Leaky Portlite on CD 25

[Brett I. Miller]

I am the owner of a 1978 CD 25 that has a mysterious leak which appears to be related to the large portlite on the starboard side of the boat. Whenever its rains hard, beads of water collect at the end of the portlite nearest the bow and run down the inside of the cabin liner to collect in a pool on the teak shelf just to the right of the companionway entrance. I have taken the interior frame off of the portlite to see if there is an obvious leak at the point where the frame meets the cabin, but it looks o.k. Unfortunately, the design of cabin liner precludes further investigation without a major effort.

Does anyone have any suggestions regarding how I can either find the source of this problem or, better yet, remedy it? Thanks.



mill7846@mlb.com

[Jim Shivers]

Had a leaky porthole problem on our 81 CD25, hull #787. However ours was simply rain leaking in around a dirty rubber seal. Once cleaned and smeared with vasilene, no more leak. Dont know if this is your problem or not, but you might try opening the port and cleaning the rubber seal. Hope it's that simple.



jim.shivers@chrysalis.org

[Jerry Hammernik]

I also have a 78 CD25 #584. I had the same type of leak on the port side. I removed all six ports and rebedded them. No problems since. I just figured it's one of those occasional maintenance jobs. I've often fantasized about retrofitting the boat with bronze opening ports. Besides cost, the biggest obstacle is the fiberglass work that would be needed to bring the opening for the big portlite down to the size of the bronze ones.

If you're looking for a quick fix for your leak, you might try a flowable silicone around the rim. That could possibly fix the problem without messing up any good sailing days. Good Luck!
Jerry



dauntles@execpc.com

[Ron Polichnowski]

Unfortunately I've been there also. The only long term solution is to remove, clean and re-seal the portlite. Be sure to use the correct sealant as a polysulfide will eventually destroy the lexan frame. I like to use Boat Life's "Life Sealant". To make your work easy, once the portlite is removed and cleaned, mask the surrounding gelcoat with masking tape so that the overflow will not be all over the gelcoat. This makes cleanup easy.

I also have a 78 CD25 #584. I had the same type of leak on the port side. I removed all six ports and rebedded them. No problems since. I just figured it's one of those occasional maintenance jobs. I've often fantasized about retrofitting the boat with bronze opening ports. Besides cost, the biggest obstacle is the fiberglass work that would be needed to bring the opening for the big portlite down to the size of the bronze ones.

If you're looking for a quick fix for your leak, you might try a flowable silicone around the rim. That could possibly fix the problem without messing up any good sailing days. Good Luck!
Jerry

repcpa@prodigy.net

[Ron Polichnowski]

Jerry:

I am going to re-fit my boat with bronze portlites. Do you have the exact specifics on how to reduce the size of the two large portlite openings. My research has not produced a satisfactory procedure. Spartan Marine may have bronze portlites to fit the large opening but I would prefer to have all 6 the same size.
I've often fantasized about retrofitting the boat with bronze opening ports. Besides cost, the biggest obstacle is the fiberglass work that would be needed to bring the opening for the big portlite down to the size of the bronze ones.



repcpa@prodigy.net