarding the MACs love to heel over and then you can get the technical term for the water that comes in under sail when you forget to close those ports.

My sarcasm aside, your dealer should be giving you better service than sending you off to find port holes. Check out some of the dealer web pages listed in the link Dealer Information on the left edge, Blue Water Yachts has a catalog and so do some of the others

[jhiltibr]

I queried the database but nothing addressed my specific application.

[NiceAft]

I have a 2005 M with side ports. They are located AFT of the windows on the boat. Since my dealer installed them, I don't know the name of the manufacturer. Print the picture below, and show it to your dealer.

I would not place them where the window area, but just to the rear of them. What I like is that: (A) I have good air venting in the boat, (B) At the aft seat for the galley table I have an additional window to see out of.
CLICK FOR ENLARGEMENT
[IMG]What I don't like is that when the boat is REALLY heeling over, an open port can be UNDER water. A bad thing A really bad thing

Ray

[tangentair]

queried the database but nothing addressed my specific application

Sometimes the querys seem to give everything but what you want .....
I have the most success with not using the "and" "or" or "not" options and instead trying to find one or two unique terms and using the 2nd option of must include all. Then if I get close I refine the next search with specific terms that I find in the discussion thread. Another suggestion is to go to the mod pages, drill down to just the M mods, and scan through them. Or go to a specific type of mod and look at them. The problem with doing that is I usually read so many interesting posts that I forget why I was looking.


ModEdit: to catch this in future searching ... great searching hints ~fc

[jhiltibr]

Thanks for posting the picture. I will keep this placement option in mind.

There is a post where the same type of window is installed in a 26M cockpit, just aft of the fuel tank. Basically it would be just behind your calves if you were sitting down. The picture showed ports on both sides of the cockpit.

I suspect that the gas fumes would be kept out of the cabin by the positive air flow, i.e. front hatch open and bow into the wind.

Does anyone foresee any problems with the cockpit application?

[NiceAft]

Could you supply me with info on that post so I can see it myself? I'm having a hard time trying to conceptualize such a placement. Why would anyone desire a port which opens to the cockpit Foot fetish maybe

Ray

[They Theirs]

NiceAft
Many larger sailboats have similar opening ports in the cockpit sides. They allow ventilation into the aft berths. They work great for our crew of 10, anchored overnight at the island…. we had a canopy, and some preferred the cockpit floor or deck. Remember to close the ports, we plowed through some swells coming back from Ensenada, and the open ports in the cockpit can quickly soak the low side berths .

[NiceAft]

Yes, I have seen this on larger craft, but we are talking about an M.

Can it be done? Sure, but I don't believe it is a good idea. Just my opinion.


Ray

[March]

I installed the Beckson ports in the cockpit sides and was quite pleased with the results. Not many people would prefer to stretch in the rear berth while the boat is under way and calves are bound to be exposed in the cockpit, so that hasn't been an issue for me. Sure, the view is restricted, but if the view is what you're aiming for, the cabin or the deck offers better opportunities. The ports offer decent cross ventilation (smelling gas fumes from the tanks hasn't been an issue) but, more importantly, it "opens up" the rear berth which otherwise is cramped and claustrophobic. It may be a psychological effect, too, but it's nice to pop the port at night and feel the fresh air, especially if the front hatch is open. Since the ports are titled, I never had any issue with water getting in, either, even when I forgot to close them before a spell of rain.

The mod was pretty straightforward: I used the template and the Dremmer drill to cut through the fiberglass hull and lining, I filled the interstice with expanding foam and silliconed both on the inside and the outside. I had previously manufactured a large silicone gasket after making a mold, which took forever, but in the end I never used it. I

[NiceAft]

There you go jhiltibr.

Now you have the chocolate and the vanilla of it


Ray

[beene]

Ray

Those ports looks great on Nice Aft, but for me, I KNOW I would forget to close them and sail around for hours at 30+ deg only to find even MORE water in the bilges.

G

[Boblee]

We must be of a kind beene I have enough problems remembering to lift the ladder and motor for trailering but hey whats one more reason for the admiral to shoot me down. After all the boats name is Trust Me it's not mine. I wonder if thats why she is nervous sailing???

[beene]

[NiceAft]

Geoff,

We normally remember to close them when we are heeling at 30+ degrees, or when we hear the thud of whatever it is we left on the galley table

Once we were too late. As Nat went below to close the ports, water started to come in. That's when I informed her of the technical name for water coming through the ports...............SINKING!!!!!!

Ray