DTrail808
Member II
I do agree that it looks fantastic! Why did you have to fair after taking the teak off by the portlights? Does the teak veneer come off easily?
Just bought a 1981 Independence 31 Cutter!
- Thread starter DTrail808
- Start date
No, the veneer put up quite a fight, and came off in pieces. The glass is quite rough with all kinds of pockets and voids that needed leveling to ensure a good bond with the new panel. There was a huge one running the length of the house side at the bottom and can be easily seen in the photo.
Prairie Schooner
Jeff & Donna, E35-3 purchased 7/21
Spectacular! Absolutely gorgeous.
DTrail808
Member II
Got it. Sounds like a big job.
Captain Pete
Member II
That's a phenominal job! What did you use for the white paint?
Interlux Toplac in a satin if I recall. I don't think that particular paint is available any more.
3/4 inch plywood was kerfed where necessary and screwed into the overhead.
DTrail808
Member II
I was looking at my portlights. The bronze is awesome, and will likley clean up very well. That said, there appears to be no gaskets on the inside of where the portlights are opened or closed. It looks like there was some gaskets in ther at some point, but over the past 40 some years has disolved. Without the gaskets, it's just bronze to bronze mating in the channel where the gaskets probably used to be.
I tried to buy some gaskets through Amazon, but haven't found anything that works. The picture below shows the empty channels. What did you do about those gaskets? These are the rectangle portlights from the I31C.
I tried to buy some gaskets through Amazon, but haven't found anything that works. The picture below shows the empty channels. What did you do about those gaskets? These are the rectangle portlights from the I31C.
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IMG-20250704-WA0000.jpg
My suggestion would be to contact the Port Townsend Foundry and see if they can help you out.
Port Townsend Foundry LLC—Made in the USA
A custom and production nonferrous foundry specializing in marine hardware. Castings are tooled, poured, and finished in-house at our facility in Port Townsend, Washington.
www.porttownsendfoundry.com
It shows a lot more than just a port light. We are both in love with your kitty crew!
dt222
Member III
The last time I had to replace some, I believe that I used a generic gasket item from West Marine- 1/4" x 7/16" x 10'. This was in 2018 and at that time it was part number 268344. It had a tendency to pop out of the grooved channel so I used a bit of contact cement to hold it in. It clamps down well though.
I ran across a YouTuber that was replacing gaskets on the ports of his Compac. They were Perko bronze like we have, but the round style. The gap looked very similar.
He used this Perko gaskets.
He used this Perko gaskets.
dt222
Member III
If you look closely on your Certificate of Documentation, I think you'll find the word the Coast Guard uses is "depth." That's a naval architecture term that goes back a long way and is sometimes referred to as "depth of hold." Basically, it's a line drawn vertically from the bottom of the deck to the bottom of the bilge and is one of the measurements use to calculate the internal volume of the vessel, measured in tons (and tons used here is strictly volume, rather than weight). Here's a link to a USCG document about the Simplified Tonnage Measurement system which is often used for yachts: https://www.dco.uscg.mil/portals/9/...ied measurement.pdf?ver=2017-06-09-123757-680
My wife and I have an Independence 31, too: ENCORE, hull number 57. We've owned her ten years now, sailing mostly in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. We could not be happier with her.
