Replacing the portholes Part 2

As you can see, the used hardware is beginning to pile up as we slog through our port hole replacement project. Last weekend, we learned how difficult it was going to be to remove the old port hole assemblies. Each one is held in place with ten 10-32 bolts, each 1-1/4" long and in the 36 years since they were installed, the stainless nuts and bolts have, in many cases, fused together.

We've had to hack away at the old port hole mounting points and in some cases, saw the bolts out.

On Saturday, we were ready to install the first new port hole assembly, the one the easiest to access in our guest berth. We had everything staged but couldn't figure out how we were going the tighten the bolts from the outside (on a ladder) and still hold the mounting nuts in place from the inside.

Just as we got to that point, our old friend Stu stopped by to say hello. As luck would have it, Stu, who is Portland High School's art teacher, is spending Saturday mornings designing and building scenery for Portland High's upcoming production of "Mary Poppins." With Stu holding the socket on each mounting nut and Bill turning the bolts from outside on the ladder, the first hatch went in perfectly.

Luckily, Stu will be back next Saturday and perhaps, even the Saturday after that. What a Godsend!

The sealant we used was recommended by Defender Marine. It's BoatLife Life-Seal and we made the mistake of putting it in front of our electric heater for a while before attempting to apply it. Once it's nice and hot, the stuff has a mind of it's own as soon as you pull the trigger on the caulking gun. Luckily, we had a roll of paper towels handy to mop up the excess.

On Sunday, we tackled the next port hole replacement candidate, the one in the starboard side v-berth. We spent 90 minutes sawing and drilling the six bolts out of ten that refused to come out.

Now we're ready to install that second port hole assembly next Saturday.

We did learn a few things, as we almost always do. First, the new bolts should be 1-1/2" long, not the 1-1/4" bolts used by the factory. Back each nut with a stainless washer. We also found the removal of the old port hole easier if we took the window out of the port out first.

Another invisible project

We often laugh about how we spend all of this time and effort on upgrades that no one will ever see or appreciate. The old port holes wouldn't stay open, had been repaired poorly numerous times and leaked when we ran in a good seaway but the new ones look exactly like the old ones so no one will ever know.

Guess it's all part of owning and older boat.