Replaced Windows on Ericson 27

Over the last week I have replaced all the windows on my Ericson 27. I had tried repeatedly to stop the leaking, and as a result of total frustration opted to replace them. The method I chose was to template the windows, and have a company in Seattle cut replacements from Lexan. I am happy to say that not only do the new Lexan windows look awesome, not a drop of water is getting in (this is Seattle after all). Including parts and labor, the total cost of the new windows was about $180. The holes for the bolts were pre-drilled, and it took about an hour per window to install them. It was incredibly simple, and really only required me to put down a bead of silicone and bolt the window to the boat. If anyone has any questions about this cheap and effective method for replacing windows, please send me an email. I have digital pictures that I would be happy to send.

Nigel

Please Send Pictures-Where you get the Materials??

Perfect timing for the post. I just purchased a 1977 32 and am considering doing the same. How much were the materials, are they uv protected, and who did the fabricating? My boats in Everett, so no need to re-=invent the wheel. Also, what did they use to cut the glass?

thanks
Shaun
Mill Creek

New Owner since Friday!!!

Nigel - Great info - can you send the pix of your window to me at bosborn@mentorcorp.com? I helped a friend put Lexan ports on an old Columbia 12 years ago - they still look great and don't leak. Only, I forget some of the elements that we had to be especially careful about.

Did you go with dark smoked Lexan? What color silicone - clear? Black?

Mine's an '84 E-27.

Coming soon...

Look for his project very soon in the projects section - he did an excellent job!

//sse

also time to replace

After many patch jobs, maybe it is time to replace the windows on my 26......we have had an unseasonable amount of rain the last few weeks and saw a few drips.....can you send me the pictures......interested in how these are through bolted/ screwed. Mine have rubber gaskets and aluminum frames screwed from the inside?

Thanks,

Steve stephen.foster@espire.net

Nigel's Windows

Check out this image - excellent job, Nigel!

The entire project (with more photos) will be up in the projects section very, very soon!

Thanks,
//sse

Hi Sean,
Sorry to pester, but when will the pictures from this project be posted?

Thanks,
Becky

new windows

Not on an Ericson but I just replaced all the windows on an Island Gypsy 36 trawler and ordered custom made opening windows from AJR windows in Coquitlam B.C. They did a great job and werre very easy to deal with. I saw some replacements they made for an old C&C 30 and they look just like the factory only better. Just thought I'd send this great company's # (604) 944-1616. (remember its in Canadian bucks- 50%)
Graham Cole

Ok, ok.....

Enough of the guilt already! I posted Nigel's project - it's in the Owner/Projects section of this site!

//sse

long time-but great idea!

Wow that's a great idea. Anyone have any idea how these windows are holding up after 8 years? So simple and so cheap. I just realized that the moderators/administrators post projects in there own section.

I have to say this is one of the most well organized and helpful sites i've ever been to.. Good job guys!..and girls!

External Lens Threads

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=1420&referrerid=28

Only install note I would add is that you must find a way to space the new lens above the cabin side about 1/8". This lets it float on a bed of sealant and the thermal expansion of the lens will then not break the sealant bond on either side. Best way I have seen is to put a small (eight inch thick) O ring around each fastener,right into the black LifeSeal that you just squeezed on. Have several cartridges ready to load instantly into the gun frame before you start that step.
Then when you push the lens into place and insert the screws to hold it the thickness will be maintained. Do not screw the fasteners down to the point where the plastic dimples or cracks.

Having taped off everywhere with 3M blue, you just remove the oozed-out sealant with towels and form the bead edge with a moistened finger tip.
Yeah, it's a mess. Result is lovely, though. We did use the "smoked" color lexan.
Here it is, fifteen years after we replaced ours and they are still 100% water proof.

Best,
Loren

O-rings in an ovesized hole.

Nigel, Loren, as usual, is right on the mark. Years ago I completed a dead light replacement in a little Neptune 16 like this one http://www.thelantzfamily.com/v/1979+Capital+Neptune+16/ that I owned and was led through the process of by the factory regarding the O-rings. With those and good bedding, I never had them leak a single drop, nor did the holes develop radial cracks. As an aside, this was an interim boat for me that I towed behind my Subaru wagon three years in a row from our home in Santa Monica to Lake Tahoe. I'd put in at Meek's Bay and each time, spent a week circumnavigating the lake in a counterclockwise direction. I single handed the first year and persuaded Marilyn to come along the next two years. We then sold the Neptune 16 when we bought our first Ericson, an E25+ hull #515 and that ended three glorious summers on Lake Tahoe with 98 degree air and 42 degree water!! I have so many stories and memories but one stands out. It was that first summer and I was alone on the water making passage under sail and power from South Lake Tahoe to Zephyr Cove http://z.about.com/d/gocalifornia/1/0/m/t/tahoemp-1a.jpg when without any warning whatsoever, my boat came to a shuddering dead stop in DEEP, DEEP WATER!! with the Honda 2 screaming and churning white water. My heart almost pounded out of my chest when I looked over the side to the left and the right, saw to my disbelief, a steel cable the size of my arm FLOATING on the surface, then disappearing out of sight. I gingerly backed the boat down, found what I thought would be the deepest water between the two "floaters" and crept away toward Zephyr Cove, terrified to increase throttle for a short while. Everything eventually returned to normal including my heart rate and it wasn't until several hours later that it dawned on me what I'd run into. I dove below and pulled out my chart and there it was staring back at me, the broken line of the state border!!! Phew, I sure am glad I survived that scare! Anyone else have a similar terrifying experience on that lake. Later, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA ; - )

Glyn,

it's my understanding that the issue with crossing the state line on the lake only occurs on a really low tide.

CRossing the state line.

David, You have no idea what you're talking about, tides have nothing to do with it but as I recall, that day was one of the lowest tides on record that Tahoe had seen dating back to the late 1800's. What I didn't mention in my previous email was that after that cable incident, I was more than hyper-vigilant and only then did I see the real danger of traversing Lake Tahoe! Fool that I was I either ignored or didn't place much importance on the floating numbers by the thousands I was passing, and had been passing since starting this adventure two days before. The round numbers like the 0's, 2's, 3's, 6's, 8's and 9's weren't of too much concern but had I not been so lucky up to that point, I could have hit a sharp number like a 1, a 4, or a 7. Had that happened at hull speed, I could have easily and irreparably holed the boat, disappearing beneath those frigid waters without as much as a trace. OK, go ahead and scoff at my seemingly outlandish tale but all you need do to prove it to yourself is to get your hands on a Lake Tahoe chart and you'll see for yourself the existence of those round and sharp numbers floating right on the waters surface that you so easily doubted me about. Glyn

Glyn Glyn Glyn,

Haven't you learned to check the tide charts when lake sailing? I would have thought you had this down by now. But that aside, you're very lucky you didn't sail into the backside of a 7. Almost as bad as being holed, you would have found yourself stuck in the wedge with no way out, and if the tide then changed on you, wow, it could have swamped you. Good thing you now spend your time trundling back and forth to Catalina Island

The portlights in my E25 have some leaks. I have been planning on rebedding them. Sounds like there has been a good bit of frustration out there with rebed jobs that don't solve leak problems. The Lexan route sounds like a cheap and easy solution. I took a look at the project file where there are pictures of the interior of the E27. I think the exterior looks outstanding. I'm wondering, though, about the interior. Has anyone else who has done this job found a way to trim out the interior? I'm thinking that if I were to do this, I would cut out a single piece of trim (a frame of sorts) from finish-grade material. Seems it would look good with the stainless steel hardware (nuts and washers) spaced around it.

Best,
Roscoe