Another project done...Yippie

The windows are finally done. They were to be completed last week, but as everyone knows when it comes to dealing with boats they sometimes have their own agendas. All I know is that I know too much about lexan at this point. I did so much research on what is compatible, whats not. I figure after spending so much money on this stuff that I didn't want to ruin a piece by some stupid mistake on my part. So armed with knowledge we had headed down weekend before last to install the windows. Its hard to explain, but as you look at the boat you see the cutout for the window. As you look into the cutout you see the two layers of fiberglass. Inside the cutout the interior window frame mounts to the backside layer. This gives you a nice finished look from the inside. Not so from the outside, as you see the backside of the frame in the window opening from the exterior. That wasn't confusing at all was it? Previously the window was very dark and hid all the extra stuff going on behind the plexi. When we installed our lexan you could see the interior frame and the gap between it and the fiberglass. "Geeeeze, that's ugly." So we came up with the idea of boat striping tape to hide the gap and frame. We had also put a bead of caulk on the window before we installed it. So now we had a beautiful window with a framed out window opening and a bead of caulk under it. From the dock it didn't look bad. To us it looked like poo. Frustration was building as I just let the project sit the weekend as I racked my brain for solutions. Meanwhile Dirk had a list of other duties he wanted to get done. He removed the bow pulpit to fix and fill all the attachments. Looks like a previous owner had snagged on something or someone snagged his pulpit. The places it attached to the deck were semi loose. So Dirk removed the pulpit entirely and preceded to clean out and fill the holes. Apparently there was core rot and a lot of vacant space between the fiberglass. Not good if you want a sturdy pulpit. He is getting quite good working with epoxy. So after filling the voids it sat for a day and he re drilled and re bedded the pulpit. That babies not going anywhere now. So anyway, back to the windows. We decided that we would paint the backside of the windows to hide all the yucky stuff and give the window a more finished appearence.


This is the final product after we first attempted. Note white border of striping tape and windows see thru
Here is the window taped up for spraying. I also have the front of the window covered with plastic wrap to keep us from scratching them."
Here the window has been sprayed with a flat black paint.
Here Dirk is posing with the new window after the tape and plastic wrap removed.
New window installed
Here is the final product. New, clear, un-scratched, un-leaky windows. We are both happy with the results and have gotten some nice compliments from other people on the docks. Now, if I can just get enough time to finish my floors. Yes they are still in the process. Just a couple more coats and I am finished. Hopefully they get installed this weekend.

Windows

Two weeks have passed since we were last at the boat. I think that's the longest we have gone since we bought her. No surprises awaited us, which is that way I like it. Saturday morning we awoke to beautiful cool clear weather and had our morning coffee in the cockpit wrapped in blankets planning our work day that lay ahead of us. The salon windows won out over a few other items that need our attention soon. A couple weeks ago we ordered our sheets of Lexan. We got the sheets that were 1/4 inch thick and gray. Right now we have a very dark smoke gray. I liked that, but we could not find it that dark for a reasonable price. I mainly wanted the dark for sun protection, and not so much for privacy as we have shades on the inside. After seeing what we got I think its gonna be just fine. Also noticed as we were pulling off the old windows ,because of their almost black color they were very hot from the sun. Perhaps the lighter shade of gray wont absorb so much heat. Taking the windows off turned out to be a major project. But as I'm learning, everything on the boat is a major project. I'm just trying to keep the big picture in my head to keep me motivated and less frustrated. We began by cutting away the globs of silicone piled around the edges. Then with a series of three different sized flat head screwdrivers we started wedging them in trying to get the window off in one piece. First, the actual window cutout is a lot smaller then the plexi that was on it. Second, who ever put these windows on elected not to use any screws or fasteners. Instead they must have used a tube of black rubbery caulk adhesive per window. So it ended up being the larger pieces were about the size of a dollar bill. I knew they would probably crumble in the process of removing them. No biggie though as we were not going to need them for a template. We decided after looking at a few other O'days on line that we liked what they had done with their windows. Instead of making what looks like one long continues window, they actually cut it slightly larger than the opening itself. This we decided is what we would do with ours.
Note the poor condition of the window. Small cracks all over. Is that what they mean by crazing

Here the window is halfway off. Note the actual size of the window opening.
Here I am working on cleaning off all the caulking and goo. Also thinking to myself "what the heck have I gotten into"
Here is a shot of all the plexi off and the goo mostly gone. All taped up and ready for some plastic cover. Praying that it doesn't rain too much before we get back next week.