inspection port in cockpit

ylojelo

ylojelo

Member
I am about to install an inspection port in the forward wall of the cockpit. Other than being off center to avoid the dagger trunk, is there any measurements for best position? I'm doing this to allow access to the dagger trunk, since it is split and I am going to glass it from the inside. Since it will be easy access, I figure a cat bag would work well there, so I was going to keep the port on the high side. Any suggestions?
 
Speaking from experience, I would use a hole saw and put it in the center of the front wall of the cockpit. An off-center hole is good for storage, but awkward for repairs. You won't be able to reach around the far side of the trunk easily. You have about an inch and a half between the front wall and the daggerboard trunk. Make sure that the hole is large enough to fit your arm through, so 4" diameter is probably the minimum.

I drilled two 4" holes in the front wall of my cockpit, one on each side of the trunk. I found that I couldn't see, and had a hard time reaching the trunk. Putting one hole in the center would have made my job much easier.
 
what do you think of the idea of just using one 5" port 5" right of center, so I can reach the daggerboard trunk and still use my (new) cat bag? I will be making all the repairs through the 5" hole before installing the actual port.
 
I can't add much to this discussion. Just prioritize. IMHO, doing the repair properly and conveniently is more important than the storage bag.

NightSailor, who posted extensive repair reports on this forum, put his ports off-center, but he didn't face the same problem as you. You might check his posts anyway; lots of nice pictures.
 
I found that I had to reach in from both sides to fix my crack that was dead center of the back of the trunk. If I had only one port on one side, I would not have been able to reach around to the other side to properly complete the repair. Either one hole in the center, or two holes, one on each side would be my recommendation
 
I went with one inspection port in the center of the cockpit. Glassing the damaged trunk from inside was easy and I added epoxy (PC-11) on the outside. I'll post pics in a new thread if anyone is interested.
 
ylojelo said:
I went with one inspection port in the center of the cockpit. Glassing the damaged trunk from inside was easy and I added epoxy (PC-11) on the outside. I'll post pics in a new thread if anyone is interested.
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I'd definitely be interested in seeing your pics.
 
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