Portlight capillary drains

[atcowboy]

I remember seeing a piece of webbing hanging out of someone's portlight. I assumed it was a capillary drain, to prevent a pool of water from forming. Has anyone done this, did it work well, and how did you attach it? Besides drilling and tapping a hole for a screw, the only other method of attachment I have been able to think of is sparing use of glue/caulk so the strap is attached but the fibers and the small gaps between them are still mostly undisturbed.

- AT

[ghockaday]

may be worth a try, I can't imagine any engineer thinking that a funnel from outside to inside was a great idea!

[John Stone]

They changed the portlight design right after my boat was built. Dang.

We have gotten so used to it though, we don’t even think about it. Sometimes we use a micro fiber cloth to soak up the water puddle during a quick walk around the deck. But we are pretty adapt at opening the portlights from the inside with a microfiber cloth held up to the bottom opening without a drop getting past us. If the gaskets are in good shape you need very little tension on the dogs to keep the portlight leak proof. We keep them just tight enough to stop drips. We open them all as often as possible to relieve pressure on the gaskets and extend their life by keeping them supple.

[Tom Keevil]

When it is wet, the only port light that we open is the one over the galley when we are cooking. We have a short piece of oil lamp wick that we sometimes set out that does a good job of draining most of the water. It is not attached, and sometimes blows off, but it has always ended up on deck - we have never lost it.

Otherwise, we just open the companionway hatch, lean over and mop it up. We don’t have a dodger, so that is easy and quick. If it is a downpour, just cracking it open and soaking it into a cloth works reasonably well.

Once open, we have a piece of 1/8” plastic that wedges in and serves as a shield to keep the rain from coming in directly.