Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

For those who have never seen this set up before I thought I would post an example of the kind of opening window (porthole) that were used on older wooden sailboats.

I lived with these for a few years when I owned and sailed a 36' wooden schooner on the Chesapeake Bay. I went through a few storms and the ports were never the reason why things got wet inside.

In the pictures the red plate is a sheet of tempered glass or lexan. The glass/lexan pivots resting by gravity on the bottom of the support. To open the port, the wooden block at the top is swiveled out of the way and the glass/lexan is allowed to drop back against the angled support. To close it, you push the glass back against the wall (bulkhead) and then swing the wooden block back to the latch position.

At the bottom of the support there is a hole drilled through the wall to allow any water that gets in to drain back outside. On a boat because of the constant rolling, the water finds its way there. On a more stable platform like a trailer, you might want to angle the bottom of the support so that the water would be funneled toward the hole.

Some builders would also angle the bottom edge of the porthole opening through the wall so that the water would tend to run back out.

On my boat I didn't have any gasket that would seal the glass against the wall. The glass just butted up against the wall. Obviously you could put one in if that seemed the right way to you.

I put drawings in my personal gallery but here is a brief example.






This approach certainly isn't classic Teardrop but somebody out there might find it a helpful alternate approach to doing one of the windows they want in their Teardrop or Tiny Trailer.

Use it if you like it.

Ken

Snap! I suggested exactly the same design idea a year or two ago:





I have a PDF available that gives some more details - anyone who wants it, pm me including your email address - attachments cannot be sent with pm's.

Andrew

Is this window design for above the waterline, or below the waterline?

Yes, Andrew, I remember you posting the design a long time ago. Did you ever post a picture with it, or just those TC images?

Mike...

P.S. I see Saintk has the drain hole too!!!

I used that design right after Andrew posted. It works fine, but there are some things to keep in mind.

Water drains down the glass to the reservoir. That has to be very waterproof and it has to have a way to drain that water fairly easily.

I really like the design because I can lift the whole window out when I want maximum ventilation, and put it back in during the night if I wish.

Yes, I would use that design again.

dave

dwgriff1 wrote:Water drains down the glass to the reservoir. That has to be very waterproof and it has to have a way to drain that water fairly easily.

Yes, absolutely. I wouldn't try this unless the whole area was epoxy-soaked - things like the drain holes cut through the 'cabin' side are just asking to start rot if the side is plywood.

And for a teardrop, the way the window projects into the cabin may make it inconvenient to use as a door window - you would always be catching your shoulder on the window as you climb in or out, unless the door is swung wide open.

Andrew

The other advantage I found with this pattern is that the "glass" you use doesn't matter much.

If it gets scratched you can just cut a new one and drop it in.

Just looking at it made me think."That would be the perfect place to use a Mirror mount" you know the kind that fits over the edge of an old style frameless bath mirror.

That is exactly the idea.

The old sailboats used wood for the support--there wasn't another choice but metal. Today you could easily make one up out of some plastic or another that would let more light in.