| Replacing the Portlights |
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The picture at the right has my old portlight on the left side of the frame. As you can see (can't see?), the old
port was suffering from a somewhat diminished optical clarity. In addition to this,
they leaked horribly. Replacing the portlights is a very straightforward job, though
there are some things specific to J/30's you'll want to be aware of and some steps
you can take for any portlight replacement job that will make things go a little easier
and will provide for more professional results.
The portlights on a J30, frankly, aren't great. They simply sit in molded recesses
in the cabin top and are held in place by sealant; there are no mechanical fasteners
whatsoever. This is fine for buoy racing and coastal cruising, but this is not something I would want to take for
an extended offshore cruise without some modifications. Some boats have installed opening Lewmar ports
which is a nice, though not class legal, upgrade.
Removing the ports from their frames was a breeze. I simply stood in the cabin and tapped them out. With
one finger - total time for this phase of the project: 30 seconds.
Depending on what type of sealant was used, though, this portion of the job can be much more difficult. If you
find your ports were bedded with 4200 or 5200, for example, then removing them will be a real challenge.
One trick is to get a large guitar string and, working with someone on the outside of the boat, saw the string
back and forth as you work your way around the frames.
Once the frames were removed, I cleaned the molded recesses that hold the frames. This is tedious, but
straightforward; I used a razor blade, several paint scrapers, lots of acetone and, after it was nearly done,
some sandpaper. There were a few different types of sealant in the frames, including a lot of silicone. This
may have been a result of efforts to reseal the ports without removing them (that never works) or simply the
result of installing new ports without properly cleaning away old sealant (that also never works). The failure of
the silicone is a testament to how worthless that stuff is on a boat: it adheres poorly and, even when the bulk
is removed, leaves behind a chemical residue that can contaminate surrounding surfaces.
(no exterior shot of the cleaned frames, you'll just have to take my word for it)
Once the frames were cleaned, I noticed a few spots where the lip was chipped. This undoubtedly contributed
to the severe leaking. There was no way that gap would be adequately sealed with just sealant, so I made a
very thick mixture of epoxy and colloidal silica and rebuilt the frames where needed. The worst of these areas
is shown below:
Once the frames were prepped, I was ready to cut and install the new portlights. I used acrylic (Plexiglass is
an acrylic) plastic. Other options were polycarbonate (Lexan) or auto safety glass. Please see the side bar
below to go through the pros and cons of these options.
One pro of acrylic is that it cuts easily. Using the old portlights as templates, I used a jigsaw to cut the new
portlights slightly larger. Do not assume that all of the old portlights will match all of the frames; cut new ones
using each old port. Going back and forth from the boat to where I was cutting the new ports, I fine tuned the
trim. I was looking for a fairly snug fit: the goal was to maximize the contact with the frames while leaving
enough room for a generous amount of sealant.
Once the new ports were cut, I taped off both the ports and the areas around the frames with a couple widths
of blue painters tape. Most sealants are messy so this keeps the boat clean and leaves a crisper edge to the
sealant.
For sealant, I used BoatLife LifeSeal. There are a tremendous range of sealants out there, but LifeSeal is the
best choice for most plastics. It is a silicone/polyurethane hybrid that works very well. It's available in clear or
white; I chose white. A pure polyurethance (ie 5200) is primarily an adhesive. A polysulphide (ie 3M 101) is a
great sealant for most applications but can damage the plastic ports. As mentioned above, pure silicone is
worthless.
I ran a generous bead around the frames and pressed the new ports in place. In my case, the ports did not
need to be braced, but some have found this step necessary. While the sealant was still uncured, I used my
finger to press the sealant between the frame and the port and to create a clean bead. I did this from both the
inside and the outside.
I left the sealant to cure for six hours (it reaches full cure in 24 hours) then returned to remove the tape. After
about 20 hours, I returned again to clean up some excess sealant and remove the protective plastic on the
new ports. The sealant bead looks fine and the new ports look fantastic. The photos below are shot through
the new ports. That may not look exceptional, but I would encourage you to look again at the shot of the old
port at the top of the page. As a bonus, I am no longer watering my cushions.
port was suffering from a somewhat diminished optical clarity. In addition to this,
they leaked horribly. Replacing the portlights is a very straightforward job, though
there are some things specific to J/30's you'll want to be aware of and some steps
you can take for any portlight replacement job that will make things go a little easier
and will provide for more professional results.
