Opening Portlights

[Ceasar Choppy]

My seemingly neverending and futile search for replacement portlights for my Pearson 39, appears to be at an end. Will wonders never cease! While these are larger in length than those on the Triton or Renegade or other Pearsons less than ~35 ft., they are the same height which is really what matters most. The best part is they come with ANGLED spigots (although these are about 1/2" bigger than the originals so you will need a spacer).

They are available through Mariner's Hardware. They are the 4x10 portlights. In 316 stainless. Previously, the smallest I could find were 5x12. Full dimensions follow:

4" x 10" Oval Port
Cutout 4-1/4" x 10-1/4"
Overall 6-5/8" X 12-5/8"
Opening Measurements 4" x 10"
The minimum angled spigot size is 1".

[Mike E]

Thanks for the tip on Mariners Hardware they have the solar powered exhaust fans I've been looking for and at a good price.

Another source for portholes (they open) and portlights (do not open) is New Found Metals in Port Townsend Wa.

Michael
SV Se Langt

[Capn_Tom]

New Found carries opening ports but infortunately not fixed ports. The only sources I have found thus far for fixed ports are Mariners Hardware and Spartan. Anyone know of any others?

[Ceasar Choppy]

Bomar (Pompanette) has fixed ports as does Lewmar I'm sure.
Newfound Metals only make RECTANGULAR ports-- not ovals.

[Ceasar Choppy]

UPDATE:

Unfortunately, based on my recent experience, I cannot recommend Mariner's Hardware for replacement portlights.

The portlights are not meant to be through bolted on the deckhouse, but screwed in.

I'll just leave it at that for now.

[Figment]

Please don't leave it at that.

I'm puzzled. How is it that a unit meant to be screwed cannot be through-bolted?

[Ceasar Choppy]

The reason they can be screwed in but not throughbolted is that they do not line-up the holes on the mounting flange with the holes on the trim ring. I don't understand how they could expect these beefy stainless portlights to be merely mounted with screws rather than bolts.

I suppose I could thoughbolt them through the cabin top without the trim ring and then screw in the trim ring, but then I have no proper backing for the bolts going through the cabintop.

The real reason I am so cheesed off at them right now though is that they ignored my measurements on the spigots and they seem to be ignoring me now that I have a problem. I asked for 3/4" angled spigots and I got their standard 1.5" angled spigot instead. Gonna have to pay to get these ground down and polished, or live with bloody ankles when I want to walk forward. >:(

[dasein668]

Send them back?

[Figment]

When life hands you cheese, make fondue!
or something like that.

When you send them back (or hand them to a local machine shop) to have the spigots modified, have them drill some bolt holes in the inner pieces, and tap threads.

[dasein668]

[homer simpson voice]Mmmmmmm. Fondue. Mmmmmmmm[/hsv]

[David]

UPDATE:

Unfortunately, based on my recent experience, I cannot recommend Mariner's Hardware for replacement portlights.

The portlights are not meant to be through bolted on the deckhouse, but screwed in.

I'll just leave it at that for now.

Mariner's Hardware offers two styles of ports, one as you describe that are attached by wood screws from the inside, and a different style that uses threaded studs welded to the inside of the exterior trim ring and screwed from the inside using metric machine screws, thus thru-bolting the exterior to the interior assemblies of the port. You simply selected the wrong style. If you look in their catalog or website, you will see what I mean. I have no affiliation with Mariner's Hardware, but have 8 of their opening THRU-BOLTED ports and they are very stout, seaworthy, 316 stainless, made by Man Ship which originally was started by Ted Hood for his boats and manufactures all of the ports and hatches for Hood.

Good luck,

David

[Ceasar Choppy]

David,

You brought up a very sore subject with me.
Believe me, this was NOT a matter of ordering the wrong ones.

Because of the oval angled spigot, they would need to know the thickness of the cabin side to properly line-up the holes on the flange and the trim ring. They don't tell you this. But frankly, this is the least of my problems with Mariner's Hardware.

When I ordered these, I ordered them over the phone since there website is so short on details. I talked to Scott who took my order. I ordered 3/4" spigots, he acklowleged.

Never did I get confirmation of my order, except to notice they had charged my credit card. The portlights were then 60 days LATE from the time promised. And then when I got them, the spigots were 1.5"

As many of you are well aware, the cabintop sides on many of our boats is rather thin. Less than 3/8". A 1.5" spigot will be sure to be an ankle buster on the side decks. And if I use a thick trim ring on the interior, the window frame will stick out so far as to be a head banger. This is why I ordered 3/4" spigots.

MH was more than UNRESPONSIVE to my problem, they were UNHELPFUL. I had to call numerous times just to get them to acknowledge there was a problem. Then they claimed it was MY FAULT for not confirming the order with them. They would not take them back because they were "custom" portlights.

The ironic part is that when ever I sent them anything in writing, they would ignore it. They would only deal with me if I called. In dealing with them over the months, we had worked out a deal where a local machine shop would grind the spigots down and they would pay for it. It was a mere $200. I had the work done, and MH has now refused to acknowledge anything, and refused to pay... not even part of it.

Now I agree, perhaps I should have sent them some confirmation of the dimensions of these things-- especially when I was dropping over $1700. But how often do you, as a customer, place an order over the phone and then have to follow up yourself with these things?

It is the horrid customer service that I am most POed about. To have a company argue with you, and then claim the whole thing is your fault is a pretty good indication of what they think about their customers and how they operate. They basically accused me of trying to scam them somehow.

