cowl ventilation thru hatch

[fasteddie]

just found a cowl piece that fits thru the front hatch for ventilation, which way is it suppose to face, towards the bow, or backwards toward the stern?

[MacGyver]

Typically they face forward as the boat will face into the wind on its ancor/mooring.

Mac

[nies]

Mac is right when moored, but when spray is breaking over the bow it is best to turn toward the stern,which helps keep the cabin dry...............nies

[Bob23]

I have mine mounted on a teak dorade. Rain and spray never get into the boat.
Bob23

[skip1930]

Sitting on a dorade box is fine but you have to drag the headsail sheet over the deck. Might get caught. Be low as possible and find one that can be spun around fore and aft and maybe a soft rubber like material for when you bump into it.


Bump...funny; two words that Wm. Shakespeare invented, one was bump. The other was assassinate.

skip.

[Bob23]

Never a problem.
  Before I embark on a sail, I fasten a pre-made line with a snap shackle to the ring on the whisker pole track on the mast. The other end gets tied to the forward cleat. Another line goes from each forward stanchion and through a loop in the first line. Sounds complicated but it takes less than half the time it took to just write about it! Wish I had a photo.
  This creates a sort of cage made of line over the box and prevents the genoa sheets from even touching the foredeck as well as the solar panel which is mounted on the forward hatch.
  With the dorade, I have positive ventilation all the time. I also have a reverse facing cowl vent on the aft deck so it creates a kind of exhaust, pulling air through the boat. I should mention my boat is moored so she always faces the wind.
Bob23