Porthole in cabin door

[BON DIA]

Two things my wife misses about our previous boat, notices when we see them on our friend's boats, is the bow access thru a windshield walk-thur & the smoked plexiglass cabin door.

I can't correct the walk-thur but have thought about the the transparent door.

1st, why doesn't SR offer this as an option?

2nd, does anyone know why you wouldn't want to install a piece of smoked plexiglass or similar product into the cabin door if it's well designed & installed?

Modesty is the only consideration we can think of & we're not.

 

[Henry Boyd]

Can't answer the why, but it seems to me that it should not be a diffcult task to install a non opening window. The thickness of window and frame should not materially exceed the surface of the existing door face and padded intererior face so it could slide into the recess.

As for modesty, there is no reason why you couldn't have a 'curtain' made along the same idea as the porthole curtains that either snapped, or velcro in place when privacy was needed. You would probably have to remove to open and close door, so it wouldn't be a perfect solution.

If you use something like Lexan that would have enough strength to prevent someone falling and going through it by accident, there should be no structural reason why it wouldn't work.

The big negative in my mind would be that the cabin door is a big expensive part to buy and install, so setting the boat back to OEM spec would be a hassle if a potential buyer did not share your views on visibility.

Henry

 

[wkearney99]

Four Winns offers a sliding screen door inside the regular one, it's nice feature. Shame more boats don't offer it.

I'm guessing one reason not to offer the translucent type would be clarity. Both during manufacturing and over time. A flat sheet of transparent (smoked or whatever) would be more likely to show cracks, swirls, waviness or other manufacturing related "defects". Basically the opaque stuff just hides things better. I'm guessing the clear stuff is a bit more brittle. I'm sure better stuff could be used but at what cost difference?