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Biggest problem I see with installing a nicrovent on the forward part of the hatch involves mast lowering. Merely having the hatch closed results in interference with the mast as it comes down. Adding something which sticks up a couple of inches would compound the problem, unless the vent were installed off the center line. Regarding installation in one of the foredeck windows, it should be ok, so long as you don't mind losing the visibility aspect of the window. We sleep in the Vee berth and enjoy being able to see out of both of our windows. I installed one of our vents in the head window, which worked out fine. It is a little tricky cutting the hole in that material. I worried about scratching and chipping, and so used a router with a jig screwed over the window space. You might be able to get a jig to work on one of the forward windows, to facilite use of a router.

did you center it on the head overhead window or position it higher/lower?

having it on my vberth hatch was a bad idea. Wife & son have dropped the hatch as they've opened it a number of times and my mast raising winch/boom sets directly on it when rigging. (I blame the damage on the crew but I accidentally bounced the mast raising winch off it once too....) So I'm moving the location for the new vent and will cap off the hole in the hatch...

Chinook wrote:Biggest problem I see with installing a nicrovent on the forward part of the hatch involves mast lowering. Merely having the hatch closed results in interference with the mast as it comes down. Adding something which sticks up a couple of inches would compound the problem, unless the vent were installed off the center line. Regarding installation in one of the foredeck windows, it should be ok, so long as you don't mind losing the visibility aspect of the window. We sleep in the Vee berth and enjoy being able to see out of both of our windows. I installed one of our vents in the head window, which worked out fine. It is a little tricky cutting the hole in that material. I worried about scratching and chipping, and so used a router with a jig screwed over the window space. You might be able to get a jig to work on one of the forward windows, to facilite use of a router.

I haven't thought about , when the mast is laying on the deck. Thanks for the heads up on that one.
So next thought is the forward windows or one of the side windows .

Here is my port side vent with a pop up chimney stack that you really need to watch out for when moving forward if it is hot. However the bottom line is when you move forward you need to keep 3 points of contact anyways and watch where you are going for safety. I have a solar panel on the sliding hatch and vents on both sides and big 236lbs butt (yep gained 12lbs over the holidays) has no proplem moving forward.

Doug W wrote:did you center it on the head overhead window or position it higher/lower?

having it on my vberth hatch was a bad idea. Wife & son have dropped the hatch as they've opened it a number of times and my mast raising winch/boom sets directly on it when rigging. (I blame the damage on the crew but I accidentally bounced the mast raising winch off it once too....) So I'm moving the location for the new vent and will cap off the hole in the hatch...

I pretty much centered it on the window. It does pretty well being mounted on a nearly horizontal surface, but does sometimes lose power a little too soon on particularly overcast periods. Regarding the forward hatch falling down, I installed a gas strut which takes care of that problem. West Marine sells a couple of different sizes. I think the smallest size matched up well with weight requirements of the forward hatch. I cut a couple pieces of aluminum angle material to use as mounting brackets.

ROAD Soldier wrote:
Here is my port side vent with a pop up chimney stack that you really need to watch out for when moving forward if it is hot. However the bottom line is when you move forward you need to keep 3 points of contact anyways and watch where you are going for safety. I have a solar panel on the sliding hatch and vents on both sides and big 236lbs butt (yep gained 12lbs over the holidays) has no proplem moving forward.

Hey Road what is the chimney stack for, I'm considering a SIG Marine Cosy Cabin solid fuel heater from west marine. love the smell of a camp fire.

It's for the Wallas Diesel/Kerosene Stove/Heater. Mine is an older one 95D model neat when it is working, expensive when you need parts and that doing the work yourself. If the one and only dealer in the United States does it you might as well buy the most expensive CNG setup you can find.

I decided against the forward windows , as we do enjoy them .
Has anyone had problems with water coming thru them ?
What about when they are mounted in the forward windows and you bury the bow ?

I am considering mounting it in the starboard window .
Do they leak any when mounted vertically ?

I haven't noticed any leakage with the vent I've vertically mounted on the head window. They do have a pretty effective slide sleeve, which can be closed down if you're in a situation where it might be getting hit with water.

Thats about where we are thinking , either the bathroom part of the window , or the aft dinette seat window.