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Windows to portholes


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I've seen quite a few and they all had an obvious outline of the old window, even those done by known good welders. Of course its quite possibly that I did not see the ones that were done really well.  I did see one were they had just bolted window sized steel panels over the old window openings and put a porthole in each one. These plates were bolted in with obvious exposed bolts giving a very "industrial" appearance. It actually looked quite good in an eccentric boat sort of way.

 

...............Dave

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5 minutes ago, jaime66 said:

Would love to see pics of the bolt in type .....never thought of that 

 

You could do a mock up with a painted piece of hardboard (or even cardboard) with some nuts glued on. I reckon it could work very well on Springers and the like, but might not really go too well on a shiny boat.

 

.................Dave

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33 minutes ago, jaime66 said:

That looks quite good .....would give the boat recessed panels look... 

Agreed - I've seen these in use with unpainted stainless (Roundhead - Allen Key) screws as a fixing and they have a "marmite" look - but I really like them but then I like industrial tugs.............better than welds and filler which you will always see.

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1 hour ago, mrsmelly said:

Buy a boat with portholes, thats what I did. I then realised it was a mistake and the next two boats have nice big windows so not like living in a cave.

 

Its a trade off - IMHO trad boats should have potholes - with others its a matter of taste but windows aren't anything like as safe if you leave your boat on the towpath. SWMBO fell out of love with "Auriga" within 3 months of ownership - she was a lovely boat but we sold her solely because she had big windows and didn't feel safe.

 

With Persia we modified her to add front windows on to the tug deck to compensate for the gloom - not everyone liked it but it changed the experience - big pigeon boxes are the real solution here but good ones are very expensive and again need to be made secure.

 

I agree portholes can be gloomy on the average UK day which is why we now have a river boat with big windows and a general sense of brightness ?

 

J

Edited by Halsey
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11 minutes ago, Halsey said:

 

Its a trade off - IMHO trad boats should have potholes - with others its a matter of taste but windows aren't anything like as safe if you leave your boat on the towpath. SWMBO fell out of love with "Auriga" within 3 months of ownership - she was a lovely boat but we sold her solely because she didn't feel safe.

 

With Persia we modified her to add front windows on to the tug deck to compensate for the gloom - not everyone liked it but it changed the experience - big pigeon boxes are the real solution here but good ones are very expensive and again need to be made secure.

 

I agree portholes can be gloomy on the average UK day which is why we now have a river boat with big windows and a general sense of brightness ?

 

J

I had always fancied a Hudson and it had to be 70 foot with all portholes and a proper engine under the deck at the back. One came for sale in immaculate condition four years old so I bought it. Superb quality boat but after 4 years of portholes and the weight of it we sold it on. Never again portholes for us. They do look very nice and I would probably have them if we were hobby boaters. 

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14 hours ago, jaime66 said:

So has any one changed there windows to portholes ,and if so any pics of before and after job was done ..

I know people that have changed potholes to windows, infact I have considered it, but the addition of 2 side doors resolved the cave problem  and I have big portholes

56 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Buy a boat with portholes, thats what I did. I then realised it was a mistake and the next two boats have nice big windows so not like living in a cave.

Tim, I have to much invested in this boat to change it, but I hate the potholes!

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13 hours ago, jaime66 said:

Would love to see pics of the bolt in type .....never thought of that 

 

There is a rather smart example of that at Streethay where sheets have been cut to cover window apertures and then what looks like allen screws inserted about every 50mm around the perimeter, it looks as if they have also made their own portholes using the same technique

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24 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

There is a rather smart example of that at Streethay where sheets have been cut to cover window apertures and then what looks like allen screws inserted about every 50mm around the perimeter, it looks as if they have also made their own portholes using the same technique

Thats the one I was talking about but I couldn't remember where I'd seen it - IMHO it really looks good 

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44 minutes ago, peterboat said:

I know people that have changed potholes to windows, infact I have considered it, but the addition of 2 side doors resolved the cave problem  and I have big portholes

 

Portholes and 7 side hatches, best of both worlds.

 

...............Dave

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1 hour ago, dmr said:

Portholes and 7 side hatches, best of both worlds.

 

...............Dave

 

We only have 6 side hatches but 3 are the type with a combined roof opening. With the pigeon boxes it's bright enough even though the portholes are not the biggest.

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5 minutes ago, frahkn said:

 

We only have 6 side hatches but 3 are the type with a combined roof opening. With the pigeon boxes it's bright enough even though the portholes are not the biggest.

4 side hatches 2 with eyebrow tops and this big boy plenty of light.

IMG_20200723_134123.jpg

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2 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

Can be overdone, but does give a classic look to the boat ...

 

Victory_Portsmouth_um_1900.jpg

Guns in the side hatches, that's what we need, sort out all those buggers who don't slow down when they go past.

 

................Dave

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Just now, dmr said:

Guns in the side hatches, that's what we need, sort out all those buggers who don't slow down when they go past.

 

................Dave

On the towpath side as well for the cycling brigade. ?

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26 minutes ago, Jon57 said:

4 side hatches 2 with eyebrow tops and this big boy plenty of light.

IMG_20200723_134123.jpg

You could get a lot of big pigeons in that box, it might even be big enough for a dog ?

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1 minute ago, dmr said:

Guns in the side hatches, that's what we need, sort out all those buggers who don't slow down when they go past.

 

................Dave

 

I think @Sea Dog has torpedo tubes on his.  Fortunately I was following him down the locks not in front and holding him up!  :D

 

 

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8 minutes ago, dmr said:

Guns in the side hatches, that's what we need, sort out all those buggers who don't slow down when they go past.

 

................Dave

They'll just speed up so you'll miss, what with your boat being thrown around. Bow and stern chasers, loaded with grapeshot to clear their rear deck after they've passed and your boat has settled down.

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10 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

Buy a boat with portholes, thats what I did. I then realised it was a mistake and the next two boats have nice big windows so not like living in a cave.

 

Not if you put enough Houdini hatches in the roof to let light in.

 

That said my boat has 2 very large windows, 2 largish windows, 7 portholes and 2 Houdini hatches. It has a good blend of outside visibility and interior light, but I don't like the look of the big windows.

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