E31 Independence Deck Port? Deck Prism? Whatever it’s called, I fixed it.

One of the endearing things about our E31, is the number of quirky but very useful things that we’ve found as we get to know her. Like the bronze rods that extend from the cabin, under the cockpit, and fit through holes in the side of the lids of the cockpit lockers, locking them securely without any sort of hasp; the tell-tale compass over the chart table, and our favorite, the deck light (port? prism?) in the v-berth.

From the deck it looks like a simple porthole, and maybe it is. The bronze ring matches the bronze Samson post that sits slightly forward. From below, it also looks like a simple porthole, with a nicely varnished trim ring. But the amount of light it provides, borders on amazing. The contents of the anchor locker can be viewed without additional lighting, well as long as the sun is up at least.

Sadly, after yesterday’s short-lived but heavy rain, I found a slow drip from one of the cap nuts holding it together. So the project for this morning is to re-bed the whatever it’s called.


Disassembly was easy but involved many steps. Not steps of a process. Steps across the cabin sole after fastening the vise-grips on the nut, steps up the companionway and then to the foredeck. Turn the screwdriver a few turns, hear the vise-grips fall onto the cushion below, retrace my path and repeat. Those steps. Fit-Bit showed a really good day by the time I was done.

The next part of disassembly was even easier. A thin flat blade of a screwdriver to gently pry the top plate off the deck, and the source of the leak was obvious. The bedding compound, whatever it once was, now consisted of clumps of powder. It was so easy to scrape off, it was amazing that water wasn’t pouring through. I took the upper and lower piece below and scrubbed them with a 3M pad to get the last remains off and dried them.

Then came the butyl tape. Ah, butyl tape. The sealant that sometimes clings to your fingers better than to the object being sealed. A strip on the top plate to seal to the deck and tiny individual strips to seal around each screw head. Tightening each nut, in a star pattern, so the butyl squeezed out more or less evenly all the way around, added nicely to my step total for the day.

A quick clean-up of excess butyl, and job done. But would it withstand a significant dousing of water? Why yes, it did.
Let there be light! And dryness.