Port Light Reseal/Replace

[Steve Heineke]

I’m resealing and replacing the port light panes on my CD25. As I remove and disassemble the frames I noticed a flat gasket-like seal between the pane and the inner frame. Does a similar gasket need to be used for that interface or can it be sealed with caulk? If gasket, what material and who would be a good supplier of it. Also, there appears to be a spacer gasket in the inner frame and I really don’t understand its use. Don Casey talks about spacer gaskets and suggests using a pane that is thick enough to eliminate the need of this gasket. Unfortunately (or fortunately) these frames appear to have an inner flange that the pane rests against and that flange appears to prevent the use of a thicker pane. So what is that spacer gasket for on these frames? I hope someone understands what I’m describing here because I’m not sure I do!

One last question for this post. What pane material? Acrylic (Plexiglas) or Polycarbonate (Lexan)? Casey suggests Plexiglas is suitable for the type of sailing I do, or will be doing; lake/bay sailing.

Thanks in advance for you suggestions on replacing port lights.

Steve Heineke
CD25 #67
s/v La Suavita
Austin (Lake Travis), Texas



austex@attglobal.net

[Richard Hill]

I put Lexan in the ports on my Bristol 32 and wish I'd gone with Plexiglass. The Lexan scratches so easily that it really isn't a good choice, IMHO. Plexiglass is plenty strong - if you need bulletproof ports, put some shutters on them.

The purpose of that inner gasket is to hold the pane tight against the caulking (gasket) on the outer side, so you keep a good seal.



captrahill@comcast.net