Seeing the Light

Literally, we can see the light now.  The glass was replaced in the portholes and the portholes were re-installed on Abake.  And, the glass was replaced in the portlights and the starboard portlights were re-installed.  We can see the light!  The installation process involved replacing (the glass and) the gaskets around the glass, re-installing the glass into the window frame, and screwing in the brass frames, inside and out.  Rather than use 5200, we've grown very partial to butylene tape (far less messy and much easier to work with).  So the screws and windows were rimmed with butylene tape and then installed.

Here's the butylene tape, wrapped around each screw and then on the (exterior) frame, so it seals against the fiberglass cabin top.

Then the glass is set in the frame and the outside frame was put in place.

And finally, the inside frame was placed and the two screwed together to create a tight seal on the exterior:

And a beautiful finished look on the interior:

So you can see here, the three portlights in the various stages:

And the exterior of the portlights:

And the portholes:

Binnacle Bling

After polishing, buffing, cleaning, waxing and TLC, we now have binnacle bling!  The 30+ years of patina has been reset;-)

Next weekend will be portlight and porthole re-installation.  Pray for warmer weather, because daytime highs in the 20s and low 30s right now.

Catching up on the Blog

We've been missing for a few weeks here, so let us tell you what's been going on.  The last time we were working at the boat (about 3 weeks ago), we decided that we had some extra time and so we pulled out all the portlights and took the portholes apart, bringing only the piece with the glass home.  Mike found a glass place that would make the new glass for us (including safety glass in the portlights) and so we started cleaning the frames from putty and oxidation.  The frames were buffed, cleaned, and waxed (using Collington's metal cleaner/polish/wax).  Boy are they beautiful!  But, it took a while to get all of them done.  (He also started polishing the binnacle.)  Mike also researched the gaskets that were needed for the portlights (some needed replacing after 30 years) and was able to find other W42ers who wanted that gasket, so we had a big enough order so that it would be made and we won't end up with 100 feet of gasket to ourselves!  Thanks Ted and D/W! 
You can see a few pictures of the buffing and cleaning process -- the in-betweens and the results.  We can't wait to get them back on the boat:  (1) they will look GREAT and (2) it's really cold in there without the windows!