Mrs. Terra Nova

[supersailor]

Most of the big jobs are done so finally it is time for some beautification. All the ports and hatches are badly crazed. My Christmas gift from my daughter is a gift certificate for new opening ports. I thought some might get a kick out of her calling Terra
Nova Mrs. Terra Nova. She says her petite 26 footer should be Miss Ghost therefore the 34 is Mrs. Terra Nova.

 

[supersailor]

The new port lenses came in and were replaced today. Do they do any good? Whoa! There's a scratched funny looking thing just outside the port! That's the spinnaker pole. I would paint it black to match the mast and boom

but I plan to scratch it up even more! I can now actually see that excessive rain coming down now here in the North West..

The lenses are from Catalina Direct. They are their "enhanced" ports. They are a little thicker than the originals. It applies a little more pressure on the seals and stopped the leak in the port forward opening port light. They are $29.83 each which is a couple of bucks cheaper than the official ports and they don't have that irritating little advisement on them.

The next step is the three hatches but I think I will follow Christian's example and not reinvent the wheel.

 

[Shelman]

Clear improvement! (Word pun) I have the same port lights, mine aren't bad yet but it's good to know a source for replacements down the line. Thanks.
Say are those the original navtec turnbuckles that I can see through that new acrylic? and are they still attached to the original set of standing rigging? Probubly not, but if so you might consider new standing rigging before any offshore trips.

 

[Loren Beach]

Clear improvement! (Word pun) I have the same port lights, mine aren't bad yet but it's good to know a source for replacements down the line. Thanks.
Say are those the original navtec turnbuckles that I can see through that new acrylic? and are they still attached to the original set of standing rigging? Probubly not, but if so you might consider new standing rigging before any offshore trips.

That occurred to me too. Going by the year, at least those Navtec's should be well after the series that broke without warning, causing a recall in the early 80's.
We replaced all of the original rig including the old turnbuckles when the new standing rig was done in 2002.
Loren

 

[Rick R.]

I put the Catalina Direct lenses in our opening ports a while back which got me to wondering..........why don't we have Ericson Direct?
Loren?
Sean?

 

[supersailor]

I put the Catalina Direct lenses in our opening ports a while back which got me to wondering..........why don't we have Ericson Direct?
Loren?
Sean?

It takes volume to maintain a store like Catalina Direct. Maybe a Catalina/ Ericson Direct? It would help both.

 

[supersailor]

Hmm, the rig thing is always a question. I bought the boat in 2013 and the previous owners were reassuring about replacement. The question always is what is believable, I have been assiduous about checking the usual culperts with zero signs of corrosion/wear etc. Standing rigging is always a huge ripoff in the marine industry. For my previous boat, I had a crane rigger make the rigging. The cost was 1/3 of the cost of a marine rigger and the quality was there. I just had to wait between their other jobs. I reused the turnbuckles except for the upper ends. I just screwed the new uppers into the rest of the turnbuckle. Could be the same here. Trouble is that I don't know for sure. I'm not planning offshore (getting ready to start construction on new house) but sometimes the Straights of Juan de Fuca right outside the Harbor feel like offshore.

I lost a forward lower on a previous boat. We were racing in approx. 25 knts in a short chop in the South Bay when we heard a twing. 10 minutes later we heard another twing. two minutes later, we heard another twing. Then twing, twing twing and the lower departed. A twing means you are in trouble. We were able to tack before anything worse happened and we retreated with the iron sail roaring. Get the sails down when you hear twing. Look really hard at the emergence of the wire from the threaded end. One trick I've learned since then is to get a bar of bee's wax and melt it into the opening where the wire and threaded end meet to keep the salt water out of the joint.

 

[Shelman]

I think "worn out" standing rigging is about metal fatigue as much as corrosion. When I got my new standing rigging from rigging only I was amazed to feel the softness and flexibility of the new stainless wire, the old stuff simply gets brittle from work hardening.
We can perhaps compare it to a fine loaf of french bread, after four days it may not be moldy but its not soft and supple any more either.

 

[Shelman]

I am in the process of replacing the fixed port-lights on my E-26. Why you might ask? Far too many times I have heard the distinct clank of my jack-line carabiner coming into contact with my glass port-lights while I make my way forward. I always take pause and cringe at the thought of little tiny bits of square safety glass covering the inside of the cabin while out on the rolly briny sea. I once had a back window in my pickup implode onto the back of my shoulders, and the memory of the way glass spewed everywhere covering every inch of the truck's cab just keeps coming back to me. I'll probably make up a blog entry when I get it all done, and have some decent pictures to post.

 

[Christian Williams]

Has anybody had breakage of the glass ports? Safety glass is widely in use, in cars going 85 through Utah with trucks throwing iceballs, and it does all right. Every other windshield in Colorado is cracked by the hot/cold cycles, but few cave in that I know of. It's just tough stuff, or so it seems.

Any argument against safety glass ports is something I'd like to know about.

 

[dt222]

Christian,

I had to replace 2 of my glass panels- one small and one large and my local glass shop stated that safety glass in that thickness (3/16") was not available so instead switched to tempered glass. I would have preferred safety.

Don