Originally Posted by Bobcasto01

Looks a lot like "Irene". It was made by Andrew Charters and weighs 50 lbs. The waterline is 60". It has 4 servos; steering, main, foresails, and bilge pump. Overall length is 90". I really like the bow and stern waves.

I juste found him on face b ook, he have a built many of those, wow impressive. He have so many built in his garage!

Hello All,

I am making progress on my Irene schooner. I was trying to find the best and easiest way to make portholes for the cabin. Somewhere on this forum I think I saw that someone made the portholes out of two nesting PVC pipes. I can't seem to find the info now. Does anyone know what size PVC pipe was used? It seems like 1" and 3/4" schedule 40 would nest together with just a little sanding. Thanks

Originally Posted by Bobcasto01

Best and easiest way to make portholes for the cabin

Here's one.
www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=36178384&postcount=391

I cheated and bought these.
www.harbormodels.com/aer576056.html

Hi Zbip57, Thanks for the reply. I found the wood ones in the rc group link you provided. That sounds a little beyond my woodworking skills!! The ones you bought are very nice, thanks for the link. What I thought I remembered was portholes made of a thin slice of two different sizes of PVC pipe. The larger one acts as the outer flange and the inner one supports the window.

Hey Bobcasto01

Maybe you might consider a large round or even oval brass grommet ??

The Amazon link has different size ovals as well as color finish to chose from at a cheap price (vs labor of making wood or PVC version)

https://www.amazon.com/Fujiyuan-Eyel...364246&sr=8-34

Maybe these are even better ...
Solid Brass two-piece screw together grommet ... various sizes ...

https://www.amazon.com/Okones-Diamet...NsaWNrPXRydWU=

All my bear boats have had unique custom portholes, some better than others but all made to fit in with that particular model.
When building one of Gary’s designs I try to use either secondhand materials (repurposing being the popular term these days, back aways it was simply ‘on the cheap’. If not secondhand, then something off the shelf made for anything at all. The other replies to this question shows the sort of thing.
All it must do is look like a porthole, maybe not as pristine as a carefully handcrafted timber frame one, but more than just acceptable, being fully functional.
As it has turned out, my Bear boat fleet is currently undergoing refurbishment both because some parts need maintenance, or simply that it is more fun to renovate rather than make an entirely new boat (that’s a whole new subject). Part of that fun is doing things differently. As one model followed another it became clear that what I see up close, i.e, a metre or yard or so, blends in very nicely as you step back, and that is what happens to any spectator as the boats leave the shore and sails out on a cruise. Personal experience tells me that most critical inspection is by the owner, everyone else less so.
So, what is the purpose of a porthole? Gary would be able to sum it up easily, but maybe it is simply to let light in, water and wind out, but also to make the cabin where some reside, either for a short time or like Gary, permanently, to look liveable.
So, I’ve used thin sections of electrical pipe, “O” rings, jewellery parts and my latest, large stainless steel tarpaulin grommets. To give the impression of space behind the “glass” I use light coloured card or vinyl. Crossbones used some nifty washers found at the hardware store.
There is nothing wrong in duplicating what someone else has come up with, I’m sure it would be felt as a worthy compliment. But having a go on your own is commendable and I know Gary agrees.
Here are some examples from our local boats. Some were earlier versions and no longer in use, but included out of possible interest.

Hello All, My build seems to be going good so far. The hull is assembled along with the keel box, the rudder post, and the sampson post support. The deck and coamings have been assembled and the masts, booms and gaffs have been cut and are currently being tapered per the plans. One of my next tasks in to fabricate the tops of the cabin and the cargo hold. I viewed Gary's video on water tight hatches and it appears to apply to the forward and sternmost hatches and indicates that the frame of the hatch cover is on the outside of the hatch coamings. This makes sense and I understand from the video how to do it.
However the drawing apparently shows the tops of the cabin and the cargo hold appear to have their frames inside of the coamings. How do you mount the frames on the underside of the tops accurately enough to not interfere with the coamings when the tops are installed. It does not seem the video procedure would work with an internal frame.
Thanks

Hi Bob Casto,
There is another video which addresses the Cabin Top

RC Sailboat Build DIY Removable Cabin Top (7 min 5 sec)

Thanks so much Gary, I hadn't found that one yet. Really enjoying the boat build. I especially am enjoying planning down the masts and booms to the proper shape. Didn't know I had it in me!!

And another start of a build, kind of slow start since the local home deco does not provide plywood in the required length for the hull (3mm birch plywood is only available in 122 x 61 cm). So for now there is only a skiff , a dory and some smaller pieces like the bulkheads for Bear Max to begin with. luckily A local supplier for contractors has ordered a sheet of 150x 150 cm for me, looking forward for the real stuff we study all the earlier postings you all so kindly made available.
greetings!
Jerry D and Max Payload

I picked a 150 x 150 sheet of birch ply up in Deventer. 3 mm is hard to come by over here. Good luck with your build.