I will NEVER do business with these people again, and I urge everyone to seek out alternatives.

And yes, I have an affiliation with Mariner's Hardware: I WAS a customer.

[David]

Since I too have ports purchased from Mariner's Hardware on my boat, as well as a custom made, one-off trapezoid forward hatch, dorade guards, dorade vents and some other items, I feel it is only fair to point out that I have had no issues with their customer service at all. In fact I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for the finest quality 316 stainless steel ports, windows and vents.

All of the items are made in Taiwan by Man Ship Marine Manufacturing. All ports and windows carry an unprecedented 5 year warranty against materials and workmanship. All carry the CE quality rating.

My experience with Scott and his family has always been completely positive including ordering the custom designed forward hatch. I have placed all my orders by email to them and Scott has always followed up by email with an invoice specifying exactly what is being ordered from Taiwan. My credit card was never charged until the items had arrived in California at Mariner’s Hardware and shipped to me. While my ports were slow to arrive as well, Scott patiently explained that they wait to assemble a container load of inventory before being shipped from Taiwan, and so there may be delays in the order because of that. However, he and his family were always responsive to my inquiries.

I am frankly surprised to hear of your problems. Scott has always bent over backwards to accommodate me, and I think he is one of the best, most knowledgeable sale people in the marine chandlery business. I have ordered hardware from him over the last three years and was never disappointed—always delighted by the service and the quality of their products.

I’m sorry to hear of your experience with your ports. But I would like the members of this forum to know of an equally pleasant experience with Mariner’s Hardware as well.

Again, I have no affiliation with Mariner’s Hardware, other than being a happy customer.

[Ceasar Choppy]

I am frankly surprised to hear of your problems. Scott has always bent over backwards to accommodate me, and I think he is one of the best, most knowledgeable sale people in the marine chandlery business. I have ordered hardware from him over the last three years and was never disappointed—always delighted by the service and the quality of their products.
.

I was equally surprised when Sherry (his wife?) basically accused me of trying to scam them... although for the life of me, I cannot figure out why anyone would go through the trouble of "scamming" them by giving them the wrong measurements. Last time I checked, the customer is right-- or at least should be given the benefit of the doubt.

It was simply a matter of Scott taking my order over the phone, not writing it down, not confirming it with me, and then left it to his wife to clean up his mess. Just trying to get them to respond to my initial inquiries once I got the portlights took me four tries.

After trying to work this out with them, I thought we had come to a reasonable compromise. I had to pay a local shop $200 to grind down the spigots (this after I already spent $1700). I thought we had an agreement that they would reimburse me for this cost. But alas, they simply refused to respond to my written requests.

In my opinion, that kind of behavior bears mentioning as well.
As I stated earlier, I don't have a problem with the portlights, just the people who sold them to me.

Contrast this with the experience I just had with Garhauer. I had them make 10 stanchions for me. They messed up two of the custom stanchions. When I called them about it, they QUICKLY offered to re-do them. No quibbling, no blaming-- even though nothing was written down and they could have easily blamed me. They re-worked the two stanchions and sent them back to me no charge.

Now: which of these two businesses do you think is interested in keeping their customers happy???

[David]

Maybe it would be better for you to stick with West Marine, which distributes Mariner's Hardware products.

I'd like to point out that Man Ship only has three dealers in the US: Hood, Marine Depot and Mariner's Hardware. Obviously, if your's was the typical buyer's experience, Man Ship would look elsewhere for a dealer.

Obviously you have a differencve of opinion with MH, but there are always two sides to every story and disagreement. I want to emphasize if they acted as you accuse them of acting, West Marine would have nothing to do with them, Man Ship wouldn't want them as a dealer and it's doubtful they would be in business.

[Ceasar Choppy]

I want to emphasize if they acted as you accuse them of acting, West Marine would have nothing to do with them, Man Ship wouldn't want them as a dealer and it's doubtful they would be in business.

Waste Marine? Are you serious?

I don't know why you insist on defending them so unless you've got some interest. My only interest is in getting what I agreed to from them. Failing that, I will do what ever I can to "educate" others because they obviously aren't interested in keeping their customers happy.

I'm not looking for a fight here, I'm simply interested in communicating my experience rather than expressing conjecture.

[David]

I have no vested interest in Mariner's Hardware. However, I feel just as strongly that they do a superb job in customer satisfaction, just as you seem determined to throw negative accusations at them. My intent is to fairly support a vendor whom I have had execellent expereinces with over numerous purchases. I have purchased many products from Garhauer as well inchuding a custom made pair of traveller risers. By the way, I didn't communicate those dimensions over the phone either, but in writing...Hey maybe that is part of your problem??

[Jason K]

Any vendor/service provider will provide both positive and negative experiences. Hopefully, the positive greatly outweighs the negative. I've certainly experienced both from a variety of places (as we all have, of course).

However, the mark of a good organization is how well they handle mistakes. It certainly sounds like they do that poorly. I, for one, appreciate the head's up when a vendor does not do a good job. I may or may not avoid them, but it does set an expectation and can be helpful when working with a suspect vendor (i.e. I can be more diligent than normal when ordering, following-up, documenting, etc.).

So, thanks to you both for your input.

[Tim]

Both sides have fairly and thoroughly described their respective experiences, and any who have interest in doing business with this company in the future, and who happen upon this thread, will be able to read two legitimate sides to the story and judge for themselves accordingly.

I'm now closing this thread to further posts, as I see no purpose in any additions at this time.