It’s been a very productive few days here on Crimson Kathryn (not that we haven’t been productive before now – we’re still waiting for the holidays to begin!!). On Thursday, we started installing our new portlights (portholes). We have 10 to install which means we will only have 2 old portlights remaining (and they are in the aft cabin).
We started slow – the first one is always the hardest and the one you make most of your mistakes on! It was a bit of a challenge to get the old portlight out – lots of silicone holding it in place. It was surprising to me to see just how little material there is in the upper walls of our boat. The side walls of the deck are teak veneer, plus what looks likes plywood and then fibreglass on the outside – the total width would be about 1”. We got the first portlight out and with a few challenges, installed the new portlight. But at first we thought the template supplied by the manufacturer was off because our holes didn’t seem to be lining up. It turned out we just needed to push harder on the screws to get them to connect. It all looks so simple in a video, but the reality is never the same. We managed to install 2 portlights our first day!!
Friday began with a shopping trip for a variety of items, including groceries. This trip also included a Covid booster shot for Mark!!! Yippy! (I get my booster on Dec. 15 – the USA is very picky about the 6 month date. They won’t give you a booster early.) Once we got back to the boat, our plan was to install as many portlights as we could as long as Mark was still feeling ok. We got 3 more installed!!! Crazy! We were half way done! It was a very messy job with lots of fibreglass dust flying around. I had some prickly hands by the end of the day but my shower got rid of all those little bits of fibreglass.
This morning we started early to try and finish this job. We still had 5 more portlights to install but Mark was feeling good (only a sore arm). The first one we tackled was a nasty one!! The old portlight just didn’t want to leave the boat. After much prying, pushing and pulling, it gave up and we were able to clean the hole and install the new portlight. It’s quite the process, with 2 templates to mark different cuts and holes, not to mention all the old silicone removal (that takes a lot of time).
After the first portlight (which gave us all the trouble), Mark was starting to feel the effects of the Covid booster. He was very tired and finding it tough to keep his energy up. We managed to get one more portlight done before lunch. Mark had a very brief nap after lunch and then we were back at it. We did one more portlight after lunch and then called it quits!! We now have 8 installed and only 2 more to go!!
We finished our day with a lovely happy hour with Jane and Steve. It was so nice to relax and catch up with them. It’s funny because before they were on the pier (literally 50 m away from us), we saw them all the time. Now that they are on the pier and we’re both very busy with boat jobs, we hardly see them!
Tomorrow (Sunday) we will finish the portlights and move onto some other must do jobs. Our plan is to leave here on Dec. 16 and travel down to Vero Beach. We should arrive there by Dec. 20. Our v-berth mattresses are ready and waiting for us to pick them up!! We’re getting closer and closer to casting off and enjoying what this boat does oh so well – SAIL!
Crimson Kathryn and her crew 