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.