Are these Original Ports and Trim ?

[K2MSmith]

... I was told that my Ericson 33 looks like it doesn’t have the original ports, windows and trim . I have whitecushioned board around my windows . What is it supposed to have ? The current ports work fine and don’t leak. Also , I have managed to replace most of the headliner zipper pulls , so the headliner can now be opened to service deck gear backing mounts etc , but it is a little saggy . Not really a high priority at this point to fix since I can now open it , but maybe will be looking at other options in the future . Ideas ?

 

[Christian Williams]

Regarding the headliner sag: sometimes it is possible to remove the batten and tug the vinyl a little tighter, then re-staple. The vinyl is quite forgiving in that respect.

 

[Loren Beach]

Regarding the headliner, also, I have found that the seam that goes across the top is actually a piece of the fabric, maybe an inch or less that, above and invisible, is stapled to a piece of kerfed plywood glassed to the underside of the cabin top. After that "fin" is stapled to the plywood strip, the zippers were closed, and it was pulled out to the edges and stapled. The edge part was cut off with a sharp blade so that the strip of staples is covered by a teak batten.
Over the years, while tugging and pulling on the headliner material, it can sometimes pull some of the "fin" staples out and sag along that seam. With all zippers in the area open you should, hopefully, be able to drive new staples.

My "swag" is that a past owner was faced with damaged teak veneer from several leaking port lights. He re-imagined the look with a different cover for the cabin sides and a different make/model of port. As Christian has pointed out, there are several good solutions for the original problem, and he chose refinishing and paint. I was able to save and revarnish our teak.
"It's all good."

 

[markvone]

My perspective from owning a 1982 E33RH, Hull #3, is that your opening ports are the original cast aluminum Goiots and your cabin side which was originally a teak veneer plywood, has been repaired and painted a la the Christian Williams technique or covered over. My late 1981 E36RH originally had Goiot opening ports also. I suspect both Holland IOR designed hulls originally had these due to the relatively short cabin side height (and high topsides) of their IOR designs. On my E36RH, both my fixed portlights and opening Goiot ports eventually leaked, were not addressed by the PO and damaged the teak veneer. This is very common on all Ericsons. The port/portlight cutouts on Ericson cabin sides are famous for their lack of precision. I like to say they were all cut with an axe, on Friday, AFTER lunch at the local watering hole. My opening ports match this. My fixed portlight cutouts are shocking precise.

When I removed my Goiots in preparation for replacing my teak cabin side plywood, I saw that the cabin side cutouts for the opening ports on my E36RH were huge and ragged compared to the actual footprint of the ports resulting in very little overlap of the port flange to the cabin side and very high probability of future leaking.

I liked the cast aluminum frames of the Goiots but hated: 1) the inside spigot/outside trim ring design (easier to hinge the lens, MUCH harder to seal the port to the hull); 2) the extra gap to be sealed between the spigot and the (exterior) trim ring on this design; 3) the small sealing surface to the hull due to small overlap (tiny in my case due to oversized chopped cabin side hole) ; and 4) the opened port lens is hinged on the side (not top/bottom) so it swings 90 degrees to the cabin side and directly into your head unless it is held fully open (180 degrees) against the cabin side by the Goiot designed, Rig Rite special order ($$) fitting or a custom fitting (bungee, small screw) of your own design. I replaced my Goiots with Lewmar size 0, (outside spigot) stainless ports, hinge on top, which allowed me to precisely enlarge the cabin side cutout but still fit.

The bottom line probably is: you can fix the ports and teak (more $) or swap to a different cabin side which is much less sensitive to leaks. Keep an eye on all those ports for leaks for leaks and re-seal as needed. Without the teak veneer, you are much less likely to experience damage.

Mark

 

[Christian Williams]

I was puzzled by those side-swinging portlights. Good for an ocean liner when mounted on a vertical bulkhead (in which Harpo Marx's face suddenly appears, disappears to be replaced with Margaret Dumont's face, then the captain, outraged at what he sees within).

But then, I also hit my forehead on the upswinging ports of my current cabin. However, the brand Ericson used for mine has the great benefit of easily changing out the 1/2" plastic lenses. That was not the case with the sturdy 1980s-era Bomars on the 32-3, which it killed me to throw away and replace with Lewmars.