Opening Ports

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Dennis

I have a 1982 Catalina 30, I want to remove the fixed port in the head and the one over the hanging locker. Has any one done this? What portlights did you use and where did you get them? Thanks
 
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ED

Worked great

I installed the opening Lewmar port from the west marine catalogue. I had the boat yard do it. No more leaks from that slider window and the head is a wonderful place to have a fully opening port. Good luck
 
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Hugh

Lewmar Ports

I installed both of these opening ports on our 83 Catalina 30. We used Lewmar opening ports. Getting the old windows out is not too tough just take off the interior trim and then push the old windows out. It may take some work with a knife to pry the window and sealant away from the hull but mine came out pretty easily (maybe that's why the one in the head leaked!) Putting in the new portlights is just a matter of following the instructions that Lewmar gives you. You may need to enlarge the opening in your cabintop and lewmar provides a template for this purpose. I used a jigsaw to get the rough size of the opening and then used a dremel with a grinder bit to grind the fiberglass to the perfect size. Although its kinda obvious I guess it bears mentioning that you need to take a little time to make sure you have the windows aligned exactly the way you want them before you start cutting. This took me the most time as I figured I was smart to get spousal approval of the alignment before I started cutting. We cleaned off all the old sealant and put the new portlights in with a good bed of new marine sealant. We did not use 5200 just in case we ever need to take these opening ports out. With the port in its just a matter of installing the interior trim which looks great and you are done. This whole project from start to finish took one Saturday and I think is one of the best things you can do for the looks and ventilation of your boat. Have fun Hugh
 
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Chris Gonzales

Pretty much the same for me

Except I used butyl tape to seal it. You can buy a roll at an RV supply store. No mess, seals well and makes removing the window quite easy should you ever need to. Chris
 
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Chris Gonzales

Use butyl tape

My Lewmar opening port installation was pretty much the same as you mentioned except I used butyl tape (putty tape)to seal it. It is not messy, no clean up required. If you should ever need to remove the port there would be no problem. The old slider window had a couple of big gobs of silicon sealant under it, applied rather sloppily. No wonder it leaked! Two pics to follow...
 
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