Resealing Portlights on Hallberg-Rassy 31 Monsun

Sometimes getting ready for a job is as big a task as the job itself.  Petr and Jana of s/v Janna take us along as they re-gasket their large fixed ports.  But first they make temporary storm covers for the openings, just in case it rains during the work:

The most dreaded item on our TODO list is finally crossed off. The portslights on our Hallberg-Rassy 31 Monsun probably had the original gaskets and all the windows had leaks, some leaked a lot. We were really afraid to remove them, because there was a lot of aluminum corrosion, salt sediments, etc. What if we can’t put them back again?

To get us some time, we finally made storm covers from 1/2″ acrylic sheets, trimmed with thick gasket. The storm cover is held over the broken windows by two or three supports that are placed across the window opening. It works quite well and is easy to deploy. When we removed the first window, we had the storm cover ready in case of a rain.

Storm covers with temporary plywood supports

Detail of backing plate mounting

Fortunately, the portlights unscrewed quite easily. We’ve found a lot of salt under the frames and some aluminum corrosion here and there, but nothing major. The gasket that holds the glass sheet in the frame cannot be replaced unless you open the outer frame. But all the leaks seem to be around the outer gaskets, so we didn’t mess with the glass. We’ll soon find out if we were right.

All you need is two types of gaskets, one flat and one L-shaped, contact cement, acetone, putty knife to scrape the old gaskets, sanding paper and a day of nice weather.

Salty mess

Jana knocking the outer frame out

Scary gaping holes

Cleaning the old gaskets

Final touches before the gluing begins

New gaskets glued with contact cement

Let’s see how much water gets through