The portlights on a J30, frankly, aren't great. They simply sit in molded recesses
in the cabin top and are held in place by sealant; there are no mechanical fasteners
whatsoever. This is fine for buoy racing and coastal cruising, but this is not something I would want to take for
an extended offshore cruise without some modifications. Some boats have installed opening Lewmar ports
which is a nice, though not class legal, upgrade.
Removing the ports from their frames was a breeze. I simply stood in the cabin and tapped them out. With
one finger - total time for this phase of the project: 30 seconds.
Depending on what type of sealant was used, though, this portion of the job can be much more difficult. If you
find your ports were bedded with 4200 or 5200, for example, then removing them will be a real challenge.
One trick is to get a large guitar string and, working with someone on the outside of the boat, saw the string
back and forth as you work your way around the frames.
Once the frames were removed, I cleaned the molded recesses that hold the frames. This is tedious, but
straightforward; I used a razor blade, several paint scrapers, lots of acetone and, after it was nearly done,
some sandpaper. There were a few different types of sealant in the frames, including a lot of silicone. This
may have been a result of efforts to reseal the ports without removing them (that never works) or simply the
result of installing new ports without properly cleaning away old sealant (that also never works). The failure of
the silicone is a testament to how worthless that stuff is on a boat: it adheres poorly and, even when the bulk
is removed, leaves behind a chemical residue that can contaminate surrounding surfaces.
(no exterior shot of the cleaned frames, you'll just have to take my word for it)
Once the frames were cleaned, I noticed a few spots where the lip was chipped. This undoubtedly contributed
to the severe leaking. There was no way that gap would be adequately sealed with just sealant, so I made a
very thick mixture of epoxy and colloidal silica and rebuilt the frames where needed. The worst of these areas
is shown below:
Once the frames were prepped, I was ready to cut and install the new portlights. I used acrylic (Plexiglass is
an acrylic) plastic. Other options were polycarbonate (Lexan) or auto safety glass. Please see the side bar
below to go through the pros and cons of these options.
One pro of acrylic is that it cuts easily. Using the old portlights as templates, I used a jigsaw to cut the new
portlights slightly larger. Do not assume that all of the old portlights will match all of the frames; cut new ones
using each old port. Going back and forth from the boat to where I was cutting the new ports, I fine tuned the
trim. I was looking for a fairly snug fit: the goal was to maximize the contact with the frames while leaving
enough room for a generous amount of sealant.
Once the new ports were cut, I taped off both the ports and the areas around the frames with a couple widths
of blue painters tape. Most sealants are messy so this keeps the boat clean and leaves a crisper edge to the
sealant.
For sealant, I used BoatLife LifeSeal. There are a tremendous range of sealants out there, but LifeSeal is the
best choice for most plastics. It is a silicone/polyurethane hybrid that works very well. It's available in clear or
white; I chose white. A pure polyurethance (ie 5200) is primarily an adhesive. A polysulphide (ie 3M 101) is a
great sealant for most applications but can damage the plastic ports. As mentioned above, pure silicone is
worthless.
I ran a generous bead around the frames and pressed the new ports in place. In my case, the ports did not
need to be braced, but some have found this step necessary. While the sealant was still uncured, I used my
finger to press the sealant between the frame and the port and to create a clean bead. I did this from both the
inside and the outside.
I left the sealant to cure for six hours (it reaches full cure in 24 hours) then returned to remove the tape. After
about 20 hours, I returned again to clean up some excess sealant and remove the protective plastic on the
new ports. The sealant bead looks fine and the new ports look fantastic. The photos below are shot through
the new ports. That may not look exceptional, but I would encourage you to look again at the shot of the old
port at the top of the page. As a bonus, I am no longer watering my cushions.
The wet epoxy is to the
left and the cured epoxy
is to the right. The epoxy
is thickened with colloidal
silica. Colloidal silica is a
structural filler and, while
it's difficult to sand, is
perfect for an application
like this where some
strength is needed and
where you need the
epoxy to be thick enough
to stand on its own while
it cures. The photos to the
right show the epoxy well
on its way to being
sanded to sit flush with -
and match the curvature
of - the frames.
left and the cured epoxy
is to the right. The epoxy
is thickened with colloidal
silica. Colloidal silica is a
structural filler and, while
it's difficult to sand, is
perfect for an application
like this where some
strength is needed and
where you need the
epoxy to be thick enough
to stand on its own while
it cures. The photos to the
right show the epoxy well
on its way to being
sanded to sit flush with -
and match the curvature
of - the frames.
Portlight material sidebar to come soon.