Sailing Reverie - How to Install Fixed Portlights - EP 69

One of our biggest challenges with Reverie is that the portlights (deadlights) were seriously abused. They were cracked and the glass was completely hazed to the point you could not see outside.

We were concerned with replacing them as Reverie being a 1985 Pearson Sailboat, we did not know if we would be able to find an exact replacement. But we lucked out!

Beckson Marine makes the exact same size portlight (window) as the one we needed and to give us a bonus, they also made a portlight version that was the same size and had an integrated portlight with screen. This gave us the opportunity to add two additional portlights for ventilation.

The installation was relatively easy, but it had its challenges. In modern boats, manufacturers realized that they needed to stiffen the area around the windows in order to prevent leaks over time. So at the factory they filled the space between the deck and deck liner with an epoxy compound. This creates a bond between the liner and deck and provides a solid surface to screw the windows without creating compression issues or install glued-on windows like you see in most modern boats.

Unfortunately, that was not the case with Reverie. So we had to start doing research and putting on out thinking hats to find a solution to our problem which we did!.

Checkout our video to see how brought our design up to the 21st century and how we installed and replaced our old nasty broken portlights our new Beckson portlights.