Hey Jerry D & Henk Goosen

Just an FYI ... here in US the big box hardware stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s (and others) ...

A lot of them get some of their shipments of wood paneling or other items with either heavy cardboard ... OR IN SOME CASES - the shipment uses THIN PLYWOOD just like doorskin thickness

You have to have good timing on shipment arrivals ... or ... know the guys in that department

By the way ... in most cases ...
They through away this shipping material ... so ... you might get lucky and possible FREE MATERIAL

My IRENE Molly G was my first of Gary’s models to build. It worked out well, all things considered, but recently I found my foolproof winch line maintenance access, wasn’t. So I figured a couple of days would make to so. Ha! Fat chance, turned out 4 weeks later. But only because I got fired up with enthusiasm to move the removable deck (which came away as it should) but I went straight ahead and redesigned and fitted everything other than the hull.
Realising that it would take longer than anticipated I worked slowly (I’m learning ) and bench-tested anything that was in any way innovative. But top of the list was to lay actual timber planking that looked like it was. My lined-in planks on other boats were tolerable but pseudo.


I posted about some timber Venetian blinds I rescued from the scrap yard and so that’s what I used. The slats measure 30 mm wide so I cut them exactly in half on the band saw and alternated the rounded to cut edges across the deck. I didn’t fancy using them as the deck covering only so put down a 3mm recovered door ply first and then planked around the openings. All this took a week. Everything was done bit by bit with time to come back and reassess before fixing. I tested various adhesives like CA and epoxy but settled on water-based woodworking glue which turned out great. I could have used the second set of slats to lay unbroken planks but the somewhat shorter ones (between the blind cord openings) went most of the way and so I added enough to complete the job. As the dual deck layers raised the level I relocate scuppers.


I also decided to increase the sail areas much as I thought I’d get away with exception of the mid-sail which was OK and otherwise too restrictive. How they will perform is something to look forward to next week. I used Homespun (no, not by me, it’s a variation of cotton fabric supposedly looking like native cloth) fabric and upped the quality of my machine “dressmaking”.


I also lowered the spars although kept the original masts. Instead of thick rings, I found some simple metal ones that work just fine. Nothing wrong with thick, though, far from it, I just wanted a different sort this time.
The halyards for the upper gaff spars have been kept up there and not carried on down to the pin rails, something Greg and I discussed and decided was easier overall, especially in setting up and down.
Down here in Oz it is has been impossible ( due to Covid effect on imports) to buy tarred cord as per Gary’s recommendations, although we have oodles of thinner diameter, we wanted something heavier for the shrouds. So I sourced some Nylon that is used in commercial fish nets which is generally too stiff for our boats but is right in appearance for shrouds. Because the is no “give” in this material we use large bowsie to the head of each mast to a block through which this thick cord is hung. The bowsies employ 300 lb Dyneema to work OK.
I kept the hatches low and found a different product for portholes on the cabin.


The prime reason, as I've said, for doing work on Molly was to improve the winch line set up within. So it was easy enough to employ Gary’s Flyer rig with two small close-fitted bearing centred blocks up forward. I’ve made that assembly held by one large screw so it is easy to withdraw the how assembly up through the forward hatch instead of the cumbersome large single previously used.


As all my boats have been, this one has a locking pin at deck level into each mast so the boat can be lifted by both masts down and off t water, something necessary at Neangar. The shrouds also share that loading, of course. Placed at that point are two O rings to keep water out, even though at that height above the central deck, most unlikely.

All paint used is Metal Enamel, an oil-based product (under various brands) which is looking and doing a sterling job on the group boats. Just need extra care in allowing longer than usual times between coats. I made the entire hull the same colour this time, with some pin-striping.


Even though these photos are not of the final touch ups I’m more than pleased with the overall result and will soon start on a Flyer, as will Greg and Eric.

That looks fantastic Mal! Now a video to see your improvements. No pics of the interior?

Thanks, Henk I'm very happy with it. The first sail, hopefully on a lively breeze, will be worth the wait. My sailing mates are tied up with domestic obligations, they tell me. She will sail someday very soon and be well recorded.

Yes, one pic of internals. That green was a bit heavy but inside it is worthwhile.
The winch line was a 1.5" elastic tensioner inline to compensate travel sagging. Every winch line must sag somewhat as the cord increaseone sheave O.D. while the other loses it. it shouldn't matter but I prefer the line to be straight.
The winch servo rail is held down by just a heavy screw eachr sideof the fin box. This allows it to be removed if ever necessary. All the deck openings took into consideration that sort of requirement should it be needed.