Happy Anniversary To Us

Yep, 23 years of wedded bliss. When people ask me how long I have been married, I usually like to tell them, “forever”. The men usually nod, and the women usually smack me. But seriously, what keeps a man young if it isn't chasing around the woman that he loves. If I had a dollar for every sailor who told me that I don’t know how lucky I am, because a sailorly wife is hard to come by, I’d be a rich man. My standard answer to that is that I wouldn't be with someone who didn't share in my dreams, and I in hers. And, if Serena didn't want to go sailing, neither would I. So yes, I do feel pretty damn lucky.

Enough mushy. Sorry, middle age…….

We have opening ports in the salon. Woohoo. I got the idea from my friend Larry, who got the idea from someone else, who got it from another guy, and so on, and so on…. Install an opening port in the existing window pane. Our friends George and Mary have been using Beckson ports in their CS36 for years, and if its good enough for them, and good enough for Larry, its definitely good enough for us. Some people you just listen to, you know.

Removing the old windows was easy. The old bedding compound was leaking on our bunks every time it rained anyway, so it wasn’t holding all that well. Other than the putty knife coming out of the handle and promptly inserting itself into my hand, the first window was a breeze. Then I traced the required outline on the 3/8” plexiglass, cut the corners out with a hole saw, and then finished the job with a jig saw. Perfect fit, seriously; first try. I bedded the window using butyl tape. I decided to try butyl tape after it was recommended to me by a few really salty ol’ salts. The trick apparently is to use the black butyl tape, because the lighter colours are kinda gooey. It was pretty easy to work with, and if the first rain was any test, it works very good. It will continuously squeeze out over time, and will eventually need to be replaced like any other sealant. But, its cheap, $9.00 to bed both windows, which would have easily taken two tubes of 3M 4000, maybe more, at $17.00 per tube, and you can add some later if needed.

When I removed the window, I purposely left the inside frame still stuck to the fibreglass. That way it would be easy to line up the bolts for re-installation. Which worked great for the first window.

You bet, the first window was a breeze. The second window was such a pain in the ass that I was prepared to throw a match down below on the salon carpet, and walk away, man was I frustrated, and in pain, my fingers, my elbows, my knees, and my back were screaming at me full volume, and I kept repeating the same movements over and over again until it finally lined up. The last hole I had to take the drill to, because it was just off every so slightly, and just wouldn't go. Hopefully it will hold out water too, I don’t want to go through that again. Cross fingers, knock on wood.

Ain't she beautiful?

A wise ol’ man once told me that every time you see your boat it should make you heart race and put a smile on your face. Not unlike a good partner. Happy anniversary Baby.

Flashback - July 21, 1990.