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Shades for Old Style Port Lights, PS 34

3K views 15 replies 9 participants last post by  svjobeth 
#1 ·
For those of you with an older PS and bronze port lights...what are you using for curtains/shades? Not just to block light but for privacy as well? Now that we're living aboard Jo Beth, and still on the boatyard service dock as we wrap up our refit, we need something. The collection of random wash cloths and towels, while functional, is getting old.

Let's hear, and see your ideas, and what has worked. Pics will be most appreciated, of course! Thanks in advance!
 
#4 ·
There are pictures of our port light shades in my wife's blog (Irish Eyes to the Bahamas) entry for June 23, 2012. The shades were originally split bamboo place mats from Pier One. I ran them through a table saw to cut them to width and length then tied the cut warp strings back together. (It's good practice for suturing.) I sprayed the back side with spray glue and stuck down some white curtain lining material with the hems folded under. That stopped most of the light coming through the gaps. They are attached to the 1/4" brass rod that forms the port light hinge with two pieces of Velcro; the sort with vel on one side and cro on the other. To keep them rolled up, I have a hair elastic band (think ponytail) threaded through each ring cotter. The rolled shade fits in the elastic loop. To keep them down, there are two 1/8" pieces of bungee cord that pass through holes in the bottom piece of bamboo. They loop over the eye nuts. With the shades rolled up, they don't interfere with opening the ports.

We had a woman aboard for drinks and dinner who was in her previous life a purchasing exec for Pier One. She recognized them immediately.

Bill Murdoch
1988 PSC 34
Irish Eyes
 
#5 ·
Thanks everyone, good suggestions all. Lisa came home yesterday with some black, dense foam from a craft supply shop. We made a couple of templates for the smaller portlights, and voila! Our V-berth now resembles a cave!

Temporary, but lots more functional than dishtowels...we met GEMINI, a 34, and the first boat fully built at the NC factory in our marina last year. They had some interesting bungie, scrunchy designed curtains, but alas, they also have the SS rectangular ports.
 
#6 ·
This is easy and cheap (free if you want): Cut some plastic sheet/thin board (which could be obtained by dumpster diving) to the size you want; cut two holes in the upper side and one in the lower. Tie the upper side to the port hinges through the two holes with some string, and tie a little loop on the lower hole. The shade can now be closed by letting it fall and, if you want total privacy (necessary for the head if you are in a marina), by propping it on the lower dogs. It can be held up by putting the lower loop into the hook that normally holds the port open. If you want the shades to look pretty, you can cover them with fabric (with or without internal padding to make the things look puffy), add frilly bits, use plastic rings and buttons, even shells, etc.

An example on a PS37 is shown in the picture (sorry about the rather poor clarity).
 

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#7 · (Edited)
Lantau;

I like your solution. My roll up shades work fine, but it took quite a bit of time to make them. That makes them really not disposable, and they are really not cleanable. The one over the stove in the galley tends to get greasy, grungy, and sticky. There is no good way to clean it. I can wipe it off with 409, but that is not a real answer. The warp strings and the cloth backing defy cleaning. I have been rotating the six big shades (we have six large ports and four small) to spread the problem out, moving the six about to keep a fresh one over the stove. By that method they have been respectable or better for eight or nine years, but the clock is ticking......

On another note... When along side, does anyone do anything about shading (obscuring) the overhead hatches when they are either opened or closed? When we sailed back from the Bahamas this year, the Charleston City Marina put us on the MegaDock with its wandering tourists and the giant yachts for one night rather than our usual spot in the back with the mini (micro)-yachts. (No complaint here, it was Spoleto Festival time, and we were glad to have any place to stop and clear in after three days at sea.) My wife was completely un-amazed while she was having a bit of private time, and a group wandering down the dock said, "Gosh, that boat is really pretty down below."

Bill Murdoch
1988 PSC 34
Irish Eyes
 
#9 ·
Lol, we've never even thought about this, hatches open that is. When closed, we have covers made out of canvas (matches the rest) and they are on. (I like my sleeping environment as cave-like as is possible.) But open...interesting issue to resolve...and truthfully, we've never given it a second thought.
 
#11 ·
I saw on some website long ago someone used a microfiber mop head replacement. The mop was shaped like a swiffer type of dust mop and the microfiber terry cloth mop head cover stretched over the port frame. I think the only complaint was it came only in white or blue.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk
 
#12 ·
I saw on some website long ago someone used a microfiber mop head replacement. The mop was shaped like a swiffer type of dust mop and the microfiber terry cloth mop head cover stretched over the port frame. I think the only complaint was it came only in white or blue.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk
Here is one that is white with blue stripes

 
#13 ·
The item that we used for port covers for years was inexpensive plastic shower caps. They fit the large ports pretty well and the small ports baggily, but did the job. Since then we have sewn fabric versions to fit each port size better (and look better too).

Dave
Crealock 37 #151
"Eowyn"
 
#15 ·
For privacy and to block UV Rays, I made shades from Pfipher Tex. Not fancy, cut them in squares and sewed contrasting navy piping around. Attached to top of port light with Velcro. Used a loop of navy grosgrain ribbon at bottom so the shade can be lifted open by placing the ribbon loop on the hanging chain hook. I used the dense weave Pfipher Tex. When the port is open the curtain just attaches to port and hangs down. Gives really good privacy.
 
#16 ·
Sorry for having (seemingly!) abandoned the post...

Thanks for all the input. We have a temporary solution in service at the moment, at least for the smaller portlights: 1/4" sheet foam, in black, cut to the shape of the port and pushed into the frame. We haven't found a similar foam off the shelf for the larger ports, but since we're living on a boatyard service dock for the next few weeks, we don't have much of a populace roaming the docks. A permanent and more aesthetically pleasing solution is still in the works...

We did the shower cap route for a while, before we made Jo Beth home. It did work, but just as my wife didn't want to live in any of our houses with towels or sheets thumb tacked over the windows, I don't want to to live aboard Jo Beth with foam pressed into the portlight frames. My only sense of decorum, I suppose... :)
 
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