Windows are a pain in the butt. On my 31' express, I took off all the aluminum double channel and took out all the panes, leaving only the aluminum window frames. There were many holes deteriorated through these frames, and that's where the leaks were getting in. My redneck fix was to use a liberal amount of silicone and create a bedding for the lower window channels, thus sealing the holes in the process, I put the windows back in place by tilting them into place with the upper channels already on the glass, and screwed the upper channels in. I spent over $400 on a bunch of sticks of that aluminum double channel, and just four or five short years later they look like hell again (the felt and the plastic deteriorates really quickly). In heavy rains the small lips of the window frames that are intended to keep water out just aren't enough. After a heavy rain there is always some water in my boat, although nothing like it was before I did all this.
I don't have AC, so sealing up my windows with solid glass is a tough choice to make, but I am actually beginning to lean that way. If my experiment with a window unit AC and a little Honda generator works out, that's probably what I will do. My boat is on a trailer and I am lucky enough to have a big shed I can keep it in, and thus out of the rain most of the time. If my boat were in a slip or otherwise outdoors full time, I would do the solid glass in a heartbeat, because that's the only way I can see being sure you won't develop major rot problems. The previous owner of my boat didn't fix the leaks, and the half-bulkhead between my galley and dinette is rotted through. There was no way to replace the bulkhead (3/4 plywood) without destroying much of the boat in the process, so I have had to sister a new bulkhead onto it. This was in addition to replacing the entire starboard side interior walls surrounding the windows because they were all rotten. If you can stand the loss of ventilation, then I would go with the solid glass. I am sure someone here has figured out a way to "fix" the windows so they are much more leak proof, but I don't see how you could do it without new frames that provide you with a bigger bottom lip, which is ultimately your only barrier keeping the water out. Even if you had new frames fabricated, with the money you would have in those and the new glass channel, I think you would be better of with some sort of forced ventilation system. My boat is so small a box fan works great, but the drawback of course is that it blocks the companionway when in use. I will be very interested in what you do, so please keep us updated. Good luck Tom in Florida --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "UnifliteWorld" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/UnifliteWorld?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
