The windows on the port side wereleaking and have created some damage. Also there is an old damage, that looks like it may need some work.
I started to remove the windows. The front 2 windows have been removed earlier, probably when the damage was “repaired”.
My current thinking is that, since I need to fix the damage properly, I could cover the windows completely and then cut a smaller hole. The windows are smoke colored, so if I paint the hull black (as was done before), the windows look like the original on the outside, while on the inside, the actual hole in the hull is smaller. For a boat that is to go on an ocan sailing trip, this feels a lot safer…
Now that damage looks strange. I do not know what happened, but the damage was “repaired” by filling the holes with plastic padding and then painting over it. I could remove all the plastic padding with the knife. There was NO adherence to the sides of the damage, so there must have been zero strength in the repair…. I will use the angle grider to make a slope 3-5 cm either side, then fixing it with epoxy and glass fibre.
The biggest hole (from above).
A smaller hole, over the front window.
The butyl tape used in the windows was dry in some places. Check out the picture below.
2/3 rds of the way, the butyl tape is completely dry and did not help to keep the window tight at all! At the lower edge, you can see the sikaflex, which was rather thick here. The old tape could be removed with a sharp knife and the window cleaned with petrol.
I sanded down everything to prepare for the glassing. I built a small tent to avoid having the dust fly everywhere, but I had to do a lot of cleaning up afterwards (the neighbour was not too happy either…):
I mounted platsic foil on the inside and started laminating from the outside. After 5 layers it looked like this:
Another 5 layers (10 layers in total on the outside), 2 layers were added on the inside. The light comes in nicely…
After heavy sanding, the windows could finally be tested in place:
The next step is to paint the side of the hull, before the windows are mounted permanently. The SB side is painted first, since the Ports side needs to be finished where the damages were…
The butyl tape was easy to apply (I used 3 mm thick tape to the main windows)
Before and after mounting the windows (SB side first):
Then came the port side (note the rubber under the stanction):
The aft windows were just removed, cleaned and remounted with new butyl tape (9 mmm):
Magnuskrampell's Blog 